Someone with more money than sense (or perhaps just more money than everyone else) now has the opportunity to purchase what is essentially a road-legal tornado. A Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster has just been listed for sale at RAFA Motors in Houston for a mere $2.8 million - roughly the GDP of a small island nation or the annual bonus of a mid-level hedge fund manager.This particular example comes in Magna White with Sapphire Blue stripes and a brown leather interior. It also features the John Hennessey Heritage Series package, which I assume means John Hennessey himself has breathed on it, increasing its value by approximately $500,000.For those who don't know the backstory of this Texan monster, the Venom F5 is the brainchild of John Hennessey, a man who looked at supercars and thought, "not fast enough." His company started out modifying Dodge Vipers and various other vehicles that were already borderline irresponsible, before deciding to build their own hypercar from scratch. The result was the original Venom GT, which was essentially a stretched Lotus Exige with a twin-turbocharged V8 crammed into it - a bit like putting a nuclear reactor in a garden shed. It set an unofficial speed record of 270 mph back in 2014, sending shivers down the spines of executives at Bugatti, who had previously thought their Veyron was quite quick. The F5 is Hennessey's second-generation hypercar, named after the highest category of tornado on the Fujita scale. How appropriate. Unlike its predecessor, which had Lotus DNA, the F5 is entirely Hennessey's own creation, built around a carbon fiber monocoque that weighs about as much as a decent lunch. Under the hood sits a 6.6-liter twin-turbocharged V8 producing 1,817 horsepower - more power than an entire Formula 1 grid from the 1970s. It will accelerate from 0-60 mph in just 2.6 seconds, which is roughly the time it takes for your brain to process what's happening before your face is permanently rearranged by g-forces. The engine, known as "Fury" (no, really), is hand-built in Texas and is essentially Hennessey's middle finger to the automotive establishment and perhaps to the laws of physics themselves. It's connected to a single-clutch semi-automatic transmission rather than a dual-clutch, reportedly because the latter couldn't handle the astronomical torque. That's like saying you can't use a shovel because your gold is too heavy. The Roadster version, of which only 30 will ever exist, is even more exclusive than the coupe. It features a removable roof panel that, according to Hennessey, can be installed or removed by a single person. Though I imagine that person would need to be fairly careful with a carbon fiber panel that probably costs more than a normal luxury car. With production limited to just 30 units worldwide, this is one of those cars that will probably never actually be driven. It will instead be hermetically sealed in a climate-controlled garage, appearing only for the occasional Instagram photo before being sold at auction in 15 years for $5 million to another person who won't drive it. The listing describes it as being in "brand new showroom condition" with "delivery miles" on the odometer, which translates to "this vehicle has moved only when pushed by white-gloved handlers." A bit sad, really. Like buying a thoroughbred racehorse and using it as a coat rack. Hennessey claims the F5 is capable of exceeding 300 mph, though this has not been officially verified by any independent body. Not that it matters to the eventual buyer, who will likely never exceed the speed limit of the country club driveway where the car will spend most of its life.
