Texas-based tuner Hennessey is hoping to claim the title of world’s fastest and most powerful chop-top with the launch of the Venom F5 Roadster.
Predecessor, the Venom GT, was a re-engineered version of the Lotus Elise/Exige, but the Venom F5 is the company’s first entirely new model since becoming a manufacturer in its own right.
F5 is a reference to an F5-rated tornado, with winds speeds up to 512 km/h and Venom has been designed with just one thing in mind — to become the fastest production car in the world by reaching speeds in excess of 485km/h.
The Guinness record-setting GT featured a 7.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 that pumped out 928kW of power and had a top speed of 435.31 km/h.
The twin-turbo 6.6-litre ‘Fury’ V8 in the F5 pushes out a gob-smacking 1355kW of power and 1617Nm of torque, and promises to knock off the GT Spyder’s record.
In fact, given it has more power and less weight than a Bugatti Chiron, Venom looks likely to topple the Bugatti which is currently the world’s fastest car after it hit 490km/h in 2019.
Company founder and CEO John Hennessey said the Roadster delivers an “unmatched” automotive experience.
He said the Coupe was engineered from get-go with an open-top version in mind, so only minor adjustments were required to deliver coupe-rivaling chassis rigidity, strength and stiffness.
The F5 Roadster’s roof has been re-engineered with a removable panel crafted from rigid carbon fibre composites.
The single-piece roof is fully insulated against the elements and lined with soft Alcantara upholstery.
The weatherproof panel is secured with four quick-release bolts and a pair of high-strength latches to withstand the hypercar’s staggering acceleration capabilities and aerodynamic forces at extreme speed.
The lightweight roof panel weighs a mere 8.0 kg, making removal and installation easy for one person.
Owners may choose to store the panel in a bespoke Merino wool travel bag or as a standalone work-of-art on a custom-made, sculptured pedestal – devised by Hennessey’s in-house design team to enhance the ownership experience.
Either way, there’s no room to take it with you.
The roof pedestal, crafted in carbon fibre like the roof panel, mirrors design themes from the Venom F5 Roadster.
Viewed from above, its ‘blade legs’ trace the shape of the car’s rear decklid, while the side profile uses the hyper-car’s body side air intake form for inspiration.
In addition, the sharply angled, streamlined stand displays the ‘Venom F5 Roadster’ script on the front face of the base in the same eight-microns thin aluminium as the car’s ‘H’ nose badge.
Venom F5 Roadster features a new tempered glass engine viewing window.
This panel, in the middle of the rear engine cover, spotlights the massive ‘Fury’ V8 engine in all its glory.
Its engineering was no simple task, developed and certified for use in jet aircraft.
The sizeable glass panel can withstand aerodynamic forces exceeding 480km/h and temperatures beyond 540 degrees Celsius.
The engine viewing window is encapsulated within a removable carbon fibre engine cover that features intricately-milled heat extraction holes that match those in the rear bumper.
Additional heat extraction is achieved by dual aluminium air vents, four on each side of the glass panel, which match the vents behind each front wheel.
Venom F5 Roadster will be limited to just 30 units and will be manufactured in Texas.
Like the Coupe each car comes with Treasure Chest, an aluminum box containing the key fob, a magnetic trickle charger, and a tow hook.
The key fob’s serial number plate is made from scrap metal from a Space Shuttle launch.
Hennessey said he was given the component by an astronaut and broke it into pieces to give Venom F5 owners “a piece of space”.
Roadster production begins in late 2022, with validation of the model’s high-speed capabilities set to occur as the production rate levels out.
Hennessey Special Vehicles has priced the new Venom F5 Roadster at US $3 million (about $4.3 million Australian), with each of the 30 personalised examples individually commissioned to its owner.
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