John Hennessey: Venom F5’s 300mph attempt could happen this winter

John Hennessey is a man with ambition, having gone toe-to-toe with the likes of Bugatti and Koenigsegg for the best part of a decade now.

One number continues to evade him, though: 300. That’s the speed he hopes his Venom F5 can achieve when it finally sets out to topple the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport’s benchmark of 304, which he now confirmed could happen as soon as this winter.

TopGear.com: So, when and where will the attempt happen?

John Hennessey: A runway like NASA’s, with its 3.2-mile length, is not enough to discover the absolute Vmax of the F5. We need five or six miles to do that, and the only places really where that can be done are on public highways. We’re working with the State of Texas on that since they’ve let us test some of our cars previously on brand-new public highways before they were officially opened. We are still exploring the runway option because it’s a much more controlled environment, with less chance of animals intervening. 

The car is ready. But you just have to understand that going from a standing start to over 300mph and then stopping within 3.2 miles is a degree of difficulty that’s hard to even explain. We’ve been actively working on this for a long time and we feel pretty good about getting something done this coming winter. 

Why are you so confident that you can topple 300mph? 

We’ve got some of the best engineers in the world. The simulations say we can do it, but simulations are simulations. We race for a reason. I don’t want to be overconfident but honestly, I feel like this is something we were destined to do. Maybe this pursuit is something that helps inspire a young person to do something meaningful with their future.

It’s kind of like what happened to me. When I was a kid and I was following NASA’s Apollo program, I wanted to be an astronaut. I didn’t end up becoming one in the end, but life turned out alright. But that inspiration led me towards my passion for automotive, and I hope in some small way we can pay that back with what we’re trying to do with the F5.

Should you achieve your goal, will you start looking to put further distance between you and other top-speed-chasing brands?

About five years ago, Bugatti ran the 304, but that was with a modified version of the car which it doesn’t offer to customers. That was also solely in one direction. It’s a very impressive thing that it did, but it’s not like its clients can say their cars can do that. I do not doubt that Koenigsegg, when it's ready, will go out and challenge whatever number it is we run.

We’d love to put as big a number as we possibly can out there. I look at our goal as similar to playing golf; we’re only competing with ourselves here. Yes, there are other people in the game, but we cannot focus on what they’re doing, or not doing, or might do.

The aerodynamicists say the potential of the car is 328mph. But I feel like if we can get the F5 to do a two-way average of over 300mph, and possibly touch 310mph (500kph) in one direction, then we can check a big box. If we can do that, and do it first, and some other manufacturer comes out and beats it, that’s OK with us. We welcome competition. Friendly rivalry makes things interesting for everybody.

The former CEO of Bugatti, Wolfgang Durheimer, came up to me at Pebble Beach after our Venom GT ran 270mph and he thanked me. He told me if we hadn’t been out there trying to challenge Bugatti’s records, they’d be doing it by themselves and that would make it less interesting for everyone. And he’s exactly right. Rivalries create relevance. So I think if these rivalries are healthy, in the end, be it the enthusiast, the consumer, the owner, whoever, everyone wins.

You mention a potential speed of 328mph; what do you think is the theoretical overall top speed road cars can achieve one day?

I don’t know if there is anyone out there who’ll build a road car, with functioning air con and power windows and Apple CarPlay, that’ll surpass 400mph. I feel like 300 is our Concorde moment. From a legacy perspective, it’s important for us.

Which tracks would you like to take the F5 to?

Once we get past Vmax, Laguna Seca is on our list. And so is Silverstone. We have one, possibly two orders from UK customers, so we’ll be at Goodwood next year, and maybe we’ll turn to Silverstone from there. Perhaps some other historic tracks too which have benchmark times set, like Spa.

Moving on, Hennessey built its name as a tuning brand. Are there any particular brands or specific cars you hope to work with moving forward?

I love Porsches. I own two myself, and people ask me all the time about tuning them. Right now, we modify about 600 vehicles per year, primarily American trucks. That’s likely to increase too, since we recently signed a deal with General Motors and Stellantis where they’ll supply vehicles to us. So our modified vehicle business could reach 1,000 cars next year. But I do like Porsches. Maybe we’ll do something in that space. 

I once sat next to Stephen Winkelmann at the head table of a Top Gear Awards ceremony and became friends with him. I saw him again a few weeks ago at Pebble Beach, where I saw the Temerario and the Revuelto, both of which I really like. So perhaps we’ll try and work with Winkelmann on those cars? If we can find the right niche in the Porsche or Lamborghini markets, we could explore something there.

And finally, how will Hennessey remain different to other North American rivals like Czinger?

I think when you look at companies like Czinger, it’s very tech-focused. And while I believe technology has its place, I’m old school. I’m not afraid of technology, we apply lots of it in our cars. But I never want to see technology trump the driving experience.

I won’t name a name, but someone in the car industry once told me he wanted to set a sub-four-minute Nürburgring lap time. In that instance, the driver would basically be rendered useless (and unconscious). It would need to be some sort of radio-controlled, or GP-controlled car to achieve those speeds. I don’t ever want to take the driver out of the experience, because I think that’s ridiculous.

I’m all for pushing boundaries, but, while I’m alive, you’ll never see a Hennessey vehicle where the technology surpasses the driving experience. I’ll give you a great example: look at Gordon Murray and what he’s done with the T.50. If Gordon wanted to incorporate some sort of next-level technology he could’ve done it. But he was keen to make sure driver satisfaction was the most important thing. That’s true for Hennessey today and will be true for Hennessey 100 years from now.