Ultra-rare SSC Ultimate Aero destroyed in a monster truck show

This year’s Thunder at the Mountain event at the Tri-City Raceway in Washington, USA has generated controversy when it casually wrecked and destroyed a car once considered the world’s fastest street-legal vehicle.

The exceedingly rare example of the SSC Ultimate Aero was run over by a monster truck, and the remains were “fed” to Megasaurus, an improvised mechanical dragon riding on tank tracks. In the video above, the Megasaurus pours liquid fire from its maw onto the car and then proceeds to tear it apart and chew.

According to one of the spectators, the stunt was proposed to the show holders by a disgruntled owner of the SSC Ultimate Aero. Apparently, they were so frustrated with the supercar that they agreed to just hand it over to the stunt crew on one condition: that it gets summarily destroyed.

Reporters contacted Jerod Shelby, founder and CEO of SSC North America responsible for the creation of the car, for comment. Shelby denounced the stunt as “shameful” and said his company was in no way affiliated with the show and this particular number. He added that the company relinquished possession of the car over a decade ago and had no control over it.

Back in 2007, the mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive SSC Ultimate Aero made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s fastest vehicle permitted on public roads. The butterfly-winged coupe made two test track runs in the opposite directions for fairness and scored an average top speed of 412.28 km/h (256.2 mph), surpassing even the Bugatti Veyron. In 2010, a newly introduced Veyron Super Sport topped that record with 431.07 km/h (267.9 mph).

Later on, both were dethroned by a Koenigsegg Agera RS that managed to hit 446.97 km/h (277.7 mph).