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The CEO says that the brand is excited to continue chasing the top speed record and that it’s sure other automakers are too
Top speed records are a very serious business. In fact, they’re so serious that Bugatti gave it up after going over 300 mph (483 km/h) in one direction. Now, Hennessey says that it’s still in pursuit of taking the record by going that fast or faster in both directions. Its CEO took to YouTube to tell some stories about its past and how it plans to hit its mark shortly.
The race for 300 mph hasn’t been very hot in recent years. Bugatti was the first to successfully cross the mark, albeit in only one direction, back in 2019. It said at the time that it was retiring from top-speed pursuits.
Then, in 2020, the wild fiasco that was the SSC Tuatara top-speed run burned bright and turned out to be a nothing burger. In May of 2022, it went 295 mph (475 km/h) but evidently, that was also in a single direction.
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Hennessey managed to get its Venom F5 up to 271.6 mph (437 km/h) in a suspension test during 2022 as well. Since then, it’s largely been crickets on this front. Now, John Hennessey says that it’s prioritizing the top-speed pursuit once again.
Read: Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut Might Set A New Top Speed Record This Year
“What’s the first production series road car that has the two-way average of over 300 mph? That’s exactly what we’re working toward. This is the year that we’re going to find out,” Hennessey proclaims. He says that as of taping, the company has the specific test car nearly ready to go, it’s picked a driver and selected a specific team for the project too. There’s still at least one big hang-up though.
There’s no clear indication of where to try and tackle the record. The Venom F5, and any other car going for this sort of VMax record needs a long runway to reach its top speed. As such, the Kennedy Space Center is evidently off of the table. Instead, Hennessey hopes that it can get clearance from the Texas Government to do the test on a highway.
It’s done that in the past with other cars so it’s plausible that it could happen again. In the meantime, the company acknowledges that other brands might be in pursuit of the same record quietly. Interestingly, Hennessey never once mentioned SSC by name. Instead, he calls out Bugatti, Rimac, and Koenigsegg as potential rivals.
When will someone finally break the record? We can only guess at this stage. In the meantime, if one of you readers notices a Texas highway shutdown unexpectedly with a few hypercars on it in the distance be sure to let us know.
Lead image Hennessey
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