Jason Castriota to Design Next SSC Ultimate Aero and a New Model
The SSC Ultimate Aero may be one of the fastest road-legal cars in the world, but it's beginning to look a bit dated. Lucky for them, they just landed an exclusive deal with famed supercar designer Jason Castriota to design the next-generation Ultimate Aero and a new model to slot below it.
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"The pedigree that the collaboration with Jason brings to SSC is monumental," SSC owner and founder Jerod Shelby told the Tri-City Herald. "Jason's involvement will bring to SSC in one to two years what would have taken us 10. I am thoroughly excited for SSC and what this project will bring to the Tri-Cities."
SSC, of West Richland, Washington, is known for making the ultra-fast Ultimate Aero supercar, which holds a Guinness World Record for its 257-mph top speed. Castriota, meanwhile, is best known for his work with Italian design shops Pininfarina and Bertone, where he helped pen the design of the Maserati Birdcage, the Ferrari P 4/5 by Pininfarina and most recently the Bertone Mantide
"He will be our exclusive designer for the next two models and work with us for a minimum of one year. This will be his first model under his own name," Shelby said.
Splitting his time between his home in New York City and SSC's base in southern Washington state, Castriota will be wholly responsible for the aesthetics and aerodynamics of the next-generation Ultimate Aero's carbon-fiber body, as well as a new model that will slot below the supercar. Castriota also brings with him several computer modeling experts from his time at Pininfarina.
"We want to develop a long-term relationship," said Junus Kahn, SSC's marketing director. "The cars will carry a badge with his logo and name. He's obviously the No. 1 super car designer and has a huge following."
SSC has not yet announced what mechanicals will underpin the next-generation Ultimate Aero, or the smaller car, though it's possible the company will continue to source force-inducted Chevrolet V-8s. Once the new models are in production, SSC expects to build a dozen or so Ultimate Aeros and 50 or so copies of the smaller model. With Castriota's star power onboard, the next-gen Ultimate Aero is expected to cost $800,000 to $900,000, or roughly twice what the current car costs. The smaller model, still bearing Castriota's signature and design, is expected to run under $300,000.
Source: Tri-City Herald
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Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
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