The Venom GT is the Texas-based company's first concept car; it was created by British auto designer Steve Everitt, and would be powered by Hennessey's Venom 1000 Twin Turbo Viper V10 powerplant into a light weight mid-engine chassis weighing under 2,700 lbs (about 1,225 kg).

The unit would be coupled with a 6-speed transmission or optional sequential gearbox.

With a power to weight ratio of just 2.7 lbs (1,2 kg) per hp, the estimated performance figures are a 0-100 km/h sprint in less than 2.5 seconds and a 0-300 km/h time of around 14 seconds.

Hennessey is planning to build two prototypes within 2009 in order to evaluate the public's reaction.

From the official Press Release:

Company founder, John Hennessey, states that the Venom GT is not being built as a competitor of the Bugatti Veyron.

Hennessey point out, saying, "The Veyron is an ultra fast and ultra luxurious grand touring car which also happens to be quicker and faster than any other road car, except for our Venom 1000 Twin Turbo SRT which beat the Veyron earlier this year from 0-200 mph. The Venom GT will be a much more engaging sports car to drive by challenging the driver with 1000+ HP in a chassis that is nearly 1500 lbs lighter than the Veyron."

Hennessey added: "The company already has existing Venom 1000 Twin Turbo clients interested in ordering the lighter, mid-engined Venom GT. "Right now are taking a serious look at building 2 concept cars that could be shown to the public sometime in 2009. If there is enough demand we may consider doing a very limited production run of the Venom GT."

About Hennessey Performance Engineering

Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE) is a North America-based aftermarket tuning firm specialized in designing and producing high-performance parts and services for production sportscars such as Dodge Viper SRT10, Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, Chrysler 300C SRT8 and Dodge Magnum SRT8 as well as other exclusive brands such as Bentley, AMG Mercedes and Porsche.

HPE is completing the construction of the company's new 30,000 square foot engineering and manufacturing facility at the company's Lonestar Motorosports Park - a 1/4 mile dragstrip located 45 minutes west of Houston, Texas.

For more information visit www.hennesseyperformance.com.

(Source: Hennessey via Autoblog.com)