1700hp Demon kicks off new 'Special Operations'
Hennessey wants to build fewer cars with more power - obviously it'll need a new department for that
There can’t be many of us out there thinking that the muscle cars overhauled by Hennessey are in any way lacking. They typically tout four-figure horsepower outputs and are often built from the most muscular (and expensive) of muscle cars, after all. A UK perspective on what it produces is inevitably skewed somewhat, but it’s still hard to imagine every cars and coffee meet crammed with Exorcists, Mammoths and VelociRaptors. And whatever cars it has brought along, too.
Nevertheless, apparently demand is sufficiently bumper at Hennessey these days for it to create a new sub-division specifically for ‘ultra-exclusive, ultra-high horsepower vehicles’: Hennessey Special Operations. The regular (if that’s even the right word) stuff will continue, with HSO there for projects that go even further. Where more than 500 Hennessey conversions leave Texas every year, only 15-20 HSO commissions will be built annually. Prospective customers will have to apply for a build slot via the HSO website.
This being the upper reaches of what Hennessey can do, Special Operations is starting with something modest… it’s planning to build a 1,700hp Dodge Challenger. Specifically a 1,700hp Demon 170, the most exclusive and powerful of the Hellcat SRT cars; a vehicle that left the factory with 1,025hp (for crying out loud). Undeterred, Hennessey plans to replace the supercharged 6.2 V8 with an ‘all-new blueprinted motor and transmission’ that will feature two turbos and something in the region of another 675hp. Additional details are patchy for the moment, but performance is going to be ‘astounding’, says Hennessey, with a targeted quarter-mile time of 7.9 seconds. At 175mph.
This won’t come cheap, of course, which is why the Demon 1700 Twin Turbo - it’s a cool name, that’s for sure - falls under the auspices of Hennessey Special Operations rather than the more workaday (all things being relative) upgrades. $200k is the projected number currently, excluding the donor car that cost just half that in the first instance. In case it wasn’t clear already, Hennessey is aiming Special Operations at the wealthiest and most power-crazed of clients. You certainly wouldn’t bank against finding a few of those in America over the coming years, especially if the real 1700 looks as good as this purple Dodge.
“The transition to becoming a manufacturer with a factory producing lots of vehicles meant that we had to shift some of our resources away from the high horsepower vehicles that have kept the Hennessey name in the automotive headlines for the past 33 years,” said John Hennessey. “We are happy to announce that we’ve created a new division within the company that allows us to build mega-powerful vehicles in small production runs. Taking my new Dodge Demon 170, removing the blower, adding a pair of turbos, and increasing power from 1,025 to 1,700 horsepower was exactly what we’ve been wanting to do.”
Haven’t we all, John, haven’t we all? And if this all sounds a bit bonkers, that’s because it is - but it is rather what we've come to expect from the tuner. The HSO website is up and running, too, so if a 1,700hp muscle car does tickle your pickle, get filling in those details. Expect your location to be no impediment.
Kia / Hyundai hit the headlines with the easy to steal ones, but when you break down the numbers for model years, the Hellcat is top of the list:
https://www.kron4.com/news/these-are-the-most-and-...
I know someone who had a 'normal' Hellcat and loved it. Even managed to get decent MPG on a longer freeway drive, but the fear of theft got to him and he changed to a BMW as a daily. Its suspiciously easy to steal Dodge cars! Got to think that special editions like this are going to be top of the list!
Kia / Hyundai hit the headlines with the easy to steal ones, but when you break down the numbers for model years, the Hellcat is top of the list:
https://www.kron4.com/news/these-are-the-most-and-...
I know someone who had a 'normal' Hellcat and loved it. Even managed to get decent MPG on a longer freeway drive, but the fear of theft got to him and he changed to a BMW as a daily. Its suspiciously easy to steal Dodge cars! Got to think that special editions like this are going to be top of the list!
Kia / Hyundai hit the headlines with the easy to steal ones, but when you break down the numbers for model years, the Hellcat is top of the list:
https://www.kron4.com/news/these-are-the-most-and-...
I know someone who had a 'normal' Hellcat and loved it. Even managed to get decent MPG on a longer freeway drive, but the fear of theft got to him and he changed to a BMW as a daily. Its suspiciously easy to steal Dodge cars! Got to think that special editions like this are going to be top of the list!
They often get badly damaged and you wonder why anyone would spend all that time and money on their car to treat it like that, then you realise that those driving aren’t the owners.
The other strange thing is the tedious regularity with which spectators get hit, usually by the rear quarter at speed sending them spinning and sprawling, occasionally they get driven over, seen a couple where they get smacked and the force dislodges a handgun from their trousers.
That’s where a lot of the big RWD powerful stuff like Hellcats end up, donuted until the tyres explode or they crash, then they stand on the roof and often set it on fire.
Kia / Hyundai hit the headlines with the easy to steal ones, but when you break down the numbers for model years, the Hellcat is top of the list:
https://www.kron4.com/news/these-are-the-most-and-...
I know someone who had a 'normal' Hellcat and loved it. Even managed to get decent MPG on a longer freeway drive, but the fear of theft got to him and he changed to a BMW as a daily. Its suspiciously easy to steal Dodge cars! Got to think that special editions like this are going to be top of the list!
They often get badly damaged and you wonder why anyone would spend all that time and money on their car to treat it like that, then you realise that those driving aren’t the owners.
The other strange thing is the tedious regularity with which spectators get hit, usually by the rear quarter at speed sending them spinning and sprawling, occasionally they get driven over, seen a couple where they get smacked and the force dislodges a handgun from their trousers.
That’s where a lot of the big RWD powerful stuff like Hellcats end up, donuted until the tyres explode or they crash, then they stand on the roof and often set it on fire.
Is there a ring time for any US muscle car?
Corvette Z08...7:29, slower than a 2021 M5 CS.
The Z07 went round in under 7 minutes. 30s quicker than the BMW.
I've spent a decent amount of time in a regular hemi Challenger. A track car it isn't. A surprisingly good steer and a ridiculous amount of fun, it definitely is - and stupidly cheap too.
Is there a ring time for any US muscle car?
Corvette Z08...7:29, slower than a 2021 M5 CS.
The Z07 went round in under 7 minutes. 30s quicker than the BMW.
I've spent a decent amount of time in a regular hemi Challenger. A track car it isn't. A surprisingly good steer and a ridiculous amount of fun, it definitely is - and stupidly cheap too.
I've got a C7 Z06, 650bhp. This Demon has nearly 3 times that power. What on earth can that actually be used for? Is this car exclusively for a drag strip? I assume it would be useless around an actual track? Don't get me wrong, I think it's great/hilarious that anyone wants to make something like this, I'm just struggling to see what it would actually be used for, given my 650bhp can easily wheel spin if not careful, and my tyres are 335, not exactly small!
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