Hennessey Venom Sets 0-300 kph Record

Guinness World Records has named Hennessey Performance's latest Venom GT the world's fastest-accelerating car from zero to 300 kph (186 mph).

Guinness confirms the $1.4 million car took a two-way average of 13.63 seconds to reach that speed on an airport runway in Houston, Tex., earlier this month.

The Venom GT is a heavily modified version of the Lotus Exige sports car. California-based Hennessey plans to build only 29 of the cars, each of which take six months to produce.

The test car is fitted with a 7.0-liter, twin-turbocharged Corvette engine that Hennessey asserts is capable of making 1,244 hp. The test car was fueled with 93-octane gasoline and shod with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires.

Hennessey says it is already developing a successor, the Venom GT2, with an engine that can produce 1,500 hp.