USC "Little Brother" opens second plant.
SSC Tuatara just hit 295 mph, but the automaker has several other projects in the works besides its expensive hypercar.
On Monday, SSC founder and CEO Jerrod Shelby told Motor Authority that the Tuatara's "little brother" is scheduled to appear in 2025 from a new production facility.
SSC plans to break ground on a new production facility in 2024. It will be four times larger than SSC's current production facility, which manufactures Tuatara, Shelby said.
The team needs more space for the planned increase in Little Brother production and currently plans to build 500 units by 2028; SSC is in the process of building 125 Tuatara units by the end of 2025. This figure includes 100 regular Tuatara (including models with the Striker Package) and 25 track-only Aggressor models.
Shelby is working to secure outside investment to build a second plant. He is in the process of talking with several private auto enthusiasts, rather than an investment firm or bank, but has not yet secured funding.
The Tuatara's little brother will be a mid-engine supercar with a naturally aspirated V-8 engine producing 700-800 hp. It is not known at this time if the Little Brother's engine will be related to the Nelson Racing Engines 5.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine in the Tuatara.
Shelby told MA in 2020 that the car would cost between $400,000 and $500,000, making it more affordable than the Tuatara, which costs $1.95 million.
The Little Brother will look similar to the Tuatara and will be designed to look like a scaled-down version of the expensive hypercar.
On Monday, SSC announced that the Tuatara had hit 295 mph, but the official land speed record for a production car remains at 282.9 mph, which SSC set with the Tuatara in early 2021.