On February 14, 2014, the Hennessey Venom GT set a new world speed record for 2-seat sports cars by reaching a top speed of 270.49 mph (435.31 km/h). The test was performed at the Kennedy Space Center on the 3.2-mile Space Shuttle landing runway. Brian Smith, Director of Miller Motorsports Park, drove the Venom GT to its record speed. A representative from Racelogic, world-renowned maker of VBox GPS data-acquisition systems, was on hand to independently verify and document the Venom GT's highest recorded speed.
Amazingly, the 1,244-horsepower Venom GT (powered by a twin-turbocharged, 7-litre V8 engine) was still accelerating even as it reached 270 mph, but the length of the runway limited how far the coupe could be pushed. Driver Brian Smith only had about 2.6 miles to complete his run because it took nearly a kilometer (0.62 miles) to slow the car to 70 mph. "It was still pulling. If we could run on an eight-mile oval, we could go faster than that.
Even if the hypercar had gone faster, Guinness would not have certified it as a record. To qualify, a car must complete two runs in opposite directions with the average speed serving as the record time. The Venom was only able to complete one because that is all NASA would allow, and even that took two years of negotiations according to founder John Hennessey. It still wouldn't matter, though, because Guinness now stipulates that 30 examples are required to certify a car as a "production vehicle." Hennessey is only building 29 Venoms and has sold 11.
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