We're in Hinze's BBQ, a smokehouse in Sealey, Texas. Here - more than anywhere - felt appropriate to grill the incredibly hospitable and enthusiastic John Hennessey on the F5 and his future plans.
RH: You announced the F5 in 2014. Have the intentions of the project changed since then?
JH: No... and yes. No, it hasn't changed as the original concept was to be the fastest car in the world - we're still intent on that. The yes is that we've changed course slightly and made the decision to make the Spyder as we had so much interest. And there are possibly other variants coming.
RH: When will we see the F5 do 300mph-ish kinda speeds?
JH: I believe Bugatti showed the Chiron in 2015, delivered a customer car in 2016 but didn't break 300mph until September 2019. So, from the first car to a top speed was three years. We've only just delivered our first car, but we're consistently going fast in testing.
RH: Are you happy with F5?
JH: Hell yeah. I built it to be the fastest, but also to be thrilling and a little bit scary. I've driven and owned a lot of fast cars. I drive a Tesla Model S Plaid daily and have a Porsche Turbo S. They're extremely fast cars, but I get used to it. I never get used to the F5 - it's a road-going P51 Mustang with a Merlin engine.
RH: You're open about the bread-and-butter Hennessey truck and car mod part of the business paying for the F5 project. But the two clients must be very different, right? JH: Delighting billionaires is a challenge but also very satisfying. It makes you think differently. That's why I like things like the Treasure Chest - that's bespoke and comes with a machined aluminium jewellery box, the F5 key complete with Inconel from Space Shuttle Endeavour, charger tow hook and a $5k merino wool car cover.
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Denne historien er fra August 2022-utgaven av Top Gear.
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