Dealer Refuses To Sell 2023 Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster for $1.85 Million, This Is Awkward

Well, at least as far as the used car market is concerned, where hypercar buyers tend to focus their purchasing power on vehicles that are sure to go up in value over time – which in turn means buying from well-established brands that are usually in very high demand.

We’re not sure that this is what went wrong for this particular Venom F5 Roadster, but it would make sense. The car was up for grabs to the highest bidder, but the reserve wasn’t met so the dealer pulled the sale – they apparently didn’t want to give it away for “just” $1.85 million, which would have been a heck of a lot less than what it cost when new.

That’s right, this thing used to be even more expensive back when it had zero miles (it’s got 537 miles on the clock now), to the tune of some $3 million. To be fair, Hennessey planned just 30 Roadsters, so you can’t accuse this thing of not being sufficiently exclusive.

Still, I can’t help but wonder if the dealer would have had any trouble with the reserve being met if this was a Bugatti or a Koenigsegg.

Anyway, back to this car. It’s only the second roadster model built by Hennessey Special Vehicles, and it’s wearing a delightful hue called Citrus Orange over carbon fiber. Features include the removable exposed carbon fiber roof, butterfly doors, front splitter, rear diffuser, tempered-glass engine cover, quad exhausts, plus a set of black anodized alloy wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires and blue-painted calipers.

Meanwhile, interior highlights include the carbon fiber bucket seats wearing Citrus Orange and black leather, additional Citrus Orange trim, visible carbon fiber elements, a windshield-mounted rearview camera screen, air conditioning, a touchscreen infotainment system, and a carbon fiber steering yoke with aluminum paddle shifters.

As for the engine, it’s a 6.6-liter twin turbocharged Fury V8 (based on GM’s LS architecture), packing twin Precision ball-bearing turbochargers with 76 mm billet aluminum compressor wheels. Factory output is rated at 1,817 horsepower and 1,193 lb-ft of torque, with everything going to the rear wheels via a seven-speed single-clutch gearbox.

Just how fast is this thing? According to Hennessey, it can get up to 301 mph (484 kph), with 0-186 mph taking less than 10 seconds. But is it worth $3 million to begin with? The performance says yes, but the badge might raise an eyebrow or two among luxury hypercar afficionados.