World’s first 6x6 hypercar revealed

We’ve seen some terrifyingly potent electric hypercars lately, but nothing like this. Meet Project Deep Space, a six-wheeled luxury leviathan.

Texan car-modder-turned-supercar-maker Hennessey today announced it will deploy the ‘world’s first six-wheel-drive hyper-GT’ road car in 2026.

While Elon Musk’s rocket-propelled Tesla Roadster 2.0 will turn heads, Hennessey’s new hypercar will drop jaws and boggle eyes as well.

Early design sketches released by the car-maker show the new vehicle, dubbed Project Deep Space, features two front wheels and four rear wheels, a sleek aerodynamic carbon-fibre body shell with wide gull-wing doors, four seats and a price tag of $US3 million ($A4.2m).

Performance details haven’t been released but Hennessey says its most ambitious project yet will be powered by six electric motors, one located within each wheel, and claims it will be ‘devastatingly fast’.

But why six wheels? “Astonishing grip and performance” are the reasons given, courtesy of “…unmatched traction thanks to its unique six-wheel drive powertrain,” said Hennessey.

It’s been done before in motorsport, specifically in F1 with the race-winning Tyrrell P34, and Hennessey has experience with triple-axle layouts following several expensive 6x6 pick-up truck conversions, such as the Ford F-150 VelociRaptor ute.

The longer body of the new hyper-GT (grand tourer) also allows for an unorthodox 1+2+1 seating layout.

The driver up front is flanked by two passengers behind – a la the McLaren F1 – permitting a clear view of the road ahead while the rearmost passenger gets the best seat in the house, thanks to a business class-inspired airline seat that fully reclines into a bed.

Whether occupants will be able to slumber when all six motors are spooling up remains to be seen.

Interior space will be significant, says the car-maker. The super-luxury sports car is claimed to transport four adults along with four sets of golf clubs and their luggage.

Hennessey says Project Deep Space will offer private jet-like lavishness and only 105 units of the ‘world’s most expensive EV’ will be built, ensuring exclusivity for owners.

As EV manufacturing ramps up in Texas (one of Tesla’s key manufacturing plants is located in Austin), Hennessey says its 6x6 electric GT will be joined by two further all-new vehicles by 2031.

Production of the Project Deep Space vehicle will begin in 2026 following the completion of the company’s Venom F5 supercar, a wild hypercar designed to reach speeds of more than 500km/h thanks to a 6.6-litre twin-turbo V8 outputting an incredible 1355kW/1617Nm.

It’s not clear whether Project Deep Space will be chasing a record-breaking top speed, but it is seeking to become the world’s quickest car to 200mph 321.8km/h.

“We believe that ‘Deep Space’, with six electric motors combined with six driven wheels, could be the world’s quickest accelerating four-seater from zero to 200mph!” said the car-maker’s CEO and founder John Hennessey.

“I’ve been building some of the world’s fastest accelerating vehicles for decades, yet they have always been performance-limited by mechanical grip. Six-wheeled electric propulsion is the solution,” he declared.

Hennessey Special Vehicles will build the new vehicle while technology partners including Delta Cosworth and Shell Pennzoil will help develop the electrified powertrain.

Hennessey’s design director, Nathan Malinick, says the car’s exterior visuals will blend “…the essence of early-twentieth century grand tourers with an otherworldly hyper GT form that leaves no doubt about its capability and intent”.

The car designer says the new vehicle will deliver “many industry firsts” – chief among them the six-wheel layout – and the “…result of our advanced development program will be a car like no other.”

Related: 500km/h Hennessey Venom F5 targets world speed record