1,204-HP Hennessey Venom 1200 Mustang GT500 Kicks Sand In Shelby’s Face

If ever there was a car crying out for a humongous injection of extra horsepower, the Shelby GT500 isn’t it. Torturing its engine mounts, transmission, driveshafts and tires to the tune of 760 hp (771 PS) and 625 lb-ft (847 Nm), the GT500 is already more powerful than several supercars. So what does John Hennessey do? He gives it another 444 hp (450 PS), of course.

Meet the Hennesey Venom 1200 Mustang GT500, a modified version of Ford’s own Shelby GT500 that makes the donor car look like a marathon runner at a bodybuilding show. Priced at $59,950 on top of the $79,420 standard GT500 (and that’s presuming you can actually get one for MSRP), the 1200 upgrade includes a higher-capacity 3.8-liter supercharger, high-flow induction system, new fuel rails and injectors and a recalibrated seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Hennessey claims the the mods deliver 1,204 hp (1,221 PS) and 902 lb-ft (1,223 Nm) of torque, though only when running on E85 fuel. What the company doesn’t say is how quick the 1200 is, but given that Car & Driver recorded 0-100 mph (0-161 km/h) in 6.9 seconds and an 11.3-second quarter mile (400 m) in the stock car, the 1200 is going to be genuinely supercar-quick, provided it can actually get its power to the pavement.

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Only 66 examples of the 1200 will be built, each featuring a numbered plaque and model-specific exterior badges, and owners have the option of decking their car out in the livery seen in these images. The red, white and black package is inspired by the colors worn by Ford’s GT40 at the 1966 Daytona 24 Hours and costs $4,950.

Every car gets a dyno check before leaving Hennessey’s Texas workshop to make sure its producing a suitably terrifying amount of power and there’s even a one-year, 12,000-mile (19,000 km) warranty. Which is about the only sensible thing on this whole car. No one needs a 760 hp Mustang, let alone one with 1,204 hp, but we’re happy that craziness exists, because it might not be so easy to come by in the electrically-powered future.