Hennessey builds the world’s most powerful manual hypercar

“It’s old school, it’s badass, and it offers ultimate driving engagement,” says John Hennessey, company founder and CEO of Hennessey Special Vehicles. For the hardcore driving enthusiast, it has to be nothing but a manual transmission with a purely physical connection and no hydraulic or electronic involvement in between.

“We always wanted to build a manual Venom F5 – and it’s something our clients have been asking for – and now we offer the Venom F5-M Roadster as the world’s most powerful manual,” said Hennessey.

Focused around a gated 6-speed manual transmission, the core purpose of the significantly re-engineered Venom F5-M is to amplify the sensation of driving with sensory magnification enabled by the open cockpit.

“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!” promised Hennessy.

The experienced calibration team remapped the twin-turbo 6.6-litre ‘Fury’ V8 engine to pair it with new gearing ratios. Optimizing 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.

Within the cockpit, a redesigned interior has the elevated aluminium and carbonfibre gear shifter positioned precisely, close to the driver, to facilitate the perfect shift. Designed for feel, and physically connected to the gearbox, the shifter sits within a 6-speed gate – milled from billet aluminium.

The design team created a bespoke livery for the F5-M that accentuates the lines of the hypercar, emphasizes its open roof, and take inspiration from heritage motorsport designs. From the front, Hennessey’s next level craftmanship pairs exposed carbonfibre with a coloured central line and dual  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 lid, 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 – 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.

Priced from US$2.65 million (about RM11.482 million), just 12 Venom F5-M Roadsters will be built – and all are already sold. They are part of the 30-unit total build run of Roadster model. Each owner is guaranteed a unique colour that is deleted from Hennessey’s configurator once chosen to ensure total exclusivity.

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