John Hennessey has become a household name among tuning fans. For the last 20 years the Sealy, Texas-based tuner has managed to extract serious horsepower out of some already-fast cars. What began as a small Texas outfit specializing in turning Dodge Vipers into twin-turbocharged man-eating snakes grew into a full scale multi-million dollar operation that does everything from engine tuning, to bespoke body kits, interior customization, and accessories for most manufacturers. There is even a school for up-and-coming automotive tuners. Yes, John Hennessey is also a professor of high-horsepower wizardry.
One thing that hasn’t changed in the last 21 years is Hennessey Performance’s commitment to extracting other worldly horsepower and acceleration figures out of the world’s fastest street cars. Check out our top five favorites:
Hennessey Ford SVT VelociRaptor
Putting this much power in a pick-up truck is insane, which is exactly we like it. Watch as the Hennessey VelociRaptor tries to destroy the pristine Texas countryside.
Hennessey Venom Dodge Viper
If given the choice of all the Hennesey vehicles we’d take a Hennessey Viper. Any year any color. Mostly because the Viper has been Hennessey Performance’s bread and butter since the 1990′s. The best part of that longstanding relationship is that Hennessey has a twin turbo kit ready to go for the all new 2013 SRT Viper. It puts down a tire scorching 1,100+ hp. Where do we sign up?
PHOTOS: See more of the Hennessey Venom Dodge Viper SRT
Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V VR1200 Twin Turbo:
Honestly, most people are satisfied with the performance of the standard Cadillac CTS-V. But John Hennessey isn’t most people and neither are his customers. As the owner of a daily driven 700-hp CTS-V Wagon, it only makes sense that John and his team would try and pack as much power into the sportier CTS-V coupe. They managed to massage 1,200 hp from a twin-turbocharged setup and then let it loose on Texas’ brand-spanking-new Texas State Highway 130:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=aqZXj3aTCJI
PHOTOS: See more of the Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V Coupe VR1200 Twin Turbo
Hennessey Ford GT:
Record holder of the 2012 Texas Standing Mile World Record at 257.7 mph. Enough said.
Hennessey Venom GT2
The second iteration of the Texan middle finger to the Bugatti Veyron hosts a series of unnecessary upgrades, because the original was fast and crazy enough for even the most jaded of automotive journalists. If it’s even better than the original (as promised), then we can’t wait to see this bad boy in action.
