Car built by Richland-based company sets world record for fastest production model

Associated Press

BELLINGHAM – A Washington state car company says it’s set a world record after its newest vehicle reached an average speed of 316 mph along a highway in Nevada.

Guinness World Records said Richland-based SSC North America’s Tuatara model is the fastest production car, The Bellingham Herald reported Monday. Set Oct. 10, the milestone surpasses the 278 mph reached by Swedish car company Koenigsegg Automotive in 2017. The world record takes the average of times driven during the attempt. British race car driver Oliver Webb, 29, reached a top speed of 331 mph during his last pass along state Route 160 in Pahrump, Nevada.

“Accomplishing a feat of engineering that pushes the limits of a road-legal car by a margin this large is both exciting and inconceivable, even to me,” Webb said. “We are entering a time when we are no longer faced by the limit of machines, but by the human factor.”

Company owner Jerod Shelby said it was “monumental” for him and his 24-employee company.

SSC North America announced its second-model Tuatara in 2011 and started production in 2019. The car is being sold for $1.9 million, and only a dozen are expected to be produced this year.