Throughout the years, New Zealand has had connections to some incredible supercars, the most iconic being Bruce McLaren of course, but this latest hypercar blows everything out of the water.
It comes in the form of the Shelby SuperCars Tuatara, a hypercar that capable of over 300mph (482 km/h) and is named after one of New Zealand's lesser-known reptiles — the Tuatara.
Built by SSC in America, the name is where the New Zealand connection ends, but we're ok with that, because this thing is more of a spaceship than it is a road-going commuter car.
Just 100 Tuataras are set to be built, and this is the first one to roll out of the factory. It is powered by a twin-turbo flat-plane crank V8 makes 1305kW, while only weighing 1247kg.
A seven-speed CIMA transmission sends power to the rear wheels exclusively, and is able to shift gears in 100 milliseconds flat. The 0-100km/h time still remains a mystery, but with those stats, a sub-three second time is expected.
SSC brags that a 6" driver can easily fit in the hot seat with a helmet on, and the digital display looks to be set up for track time. “We have created the full package,” says SSC boss Jerod Shelby, “looks, performance and artwork all rolled into one.”
Just like the performance times, the price still remains a mystery for the most part. When unveiling the prototype, a US$1.3 million figure was thrown around, and we doubt that it has gotten any cheaper since then.
Despite the Kiwiana name, we doubt that a Tuatara will ever actually make it down to New Zealand. But if you've already put your name down, be sure to let us know, we'd love to have a look.
