Hennessey Venom F5 aims for world record

Not content to let the French laud over its "world's fastest production car" Guinness World Record, US car tuner Hennessey is about to launch its first original car, the Venom F5.

Promising speeds "approaching 300mph" the new car is expected to be powered by an updated version of the company's twin-turbo 7.0-litre V8, which should pump out at least 1500hp or around 1120kW.

The Hennessey Venom F5 was originally outed in August 2014 and was scheduled for a 2016 launch but clearly development has taken much longer.

Now the company says it will reveal the vehicle later in 2017.

"This is a new chapter in an all new book," said John Hennessey, company founder and CEO. "F5 will be exceptionally American and built in Texas."

It's the first vehicle to come out of the newly formed Hennessey Special Vehicles, or HSV.
The Hennessey business traditionally tunes existing cars and makes them wild, such as this 1000hp or 745kW Holden Commodore.

But if the Venom F5 lives up to the pre-release hype it'll be something else altogether.
Expected to be nicknamed the Texan Tornado, by virtue of its place of birth and its name – on the Fujita tornado rating scale "F5" denotes one of the most dangerous – the new vehicle features an all-new design and unique chassis.

This will separate it from previous Venom designs which have been Lotus-based, such as the 427km/h Hennessey Venom GT.

The company is also using the "hypercar" moniker, suggesting the vehicle could have some sort of hybrid-electric boost system, not unlike the McLaren P1.

In a press statement, Hennessey states that "The Venom F5 will take direct aim at the new Bugatti Chiron for world's fastest production series super sports car."

Can it truly best the incredible 16-cylinder, quad-turbo, $3.3million Bugatti Chiron? That vehicle pumps out 1103kW and 1600Nm of torque, enough pepper to see it hustle to a top speed of 420km/h – electronically limited.

It's believed the Chiron could go close to 460km/h if unrestricted, that's 285mph.

John Hennessey is pretty pumped about the F5, releasing this teaser image of the new model and talking up its performance exploits.

"We are very excited about our F5 and that it brings forth an all-new design and chassis to achieve even higher performance through improved aerodynamics and technology.

"The best way I can describe the Venom F5 is that it is sophisticated aggression on wheels. We look forward to sharing F5 with the world later this year."