SEALY (Texas, USA): Hennessey, the Texas-based hypercar manufacturer and high-performance vehicle creator, has achieved a 294kph speed record for the fastest station wagon with a Christmas tree mounted on the roof!
The seasonal speed record breaks Hennessey’s previous best – 291kph achieved with a 1,000bhp Hennessey Jeep Trackhawk in 2019.
The Christmas tree record was set while the team was conducting the Venom F5 hypercar’s final high-speed validation testing. This last phase of F5 engineering focused on tyres, braking and aerodynamics at speeds in excess of 402kph ahead of an attempt to exceed 480kph in early 2022.
The Hennessey engineers love a challenge, and they love Christmas too, so taking time to enjoy some festive fun as part of the intense F5 testing program provided some welcome light relief.
The Audi RS 6 Avant (belonging to John Hennessey’s wife) was tuned by Hennessey to 800bhp and featured a modified exhaust system, which enabled the 6ft Douglas Fir to hit the record speed. The vehicle was driven by professional driver and senior instructor at the Ford Performance Driving School, Spencer Geswein.
John Hennessey, company Founder and CEO: “We wanted to see what my wife’s Audi station wagon would run without the tree and we managed 205mph (329kph). Then, the real holiday fun began when we mounted a real Christmas tree on the roof. To our surprise, her wagon ran a very respectable 183 mph.”
The 65+ team at Hennessey Performance build more than 600 high-performance cars and trucks every year.
In 2021, they’ve fine-tuned the Hennessey Venom F5 hypercar and are already looking ahead to the company’s first fully electrified Hyper-Lux GT – Project Deep Space.
