Hyper Cars Battle It Out

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Shelby SuperCars is planning to launch a new model to take back the world land speed record for a production car from Bugatti.

Shelby’s SSC Ultimate Aero first set the record back in 2007 with a time of 412.28km/h (256.23mph), set on a closed 19km (12 mile) stretch of road in Nevada.

But Bugatti’s new Veyron 16.4 Super Sport model clocked 431.072km/h (267.91mph) at Volkswagen’s 21km (13 mile) Ehra-Lessien test track in late June.

Shelby believes having its new design chief Jason Castriota on board will allow it to find the extra speed required to top Bugatti’s record with a more aerodynamic design.

Castriota has worked on designs in the past including the Bertone Mantide and Pininfarina P4/5. In regards to Castriota’s first design for the company, Shelby said it was “anxious to show the world what we have up our sleeve”.