Texas-based brand Hennessey Performance has been super-charging cars since 1991, when John Hennessey decided to parlay his hobby into a fully-fledged business.
A race car driver who raced his modified Mitsubishi 3000GT at Pikes Peak Hill Climb and the Silver State Classic and went on to set a world speed record in his class at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Hennessey remains a hands-on CEO of a family run business that encompasses the Tuner School and Lonestar Motorsports Park and since 2017, Hennessey Special Vehicles, a new venture of building its own branded hyper-cars.
Hennessey Performance is already well-known to collectors of high-performance, mostly American, mostly SUV or truck type vehicles. John says clients buy them because they love the visceral, uniquely American sound and quality.
Unsurprisingly, their main markets have been the US and the Middle East where the cars can come fully into their own, developing some serious speed – that, after all, is their reason for being. Europe-based buyers with their own race tracks or just a love for uniquely optimised vehicles collect them too. The market may be niche, but it is a vibrant one.
The first Hennessey branded hypercar, the Venom GT was built in 2014, kickstarting John’s ambition of manufacturing the world’s fastest cars. The company’s first ground-up project, the Venom F5 Coupe – a bona fide 300+ mph hypercar – began customer deliveries in 2021 and is completely sold out. It was followed by the open-roof Venom F5 Roadster in 2022. The Venom F5 Revolution, a track-focused model, made its debut in early 2023 and is already part-sold.
Even more ambitious and exciting is Hennessey’s Project Deep Space, a hyperlux fully-electric car, yet to be built but fully developed as a concept. The vehicle, which will be the world’s most expensive EV, with a price tag starting at USD$3m, will boast:
- Six-wheel-drive, with six electric propulsion motors, permits astonishing grip and performance
- Four-passenger cabin with distinctive diamond seating arrangement – driver is centrally positioned and rear offers lie-flat seating – brings private jet luxury to the hyper-GT segment
Hennessey operates a one of its kind training academy that offers apprenticeship programs with a focus on high performance, hyper cars for aspiring engineers and mechanics, the Tuner School.
I ask John about the continual debate on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. His response is unequivocal: ICE vehicles are here to stay and not just as museum pieces.
In any event, the Hennessey cars are anything but museum pieces; they are eminently drivable, as well as collectible, and are distributed by HR Owen in the UK.
Car enthusiasts can inspect and admire them at the next Salon Privé show in England.
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