the speed bug bit Texas-based tuner John
Hennessey at an early age—and bit hard. “My
dad had a 1964 Pontiac GTO with triple deuce
carburetors and a 4-speed Muncie ‘rockcrusher’
transmission,” says the former racer. “I’m told
that by the time I was about 18 months old, I
would hold on to the steering wheel, grab the
shifter and say, ‘Vroom, vroom.’ ” It was a calling
he continued to answer loud and clear, eventu-
ally competing on such testing grounds as Pikes
Peak and the Bonneville Salt Flats. By 1991, his
penchant for optimizing power trains led to the
formation of Hennessey Performance Engineer-
ing, where he souped up models like the Dodge
Viper, Mazda RX-7 and Toyota Supra.
Now, with 28 years of experience in the
rearview, Hennessey is ready to roll with his
first all-original creation, the 1,600 hp Venom
F5. “We decided that in order to build the ulti-
mate hypercar, one that’s super-lightweight and
very powerful, we had to have our own bespoke
design and chassis, and it had to be all carbon
fiber from the ground up,” he explains. “Nothing
shared from another manufacturer’s platform.”
Hennessey says the vehicle, specifically devel-98 AUGUST 2019
VENOM F5
Hennessey Special
Vehicles
The Need for Speedthe speed bug bit Texas-based tuner John
Hennessey at an early age—and bit hard. “My
dad had a 1964 Pontiac GTO with triple deuce
carburetors and a 4-speed Muncie ‘rockcrusher’
transmission,” says the former racer. “I’m told
that by the time I was about 18 months old, I
would hold on to the steering wheel, grab the
shifter and say, ‘Vroom, vroom.’ ” It was a calling
he continued to answer loud and clear, eventu-
ally competing on such testing grounds as Pikes
Peak and the Bonneville Salt Flats. By 1991, his
penchant for optimizing power trains led to the
formation of Hennessey Performance Engineer-
ing, where he souped up models like the Dodge
Viper, Mazda RX-7 and Toyota Supra.
Now, with 28 years of experience in the
rearview, Hennessey is ready to roll with his
first all-original creation, the 1,600 hp Venom
F5. “We decided that in order to build the ulti-
mate hypercar, one that’s super-lightweight and
very powerful, we had to have our own bespoke
design and chassis, and it had to be all carbon
fiber from the ground up,” he explains. “Nothing
shared from another manufacturer’s platform.”
Hennessey says the vehicle, specifically devel-98 AUGUST 2019
VENOM F5
Hennessey Special
Vehicles
The Need for Speed