Much like the Mosler MT900 it rivaled, the SSC Ultimate Aero boasted class-leading raw performance, but its popularity was hobbled by its appearance and brand image. In the case of SSC, this was perhaps more accurately described as a lack of a brand image — the company had been around for less than a decade by the time the Ultimate Aero was launched, and had no prior track record of producing cars. Nonetheless, SSC’s first model proved it was far from vaporware, setting a Guinness World Records-certified speed record of 257.41 mph to become the world’s fastest production car.
The car it beat was none other than the Bugatti Veyron, but unlike the Veyron, SSC had no multi-billion-dollar conglomerate to turn to for marketing or design. The Ultimate Aero looked dated when it debuted, and according to Autocar, suffered from “build quality on a par with a 1980s TVR and all the luxury of a small Malaysian hatchback.” Not exactly the qualities buyers were looking for in a machine that cost at least $650,000.
Still, 24 examples of the car were reportedly sold before the Ultimate Aero was retired. As flawed as it might have been, it’s hard to argue with the car’s world-beating performance — despite having fewer resources, SSC beat Bugatti at its own game, even if the VW-backed hypercar brand would later reclaim the record with the Veyron Super Sport.
[Featured image by Nate Hawbaker via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC0 1.0]
