The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse had the record for the fastest convertible production vehicle ever. The world record of 254mph was set the Volkswagen Test Track in Ehra-Lessein in Germany. The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport also had the world record for the fastest production vehicle with an average top speed of 267mph with the speed limiter turned off.
Enter the Hennessey Venom GT.
To celebrate 25 years of automotive excellence, Hennessey decided to take a crack at the record for the fastest open-top production road vehicle. The Coupe version of the Venom GT already captured the title of fastest production vehicle in 2014 with a run of 270mph. The only record standing was that of the convertible, so John Hennessey and company decided to break it.
Driver Brian Smith was chosen for the record attempt and it was done in the 2.9 mile Naval Air Station runway at Lemoore, California. The record attempt for the convertible was done with an open roof. The Hennessey Venom GT Spyder beat the current world record by 11mph, reaching a top speed of 265mph. In contrast to the record run of the Veyron, which was done on an oval track, the Venom GT did it on a straight run to the end of the runway. See the video for yourself to better appreciate how fast 265mph is. And turn up the volume to hear the awesome sound of the Venom engine.
The Venom GT is an automotive dream, sporting a 7.0-litre twin turbo V8 that churns out a monster 1,451bhp and 1,278lb-ft of torque. The Venom can accelerate to 62mph from a standstill in under 2.4 seconds and reach 200mph in less than 13 seconds.
To commemorate the feat, Hennessey will be building 3 “World Record Edition” Venom GT that would cost around £1,000,000 including taxes. Now that the new Bugatti has launched the Chiron, one has to wonder how they will respond to being beat not once but twice. Bugatti has gone on record that the Chiron would go beyond the 270mph top speed. But Hennessey already has plans to run the Venom F5 in an attempt to reach 290mph! That’s just crazy fast!
So better stay tuned!
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