Hennessey Performance turns 25 years old in 2016 and to celebrate the company’s silver anniversary, John and the crew took the Venom GT Spyder to the Naval Air Base in Lemoore, California to see if they could set a new record for the highest top speed without a fixed roof.
When Hennessey, his LS7-powered hypercar and his team got to the 2.9-mile runway at the Lemoore Naval Base, the Bugatti Veyron Grand Vitesse held the record for the world’s fastest convertible/topless car with a speed of 254 miles per hour. That record wasn’t officially verified by the Guinness Book of World Records, as their top speed record runs require vehicles to make two passes on the same track in opposite direction – and then take the average of the two. This way, they can factor in any slope of the track, wind, etc. The Veyron did not meet those requirements when setting the record at 254 miles per hour, but with no real challenger, Bugatti was able to claim the title for the world’s fastest topless car.
Well, John Hennessey has a challenger in the form of the Venom GT Spyder, with a 1,451 horsepower twin turbocharged LS7 from the Corvette Z06 making this one of the most powerful rear wheel drive cars in the world. With the top off, Hennessey was able to get the Venom GT Spyder up to 265.6 miles per hour – beating the Bugatti number by more than 11 miles per hour.
Also, after completing the run, John Hennessey believes that with a longer track, the Venom GT Spyder is capable of hitting the official top speed of 270 miles per hour.
Best of all, as is so often the case, Hennessey had a camera crew on hand for this record run and as a result, as have a great video walking us through the process of setting the record for the world’s fastest topless car.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
