BUILDING SPEED

Hennessey HQ in Sealy, Texas, is home not only to its mighty tuning business but also to the Venom F5 hypercar. We pay a visit

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ARRIVING AT HENNESSEY’S HQ, YOU’RE STRUCK BY the sheer size of the campus. Comprising 142 acres of land, 5000 square metres of buildings, a drag strip, a small network of perimeter roads and endless parking, it’s like a ranch for horsepower.

The sheer quantity of vehicles parked around the place is mind-boggling. Whether awaiting transformation or ready for collection, everywhere you look there's a Mustang Dark Horse, Challenger Hellcat, Cadillac CTS-V Blackwing or Camaro ZL1. And then there are the Raptors and Rams that tower over everything. If you love muscle cars and super-trucks, this place is off the scale.

Somewhat hilariously, pretty much everything appears to have been tuned to 1000bhp. Then again, if you're bringing your car to a place that’s also in the business of building halo hypercars with twice that power, perhaps it’s no wonder perspective gets a little bent out of shape when you drive through the gates.

There’s nothing fancy about the premises. But then Hennessey remains a tuning shop by volume, even if it’s firmly in the hypercar sphere by achievement, reputation and aspiration. Some people might expect more glitz and glamour to go with their £2million hypercar, but Hennessey’s humble beginnings and unpretentious style are true to the company’s straight-talking Texan roots. It all exudes a pleasing authenticity. One that places its emphasis on delivering the goods, not creating an Insta-fabulous illusion or selling vapourware.