The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 has been setting records all over the world, becoming the fastest American production car to lap the Nürburgring. It's also recently been crowned the fastest car ever to lap Sonoma Raceway, and the fastest car around five other American racetracks. Now, Hennessey has taken a stock Corvette ZR1 to another record, though perhaps one not quite as prestigious as the others, beating a Hennessey Venom 1000 Ford Mustang by setting the highest speed ever achieved by a road-legal car carrying a Christmas tree. For the record (ha!), the speed it had to beat was 192 mph, and it did that by 4 mph, hitting 196 mph. You can watch that run at the bottom of this article.
Not Just Any Tree, Not Just Any Supercar
Hennessey Performance
Specifically, the team at Hennessey strapped a 5.5-foot Christmas tree to the roof of the 5.5-liter twin-turbocharged supercar. Controlling the 1,064-horsepower 'Vette on its path down the runway at Chase Field, Beeville, Texas, was Hennessey's professional driver, Spencer Geswein, who was also behind the wheel for the previous record and when the 1,817-hp Venom F5 exceeded 270 mph back in 2022. And he'll likely have to do it all again next year - since this is Hennessey we're talking about, this black (paint code GBA) ZR1 probably won't stay stock for long, even with the world's largest factory-fitted turbos already equipped. Regardless, this has become an annual tradition for Hennessey, a company that never shies from the unexpected.
Previous Christmas Tree Records
Hennessey began its unusual tradition back in 2017, when it strapped a tree to the roof of a Dodge Challenger Hellcat Widebody, setting a time of 174 mph. Two years later, it decided to revisit the concept with its HPE1000-enhanced Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. That set a new speed of 181 mph, and a year later, a Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang went 1 mph quicker. In 2021, A Hennessey-tuned Audi RS6 Avant with 800 hp did 183 mph (see? Hennessey doesn't only work on American cars). In 2022, a Porsche 911 Turbo S only managed 175 mph, so the Venom 1000 Mustang was called in and clocked 192 mph. Three years later, it's the ZR1 claiming top honors at 196 mph. For the record, the ZR1 can do 233 mph without any foliage. Will Hennessey crack 200 mph? Find out in 12 months' time.
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