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Petrolheads rave about the Bugatti Veyron, but there’s a new kid in town. It comes from the USA in the form of the mind-numbingly powerful SSC Ultimate Aero.

In Stuart Milne’s absence, guest columnist Adrian Hearn waxes lyrical about the 1,183bhp West Coast leviathan.

Space shuttles, fighter jets, cruise missiles and Carl Lewis – The United States is renowned for producing fast machines - but supercars? They’re not exactly garnished with gold medals.

Say hello to the SSC Ultimate Aero.

With a twin-turbocharged 6.2-litre V8 engine, the Ultimate Aero produces a Veyron-devouring 1,183bhp and 1,094lb/ft of pulling power.

The result: Zero-60mph in 2.78 seconds and a claimed top speed of 273mph.

And you can wheel-spin it at 190mph.

It produces 1bhp for every 2.33lb in weight - which is twice as much power as the latest 200mph Ferrari F430 Scuderia. 

Everyday there are claims from carmakers saying they’ve built the world’s fastest car. But the Ultimate Aero is a genuine contender for the automotive crown.

In an attempt to beat the Veyron’s 253mph record, SSC closed a nine mile stretch of road in Nevada in March, where the weather and surface would be perfect for speed testing.

But in one of the hottest, driest, least-hospitable places on earth – it snowed. The tests were temporarily halted before being moved 30 miles north to another strip which, due to the poor road quality only had two miles of safe road to test on. This didn’t stop the Ultimate Aero – and its ballsy test driver Rick Doria – reaching a top speed of 230mph, using just 56 per cent of the throttle in sixth gear.

It didn’t beat the Veyron, but it laughed in the face of the critics who doubted wind tunnel tests at a NASA base, which showed a reachable top speed of 273mph.

But it doesn’t just go quickly, it stops quicker – thanks to 14-inch all-round disc brakes the Ultimate Aero’s stopping distance at 60mph is just 103 feet. 

It may not have the beauty of an Aston Martin, the handling of a Lotus or the reputation of a Lamborghini or Ferrari, but it does four times the UK motorway speed limit. Just save this for the track.

And while Bugatti spent years perfecting the Veyron with its incredible gearbox and mouth-watering W16 engine, SSC took a lump out of a Corvette and gave it more steroids than a USSR weightlifter. It’s a Scud missile with wheels - just don’t expect it to handle like one of its European rivals.

This is what makes the SSC Ultimate Aero so appealing. It’s a raw, un-repentant machine with power transferred to the rear-wheels - making it a petrolhead’s dream machine.

But you need to know your talent if you want to appreciate the Aero’s performance - because only 25 of these £336,000 hypercars will ever be made.

And you don’t want to be remembered as the ‘one who wrote one off.’

L.A.T.W.O.T video of the week

Watch the Ultimate's 'mild-mannered' predecessor - the 787bhp Aero SC in action.

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