Tracing the history of land speed record attempts and the fearless men that made it possible, the "Breaking Barriers" documentary film debuted on the National Geographic Channel on the 7th of May.
If you've missed it, follow this link to watch the best moments of the feature film. Naturally, all the men and women mentioned in "Breaking Barriers" are heroes of their own, but what the Hennessey Performance team managed to do this February with the Venom GT overshadows their efforts by a considerable margin.
After countless nights of tireless development and planning, Hennessey's flagship was ready for its record-braking run on the 3.2-mile Space Shuttle landing runway of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Lotus Exige-based Venom GT managed to hit a verified 270.49 miles per hour with Brian Smith in the driver's seat, which is 12 mph faster than the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport.
Even though a representative from Racelogic (the maker of VBox GPS data-aquisition systems) was on hand to verify and document the Venom GT's record-braking speed, the 1,244 horsepower American supercar didn't actually dethrone the mighty Veyron. Brian wasn't allowed to do a second run, which is mandatory by Guinness World Records rules.
Also, the Texas-based manufacturer announced it will produce the Venom GT in a limited run of just 29 units. That underqualifies the Guinness rule that says any production model eligible for a record must be manufactured in at least 30 examples. Nevertheless, the Hennessey team was happy that their years of hard work came to fruition, even though their record wasn't featured in the Guinness World Records Book.
Scroll down and press play to find out more on this incredible moment in automotive history.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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