Hennessey Mustang Shelby GT500 Broke a Speed Record With One Really Strange Passenger
The latest Ford Mustang Shelby GT500s are already some of the sharpest, most ludicrous muscle car mutations the world has ever seen. However, Hennessey, the Texas-based tuning company, isn’t one to leave horsepower and performance metrics stock. Instead, Hennessey took one of its Venom 1000 S550-generation Mustang GT500s, gave it an odd occupant, and sent it to break a speed record.
How much HP does a Hennessey Mustang have?
When Hennessey gets their hands on a car, horsepower is the name of the game. For instance, the Hennessey Mustang GT500 Venom 1000 takes the base Shelby’s 760 horsepower and 625 lb-ft of torque and bumps the figures up to 1,000 horsepower and 850 lb-ft of torque.
Of course, if that isn’t enough for you, you can commission a Venom 1200 from the Texas performance house. The Venom 1200 will produce, you guessed it, over 1,200 horsepower. However, when it comes to silly records begging to be broken, Hennessey chose the Venom 1000 Mustang GT500 for the task.
For the holiday season of 2022, the beloved Dr. Seuss character, the Grinch, ‘stole’ an Eruption Green Venom 1000. However, instead of using it to steal presents from the children of Whoville, he used it for a high-speed run at the Continental Tire Proving Grounds in Uvalde, Texas. Better yet, the green super-stang had a Christmas tree tethered to its roof.
How fast is a 1000-hp Mustang?
A bone-stock, 760-horsepower 2022 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 will hit 60 mph in less than 3.5 seconds. Despite the snappy acceleration and track credentials, Ford says it will max out at 180 mph. However, the Hennessey Mustang Venom 1000 hit 192 mph, despite the added drag of a tree.
Driver Spencer Geswein probably had difficulty remembering that he was gunning for a very odd record: the fastest Christmas tree of 2022. Instead, he was likely focused on the track and instrumentation, which read 192 mph by the end. Still, even more distracting than the raw speed of the Hennessey Mustang was the vociferous supercharged 5.2L Predator V8, which shrieked across the Texas track.
How much does a Hennessey Mustang cost?
If you want your own Hennessey Mustang to perform silly stunts, you’ll have to budget accordingly. For instance, Motor1 says the Venom 1200 Mustang costs $59,950. However, that doesn’t include the price of acquiring the Shelby base car, which started at around $74,660 new.
Furthermore, Hennessey warranties its work; the Venom 1000 offers a three-year, 36,000-mile warranty. The Venom 1200 drops that coverage down to around one year and 12,000 miles.
What is Hennessey’s fastest car?
If a modified Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, Chevrolet Corvette, or Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye isn’t enough, Hennessey’s fastest car is its built-in-house Venom F5. The F5 packs a 1,800-horsepower twin-turbocharged 6.6L V8 with a claimed top speed of over 300 mph.
