Hennessey’s New Roadster Is The ‘World’s Most Powerful Manual’ Hypercar
For $2.65 million, you can slam through six gears transferring 1,817 horsepower to the pavement beneath this topless American rocket.
If the one-off manual Pagani Huayra Epitome is the ultimate driver’s hypercar, then the Hennessey Venom F5-M Roadster is the ultimate driver’s hypercar you can actually buy. Or could, as all 12 units have already been spoken for. By sticking a manual transmission in the Hennessey 1,817-hp Venom F5, the Texas-based proprietor of extreme internal combustion-born output has created the “world’s most powerful manual production car.”
Gearheads will likely smile as they gaze upon the above image of the metallic knob and stick protruding from the vehicle’s six-speed milled aluminum gate, daydreaming of the dyno-destroying V8 power coursing through the driveshaft to which the stick is linked. And that’s exactly the point. “We always wanted to build a manual Venom F5—and it’s something our clients have been asking for. It’s old school, it’s badass, and it offers ultimate driving engagement,” said company founder and CEO John Hennessey.
But the this Venom F5 is distinguished from its automatic siblings in more ways than one. It also wears a hulking 55-inch “dorsal fin” that reaches from the roof-mounted air scoop to the rear deck. The livery is also exclusive to the F5-M Roadster, featuring exposed carbon fiber with a colored central line and duel, contrasting accent stripes that flow up to the windscreen and down the back of the entire body. This “spine line” is also mirrored beneath the roof onto the central console in the interior, which features a new layout that sees new horizontal air outlets set above a purpose-made aluminum key slot.
Hennessey is keen to point out that they’ve done a topless manual-transmission before, and it earned a particularly impressive accolade. In 2016, the Venom GT set the world speed record for an open-top car at 265.6 mph. With a pedigree like that, it’s no wonder that the new Venom F5-M Roadster didn’t have trouble selling through before the first example was delivered—even with a $2.65 million price tag.
