The terrifying Hennessey Venom F5-M is coming to Goodwood

The Hennessey Venom F5-M – which claims to be the most powerful manual production car in history, no less – will make its global public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on Thursday. Seriously though, bring ear plugs.

It’ll be based in Goodwood’s Supercar Paddock but will run up the hill twice daily over the four-day festival, with that 6.6-litre ‘Fury’ V8 set to give thousands of spectators and every farm animal within a 10-mile radius severe tinnitus for weeks afterwards.

Specifically, it’ll be this here Chassis 1 doing the honours: the first of only 12 Roadster examples of the 2,031bhp RWD hypercar, it bears both the Union Flag and the USA’s stars ‘n’ stripes (in gold, duh) at the tail of its 55in dorsal fin in a nod to the car’s heritage and the owner’s British nationality. Yep, you might well see this outside Waitrose over the summer.

Naturally the nose badge is made of 24-karat gold, and the body’s finished in exposed purple carbon fibre, with the owner’s family name – Sheikh – placed around the cabin and beneath the brake lights, courtesy of Hennessey’s ‘Maverick’ custom division.

The six-speed transmission consists of a billet aluminium (or aluminum, if you like your elements spelled incorrectly) short-throw lever within a milled open gate; kinda necessary when you’ve got twice the power of the original Veyron at the mercy of your right foot…

The F5-M features a carbon fibre chassis, a unique aerodynamic package, a bespoke interior and an integrated roof scoop to accompany that huge fin, and costs upwards of $2.65m. Given the extras, we suspect very, very upwards indeed.

“We’ve always believed the Venom F5 delivers the most intense performance experience on the planet – but with the F5-M, we’ve gone even further,” says founder John Hennessey himself. “A gated six-speed manual puts the driver completely in control, while the open-top design brings the Fury V8 sound directly into the cockpit.

“The noise, the feel, and the power delivery are raw and unfiltered – it’s the most all-consuming driving experience we’ve created!”

Meanwhile, director of design Nathan Malinick adds: “Our decision to offer a manual gearbox fundamentally changed the Venom F5. It promoted driver interaction and engagement to the primary focus; it delivered freedom to explore visual presence and aerodynamics in totally new ways; and it enabled a fully-redesigned center console.

“The F5-M is not simply an F5 with a manual transmission – it is a complete design response to a very different kind of driver involvement.”

And bystander involvement. Seriously though, bring ear plugs.