THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL MANUAL - THE HENNESSEY VENOM F5-M ROADSTER

Hennessey Special Vehicles, the Texas-based hypercar manufacturer, has announced plans to build its most engaging, physical and driver-focused hypercar to-date, the Venom F5-M Roadster: the world’s most powerful manual production car.

Focused around a gated six-speed manual transmission, the core purpose of the significantly re-engineered Venom F5-M is to amplify the sensation of driving. Alongside the sensory magnification enabled by the open cockpit, Hennessey opted for a physical transmission connection over any electronic interference. The team’s engineers worked hard to merge captivating interaction, mind-bending performance and full-sensory feedback, with the mighty Fury V8 engine’s 1,817 bhp - placing the driver right at the heart of the beast.

John Hennessey, company founder and CEO said “We are so excited to offer the Venom F5-M Roadster – the world’s most powerful manual. 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.

He goes on to say “Driving the Venom F5 is already a full-body experience that thrills, inspires and never gets old but, we never say that’s enough, we never stand still. That’s why we’ve dived deeper into the sensation of driving, finding every touchpoint to deliver connection, feedback, sound, and engagement. We believe that the Venom F5-M Roadster will be the most intense, immersive, and extreme driving experience on the planet and a dozen lucky customers get to join us for the ride!”.

Working with the company’s experienced calibration team, Hennessey’s engineering guru Brian Jones remapped the engine to pair it with new gearing ratios. Optimising the set-up for exhilaration and stimulation, the team balanced thrill against the scientific realities of manually transferring 1,817 bhp to the road via the rear wheels. The graduated application of power will guarantee the Venom F5-M devastating acceleration while harnessing power delivery to achieve control as speed increases.

Unfortunately, just 12 models will be built and all are already sold. Priced from $2.65m and featuring a unique livery exclusive to the model range, every customer got to stamp their mark on their car with one-off colours and unique carbon fibre treatments means the Venom F5-M will stand apart from the rest of the range in a host of ways inside and out.

Within the cockpit, a redesigned interior contains the elevated aluminium and carbon fibre gear shifter, which is positioned close to the driver to facilitate the perfect shift. Honed for feel, the shifter sits in pride of place within a six-speed gate milled from billet aluminium. This blend of driver touchpoints, the physicality of operation and total connection with the machinery of the hypercar integrates perfectly with Hennessey’s obsessive attention to detail and the highest levels of skilled craftsmanship.

Nathan Malinick, Hennessey Director of Design said “We’re extreme, we’re authentic, plus we’re distinctly and uniquely American. These characteristics shine through in the design of the F5-M, inside and out and in how it performs. This is a car for bold and brave driving enthusiasts who like their Hypercars to thrill with wild power, dramatic design and an experience behind the wheel that is incomparable to anything else on Earth.”

Malinick and his team created the design for the F5-M that accentuates the lines of the car, emphasises its open roof and takes inspiration from heritage motorsport designs. From the front, Hennessey celebrates next-level craftmanship pairing exposed carbon fibre with a coloured central line and duel, contrasting accent stripes that flow up to the windscreen. The stripes, which continue over the roof, along the dorsal fin, right to the rear edge of the deck also connect the car’s exterior to its cockpit, with the ‘spine line’ mirrored beneath the roof onto the central console.

This redesigned central section of the cockpit features an entirely new layout for the F5-M. The fresh look sees new horizontal air outlets set above a purpose-made slot for the key, which is made from the same billet aluminium as the gearshift gate it sits above. Flowing down from the gearstick, there’s space for the air conditioning control, with the redesigned console completed by jet-fighter-inspired toggle switches for the windows.

The new open-top manual Hennessey hypercar stands on the shoulders of the current World Record holding Hennessey Venom GT Spyder, which is still the world’s fastest convertible road car. Also sporting a six-speed manual, the Venom GT set the world’s fastest open-top speed in 2016, achieving 265.6 mph, which is a record held to this day.

Design, specification and build of each Venom F5 is carried out at Hennessey’s HQ in Sealy, Texas. The team has already delivered 24 semi-auto Venom F5 Coupe, Roadster and Revolution models and Special Series cars to customers across the U.S. and around the world. Hennessey has already sold all 12 Venom F5-M Roadsters, which are part of the 30-unit total build run of Roadster models. Each owner is guaranteed a unique colour that is deleted from Hennessey’s world-leading configurator once chosen to ensure total exclusivity.