Revealed: Hennessey's 1451bhp Venom. Run for the hills

At next week’s SEMA show in Las Vegas, Hennessey Performance Engineering will unveil a new version of its deranged Venom GT. A faster, more powerful version.

And one that boasts fourteen-hundred-and-fifty-one horsepower. Say hello, everyone, to what's soon to become one of the fastest cars in the world.

“Being the fastest matters,” explains John Hennessey. Yes, John. Yes it does. The Hennessey Venom GT for 2016 is able to run E85 Flexfuel, which in turn allows the twin-turbo, GM-sourced 7.0-litre V8 to run a higher boost pressure.

Quite a lot more boost, actually. Instead of the ‘standard’ car’s 19psi, next year’s car will crank the boost up to 25psi. With this extra pressure comes extra fastness.

0-60mph, says Hennessey, now takes just 2.4 seconds. 0-100mph takes 4.4 seconds, 0-200mph is dispatched in 12.8 seconds, while a standing quarter-mile takes just 9.4 seconds at a speed of 167mph.

Picked up your jaw yet? There’s more. The GT's top speed is quoted as ‘280+ mph’. The normal, 1244bhp Venom manages a paltry 270mph, the highest speed recorded by a production car but, for complicated reasons, not quite enough for a Guinness world record.

“We are intent on keeping the Venom as the fastest, best performing and most exciting hypercar on the road,” John says. Excitement, we would venture, shall not be an issue.

As such, just a handful of these Venom GTs will be on the cards - just four for 2017, we're told - with John and his team still working on the Venom F5 set to arrive the same year. That car promises 290mph…

Hennessey is also bringing along another couple of horsepower haymakers to SEMA next week too, in the shape of a 774bhp Mustang Convertible, and a 650bhp Ford F-150.

“From wild to mild, our special cars and trucks continue to deliver a driving experience of the highest order,” John added.

Fourteen hundred horsepower. We're not sure what the ownership criteria, beyond 'possession of a lot of cash', might be for the new Venom GT. We assume 'enjoyment of understeer' and 'sluggish reactions' are not on the must-have list...