This year's Amelia Concours d'Elegance was packed with more than 100 classic vehicles, ranging from 1960s muscle and 1970s race cars to 1980s and 1990s supercars. But the event also saw a few modern cars join in. The Hennessey Venom F5 was one of them and it made quite the racket by flexing its massively powerful, twin-turbo V8 engine.
Hennessey debuted the long-awaited production version of the Venom F5 in late 2020, but since customers have yet to take deliveries of their cars, this American beast is still a rare sight. So unless you're attending events like Amelia Concours d'Elegance, you won't be able to hear that V8 engine roar in person anytime soon. So it's a good thing some was popped out a camera to record this hair-raising moment.
Sure, the Venom F5 sounds best when it's being revved up to speeds in excess of 100 mph, but its idle sound is one the meanest out there. There's also a bit of revving, which results in a thunderous roar. This thing is proof that there really is no replacement for displacement (even when we're talking about a pair of turbos).
As a brief reminder, Hennessey created a brand-new, 6.6-liter Fury V8 engine for the Venom F5. Loosely based on an LS, the twin-turbo mill cranks out a massive 1,817 horsepower and 1,193 pound-feet (1,617 Nm) of torque, which makes the Venom F5 one of the most powerful road-legal car in production right now.
Taking part of its name from the Fujita tornado intensity rating scale, the Venom F5 aims to become the worlds fastest production car by hitting a top speed of more than 311 mph (500 kph). There's no word as to when the record attempt will happen, but Hennessey isn't the only company gunning for this benchmark.
SSC recorded a 282.9 mph (455.2 kph) average with the Tuatara in January 2021, but promised to return in an attempt to break 300 mph (482.8 kph). Word has it Koenigsegg also wants to go past 300 mph with a version of the Jesko. Meanwhile, Bugatti remains the only carmaker with bragging rights for 300+ speeds, having hit 304.77 mph (490.48) with a pre-production version of the Chiron Super Sport 300+.
Hopefully the Hennessey Venom F5 will do more than just rev its V8 at car shows soon, but until that happens, I'm happy to hear that Fury mill making some noise.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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