Here's an interesting twist: elite-manufacturer-to-be SSC is auctioning off the rights to purchase the first of their upcoming Ultimate Aero TT supercar. Even more interesting, the no-reserve auction has an initial bid price of $280,000, less than half of the expected retail price ($585,000). Is this a spectacular bargain, or bad $ign for SSC?

Either way, the car's performance claims are compelling stuff: 0-60 mph in just 2.78 seconds, with a quarter-mile time of 9.90 seconds at 144 mph. The company also claims that car pulls 1.05 g's on the skidpad and can turn the 0-100-0 trick in just 11.66 seconds. The SSC up for auction is fitted with a twin-turbo V8 that puts out 1180 bhp @ 6875 rpm, and 961 pound-feet of torque @ 6,150 rpm. No top speed quote is available, but on the company's website, it indicates that a less powerful example (1046 bhp) is calculated to hit "…up to 273 mph" as per wind tunnel calculations. If the auction car comes in anywhere near that number, it should handily dethrone the Bugatti Veyron as the world's fastest production car.

According to the seller, the car is slated for an international launch this January, and it will compete in a Wolfsburg, Germany top speed contest come May. The auction car is the first of two early-production cars, and the second car is slated for testing by various buff books and the UK's Top Gear.

Just 24 Ultimate Aero TTs will be produced over the next two years.

+ eBay: 2007 Other Makes : SSC Ult. Aero TT