Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster to make European debut at Salon Prive

Hennessey has confirmed that its new Venom F5 Roadster will be making its European debut in the UK at next week’s Salon Prive.

Only revealed in full last week at Monterey Car Week, this new Roadster is based on the Venom F5 Coupe, and promises to be the world’s fastest and most powerful drop-top.

Like the Coupe, it uses a monstrous twin-turbocharged 6.6-litre V8 engine (nicknamed Fury) that produces a huge 1,817bhp. Hennessey says it’s been ‘engineered to exceed 300mph’, which would make it the most powerful convertible production car to date, though the maximum speed is yet to be verified.

Aside from the obvious difference in its roof, the drop-top also gets unique alloy wheels. Its carbon fibre roof is also fully removable, and is stored in a supplied Merino wool bag or a ‘sculptural pedestal’. It will be on display at next week’s Salon Prive, held at Blenheim Palace Oxfordshire, which takes place between August 31 and September 4.

John Hennessey, company founder and CEO, said: “The UK is a very special market for Hennessey with London a major financial center and a hub for global travel, not to mention the passion and enthusiasm of European hypercar buyers.

“The Venom F5 Roadster is obviously about extreme performance, but it also takes hypercars as an artform to a new level – so, the premium nature of Salon Privé is ideal for its European debut.”

Just 30 of the Roadsters will be built by the American hypercar company – slightly more than the 24 Coupes being produced – each priced at $3m (£2.54m). Production of the Coupe is already underway, but won’t begin for the convertible until 2023.