Although the hypercar suffered severe damage, it is still repairable.
The Drive reported that the Tuatara survived an accident while being transported in Utah. On April 13, the car carrier was knocked over by strong winds on I-15.
This is Larry Caplin’s Tuatara #001 – the exact same car and driver combination that won the title of fastest production vehicle back in January.
The Tuatara and SSC team were apparently on their way to Florida to take part in the second 300-mph run. This was scheduled to occur on April 17. SSC owner Jarod Shelby said The Drive that although there were no fatalities, one of the passengers and the driver was admitted to hospital.
SSC faced many setbacks when trying to claim the title of fastest production car with its SSC Tuatara. First, its claimed top speed 316-mile-per-hour (508-kilometer-per-hour) run in Nevada was showered with doubt, which prompted SSC to do the re-run at the John Bohmer Proving Grounds.
The SSC team was successful, recording an average speed of 282.9 MPH (455.2 Km/h) for two passes. This is not counting the Bugatti Super Sport 300+’s single-pass run in 2019.
SSC was not without its critics, even though it set the record straight. The reason is that the Tuatara hasn’t reproduced the first 300+-mph run in Nevada. This doesn’t erase doubts about its true capabilities. SSC continues to strive for breaking the 300 mph barrier, but this crash is yet another setback.
As can be seen in the photos sent by The Drive to this publication, the Tuatara suffered severe damages as a result of the incident. Shelby explained to the publication that the Tuatara sustained only cosmetic damages and that the chassis and drivetrain were unaffected.
SSC still believes they can beat the 300 mph barrier. SSC told The Drive this setback has just changed their timing.