The Hennessey Venom GT. Image: Hennessey
Try this experiment next time you’ve got a long stretch of open track in front of you (because we’d never condone this kind of driving on public roads): at 70 miles per hour, drop the hammer and keep it matted for 17 seconds. Record your top speed, and compare it to the speed of the Hennessey Venom GT, on a “low boost” setting.
If you’ve got a fast car, I’ll bet you can hit 150 miles per hour from 70 in 17 seconds. An average car will probably struggle to hit 120 or so, but the Hennessey-built Venom GT will run from 70 to 215 mph in those 17 seconds. Need proof? It’s in the video below.
Also, don’t forget that you can get discounted new car pricing with a free quote through qualified local dealer partners.
Just in case you’ve never heard of the Hennessey Venom GT, the Silverstone, England-built supercar starts life as a Lotus Exige body, which gets stretched by some eight inches for better high-speed stability. Next up comes a Corvette ZR1 sourced V-8, tuned by Hennessey to make up to 1,200 horsepower. Mated together, the final product weighs less than 2,700 pounds, resulting in “impressive” acceleration. Zero to sixty, for example, comes up in 2.5 seconds (if you launch the car correctly), and the quarter mile flashes by in 9.9 seconds at 162 miles per hour. A Bugatti Veyron takes 24.2 seconds to reach 200 miles per hour, but the Venom GT does it in 15.9 seconds. Top speed? Hennessey claims it will do 275 miles per hour.
Image: Hennessey
The price? If you have to ask, you’re not a serious Venom GT buyer. The point of entry for the 750 horsepower “base model” Venom GT is $600,000, while the 1,200 horsepower version starts at $725,000. Since Hennessey will only build up to 10 cars per year, owners will find themselves in a very exclusive club, and the odds of you finding another Venom GT on the same racetrack are pretty slim. If you’ve got the money, that certainly helps justify the price of admission.
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
