God bless America. Just when you think they might start embracing four-cylinder hybrids en masse comes news of a V8-powered SUV that'll show a clean pair of heels to a Porsche 911 Turbo.
Not just any SUV either: this a Jeep Grand Cherokee, its good ol' boy V8 bored out to seven litres and given twin turbos by barmy Texan tuner Hennessey.
The same nutters that gave us the 1,200hp, Lotus Exige based Venom GT have managed to extract a still-mighty 823bhp from the standard SRT8 V8 engine. And that, they claim, is good for a 0-60mph time of just 3.1 seconds. Which is 0.2secs better than the Porsche 911 Turbo S.
It's also a whole heap more expensive, costing the equivalent of £151,000 if you were ballsy enough to want to import one. Wisely, production numbers are low, with just 24 undergoing the derangement process.
That also includes swapping the standard suspension for a lowered set-up, a transmission upgrade and bigger brakes with six pistons front and four out back. Hennessey also jazzes up the interior to give it a Texas tasteful leather/Alcantara custom leather makeover.
Who'd own a car like this? Owner John Hennessey has a very specific idea of the HPE800's customer. "This vehicle is designed for the performance-minded driver who lives in Aspen or Moscow and wants to be the fastest in all weather conditions."