SSC Tuatara photos reveal Pebble Beach show-stopper

What's your favourite supercar? Wrong! Forget that piece of crud, your new favourite is the Shelby SuperCars (SSC) Tuatara, or at least it will be once you finish looking at these pictures.

The car was papped by Drew Phillips at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance where it wowed attendees with a sleek, futuristic design that channels Lambos, McLarens, James Bond's Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me and that awesome thing you scrawled on a sheet of paper when you were five years old.

The Tuatara gets its unusual name from a lizard-like reptile that's said to have the fastest-evolving DNA on the planet. The name translates from the Maori language as 'peaks on the back', which is apt, because SSC has installed a funky set of winglets to aid downforce. The Tuatara also features an unusual mid-mounted exhaust, mounted in a cocoon that's reminiscent of canine reproductive glands. Happy coincidence? We think not.

The car pictured here is an incomplete demo shell, but by the time it reaches production it'll give every supercar on the planet -- the Bugatti Veyron included -- a real run for its money. The finished Tuatara will be powered by a twin-turbo, 7-litre V8 engine that delivers 1,350bhp. This, SSC hopes, will be enough to help the car beat its predecessor, the 256mph Aero Twin Turbo, and possibly hand the Veyron it's backside, too.

SSC expects to build approximately 16 examples of the Tuatara per year, according to Autoblog, though it can increase production to as much as 40 examples per year if demand calls for it. The first cars will be delivered in the first quarter of 2013, with each one costing "just in excess of $1,000,000" (£600,000).

Have a gander through our gallery above to see it in most of its glory.

Image credit: Drew Phillips