Ob·ses·sion (Noun) – An idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind. And what it takes to create, scratch that, to undertake a project that commands the dedication of building the Hennessey Venom is the purest form of obsession. Only a company that was visionary and most likely a little crazy could even imagine such a machine. Hennessey Performance Engineering is such a company. Founded on the pursuit of acceleration John Hennessey built, tweaked, and rebuilt vehicles that stretch speedometers to the breaking point.
The 2012 Venom GT carries on that tradition that started and lives in Sealy, Texas. The GT hits 200mph in 15.3 seconds that’s 8.9 seconds faster than the Bugatti Veyron, which clocks in at 24.2 seconds. The horsepower has three adjustable settings: 800 bhp, 1,00 bhp and 1,244 bhp breathing life into the 427 CID 7 Liter engine. It also has twin Garrett Ball Bearing Turbochargers just in case you are running late for that PTA meeting.
But what sets the Venom GT and Hennessey Performance as a whole apart from other American performance companies is that they care as much about precision handling as they do about horsepower. The Ricardo 6-Speed Manual transmission controls your agility, while the 6-piston Brembo brakes help to tame the horses that propel you down the highway. Obsession does not come without a cost and the cost to have the product of this company’s obsession is $600,000 to $1,000,000 USD. The Venom GT is more than a car; it is a carbon fiber bodied chariot of the gods. Swing low and carry us home.