John Hennessey made a name for himself as an elite tuner of performance cars. More recently, the company he founded started building its own cars, including the Venom. Recently Hennessey debuted the Venom F5 roadster, claiming it will be the world’s fastest and most powerful open-topped road car in the world.  

What is a Venom F5? 

The roadster is based on the F5 Venom coupe and shares a 6.6-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 that produces a gobsmacking 1,817 horsepower. More incredibly, all that power gets funneled through an automated single-clutch transmission to the rear wheels. Hennessey claims the roadster weighs 3,098 pounds and can reach a top speed of over 300 mph.   

The Venom F5 is Hennessey’s first homegrown production car. It uses a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis to house its twin-turbocharged 6.6-liter ‘Fury’ V8 engine. According to the company, it can reach 60 mph in 2.5 seconds with a top speed close to 311 mph. Only 24 of these cars were built at a price of $2.1 million each. 

The “Fury” 6.6-liter V8 lies at the heart of the Venom F5. This cast-iron block, aluminum cylinder head engine utilizes two turbochargers that produce 23 psi of boost. A pushrod unit chosen for its compact dimensions makes a peak of 1817 horsepower at 8000 rpm and 1193 lb-ft of torque at 5500 rpm.

The new Roadster is essentially a Venom F5 with a Targa-style top. But there are additional attributes that set it apart from the coupe. According to John Hennessey, the company “created the Venom F5 to be the ultimate expression of a hypercar,” but the roadster “is an unmatched automotive experience.”  

Hennessey expects the Venom F5 Roadster to exceed the company’s own ‘world’s fastest convertible’ record of 265.6 mph set by the Hennessey Venom GT Spyder.

How much does a Venom F5 cost? 

The Venom F5 Roadster is priced at $3 million. That sounds like a lot until you realize that the Bugatti Chiron, the car the F5 competes with, is $3.6 million. Other cars in this rarified air include the $3.5 million Pagani Huayra Roadster and the $3.2 million Aston Martin Valkyrie.      

How many Venom F5s are made? 

Only 30 units of the Venom F5 Roadster are planned. Hennessey wants to guarantee a unique ownership experience with each car personally commissioned for its owner. Production is expected to begin in late 2022 at Hennessey’s facility in Texas.  

Who makes the Hennessey Venom F5? 

The Hennessey Venom F5 is made by Hennessey Performance in Sealy, Texas. The company was founded by John Hennessey in 1991 as a specialty tuner for cars like the Dodge Viper and Chevrolet Corvette. 

Today, Hennessey is comprised of Hennessey Special Vehicles, Hennessey Performance (HPE), the Tuner School, and the Lonestar Motorsports Park. The company’s mission is to “make fast cars go faster.” By its own account, the company has re-engineered more than 12,000 vehicles in addition to building its own hypercars, which include the Venom GT and the Venom F5.