Hennessey has set a new, unofficial holiday record, having driven its Venom 1000 Mustang GT500 to a velocity of 192 mph with an illuminated Christmas tree strapped to the roof, the Texas-based tuner announced.
Documented in the video above, the achievement occurred at the Continental Tire Proving Grounds in Ulvade, Texas.
Based on the most powerful factory-produced Mustang of all time, the stock Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 boasts a hand-built supercharged 5.2-liter V8 equipped with a 2.65-liter supercharger. Hennessey’s Texas team upgrades the car with a high-flow induction system, new fuel rails and injectors, and an air/oil separation system. In addition, fittings, lines, belts, and tensioners are upgraded, and the dual-clutch transmission is recalibrated for its high-output role. The result is the Venom 1000 Mustang GT500, which is rated at 1,000 hp and 850 lb-ft of torque on 93 octane pump gas.
Piloted by professional race car driver Spencer Geswein, the Venom 1000 Mustang GT500 achieved the record speed on the closed circuit. This is despite the significant additional drag (and holiday cheer) produced by a festal light-adorned evergreen. The vehicle was not altered explicitly for the run, except for removing the factory under hood ‘rain tray’ to improve airflow. The coupe, a 2022 ‘Golden Ticket’ GT500, was finished in a rare – yet seasonally festive – Eruption Green paint, Hennessey said.
“Our annual ‘Christmas Tree Run’ serves two roles for our growing company. First, testing our performance at a proving grounds is a great opportunity to validate our engineering – the Venom 1000 delivers impressive numbers,” said John Hennessey, company founder and CEO. “Second, adding the seasonal twist allows our hard-working team to end the year with some high-speed fun before they slow down and enjoy their families for the holidays.”
The ‘Christmas Tree Run’ has become a Hennessey tradition, the tuner said. In 2017, the company used a 2018 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Widebody to take a tree to 174 mph. The number was broken in 2019 when its HPE1000 Jeep Trackhawk hit 181 mph with a Douglas Fir strapped to its roof rails. And last year, Hennessey cracked 183 mph with a tuned Audi RS 6 Avant with a fresh Christmas tree tied to its roof.
