The first Hennessey Venom GT has been delivered to a customer in the UAE.
The Lotus Elise/Exige-based supercar is built in Silverstone and has been created by company founder John Hennessey.
See pics of the Hennessey Venom GT in action
A twin-turbo V8 engine producing 1184bhp and 1135lb ft of torque powers the first example delivered. It uses a six-speed manual gearbox taken from the Ford GT.
Hennessey claims the Venom GT is capable of getting from 0-62mph in just 2.4sec and from 0-124mph in 7.0sec before reaching a top speed of 272mph. It weighs just 1220kg.
The Venom GT is only loosely based on the Lotus. It uses the Elise/Exige’s interior trim, roof, doors, windscreen, dash and floor. The firm has built all-new lightweight spaceframes for the front and rear, as well as its own suspension systems. The body is carbonfibre.
Hennessey has promised to demonstrate the performance capabilities of the Venom GT in the “near future”.
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Re: First 272mph Venom delivered
272mph. C'mon lets be real here. The Bugatti Veyron showed the world that speed comes at price. Others cars that have been faster than the Bugatti are completely stripped inside and weigh nothing and have no real involvement. The Bugatti is a real car. Really expensive, really expensive materials and the big one! A FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE ALL ROUND!! All these cars are not automatics, they don' t feel real. The Bugatti has been tried and tested. It used a W16 quad-turbo'd engine! It really does 252mph. Mercedes does supercars with huge amounts of torque and do you know what happens? The wheels spin and the car loses tyres. Not a great start. And c'mon..... styling to look like a elongated Elise, flimsy I say. And so what it uses the gearbox from a Ford GT, a Ford GT can only just go over 200 mph. This is 70 more, will it do it, no it will not. Everytime a car go past a certain limit, it needs to achieve certain milestones and sorry this car does not cut it. They need professionals that have gone past these levels of speed, Andy Green (over 700 mph in a jet car, SSC Thrust), Richard Noble, builders of great fast cars and of course, great controllers of speed and manoverabilites, F1 drivers. Theres only one place they can make this car go fast and thats the Nardo Circuit in Italy. Lets wait and see.
Re: First 272mph Venom delivered
It does not become a publication as august as Autocar to parrot speculative manufacturer's top speed nonsense like this.
This product has never been tested at this speed, its aero is completely unproven and it's not as if Mr Hennessey has the most unblemished record when it comes to being frank with customers.
Please do not lend legitimacy to this sort of PR puff.