USA · est. 1991
The tuner that built its own hypercar.
Forthcoming lots
3 forthcoming lots · Monterey 2026
The house
Founded in 1991, Hennessey began after John Hennessey left a small environmental business and turned his motorsport interest into Hennessey Motorsports. The company says he had raced a modified Mitsubishi 3000GT at Pikes Peak, Bonneville and the Silver State Classic, where its 2024 account records an Unlimited-class win and second overall. Car and Driver later tested a Venom 600GTS Viper package at 602 hp; Hennessey says that by the mid-1990s it was building 1,000-hp twin-turbo Dodge Vipers. The current headquarters is in Sealy, Texas, about 45 minutes west of Houston, with Lonestar Motorsports Park on the grounds.
In Road & Track’s 2007 Speed Kings shootout, Hennessey’s twin-turbo Viper reached 200 mph in 20.3 seconds, 3.9 seconds quicker than the Bugatti Veyron. John Hennessey later described that result as prompting a search for less weight and better traction than the front-engine, rear-drive Viper layout allowed. MotorTrend reported that the resulting Venom GT began life as a Lotus Exige, reworked around a 7.0-litre twin-turbo LS V8 and six-speed manual transmission.
MotorTrend reported in January 2017 that Hennessey said it had built 12 Venom GTs, or 13 including the prototype, since production began in 2010. On 10 January 2013, John Kiewicz drove the seventh production Venom GT to a 13.63-second 0–300 km/h average at Ellington Airport; Hennessey’s release describes two opposite-direction runs within an hour and Guinness validation. On 14 February 2014, Brian Smith drove a Venom GT to 270.49 mph at Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility; the company says VBox USA was present, while MotorTrend noted that the run did not receive Guinness production-car-record recognition. A Venom GT Spyder reached 265.6 mph at Lemoore on 25 March 2016, according to MotorTrend, citing Hennessey and Racelogic.
John Hennessey founded Hennessey Special Vehicles in 2017 to build a hypercar from the ground up, and the Venom F5 appeared at that year’s SEMA show. Final 2020 specifications gave the F5 a 1,817-hp, 6.6-litre twin-turbo V8 and a carbon-fibre tub produced in the United Kingdom by Delta Motorsport; HSV later stated that F5 design, specification and assembly take place in Sealy. All 24 F5 Coupes sold out in 2021. A 2024 HSV release described a 99-car total F5 production run and said Roadster and Revolution variants had joined the Coupé. The sources reviewed report development speeds above 270 mph and a continuing target above 300 mph, not a completed 300-mph result.
Hennessey remains active in 2026: its current sites advertise HPE vehicle upgrades and HSV hypercars, and identify John Hennessey as founder and CEO. An April 2024 company release said his six grown children worked in the business. The Blackbird was reported on 3 August 2026 as a 71-car, naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8 hypercar with a six-speed gated manual; customer production is targeted for 2029–30, which remains a future plan.
Selected milestones
1991
Hennessey Motorsports begins
John Hennessey’s 2024 company account dates the business to 1991, after a year in which he raced a modified Mitsubishi 3000GT at Pikes Peak, Bonneville and the Silver State Classic.
1990s
Venom Viper packages
Car and Driver tested a 602-hp Venom 600GTS package, while Hennessey says its mid-1990s work included 1,000-hp twin-turbo Dodge Vipers.
2007
Speed Kings
Road & Track recorded Hennessey’s twin-turbo Viper reaching 200 mph in 20.3 seconds, 3.9 seconds ahead of the Bugatti Veyron in the shootout.
2010–17
Venom GT production
MotorTrend reported that the Lotus Exige-based Venom GT entered production in 2010 and that Hennessey reported 12 cars completed, 13 including the prototype, by the 2017 Final Edition.
2013–16
Acceleration and speed runs
The Venom GT’s 13.63-second 0–300 km/h result was an opposite-direction average accepted by Guinness. Its 270.49-mph Kennedy Space Center run was one way and was not a Guinness production-car top-speed record; the Spyder later recorded 265.6 mph at Lemoore.
2017–21
HSV and the Venom F5
HSV was founded in 2017 and showed the F5 at SEMA. The 24 F5 Coupes sold out in 2021.
2026
Blackbird announced
The live Blackbird page specifies 71 examples, a naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8 and six-speed gated manual. Reported customer production timing is 2029–30, not completed production.
What defines Hennessey
After the 2007 Speed Kings result, John Hennessey described concerns about adding power and reducing weight in the front-engine, rear-drive Viper. That search led to the lighter, mid-engined Lotus-based Venom GT.
The 2013 0–300 km/h result was a two-direction average recognised by Guinness. The 2014 270.49-mph Venom GT run was a separate one-way top-speed result and did not receive Guinness production-car-record recognition.
HPE continues to modify production cars, trucks and SUVs. HSV’s F5 programme consists of limited Coupé, Roadster and Revolution variants, with the 24 Coupes sold out in 2021.