All 71 examples of the Hennessey Blackbird are already spoken for, just four hours after the car’s public unveiling at Monterey Car Week. It’s a very American story in more ways than one; a Texas-built hypercar, styled with unapologetic references to an American aviation icon, snapped up by buyers who apparently still want a stick shift and a naturally aspirated V8 in an era of hybrid everything.
The SR-71 spy plane is the obvious muse here, and Hennessey’s design team clearly did their homework. The pinched body-side nods to where the SR-71’s upper and lower surfaces meet, the optional Sky Glass roof apes the aircraft’s canopy, and there’s even a stylized outline of the plane hidden under leather on the dashboard, with cabin rails standing in for its afterburner plume.
Look closer and you’ll spot influences well beyond Lockheed’s hangar too. The diamond-shaped quad exhaust outlets actually borrow from the Bell X-1, the plane Chuck Yeager used to break the sound barrier, while Formula 1-style side pods and LMP1 winglets bring in some proper motorsport pedigree.
The number 71 goes beyond just the production count, too. Twin rear stabilizers deploy automatically once you hit 71 mph, splaying out to exactly plus and minus 71 degrees. It’s the kind of detail that’s obviously spoken to at least 71 enthusiasts with a penchant for spy planes.
Of course, underneath the theatrics sits a serious hypercar. An Ilmor-developed 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 is targeting 800-850 hp and revs past 9,000 rpm, hauling a sub-3,000 lb carbon tub to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and on to 220 mph. Priced from $2.5 million before taxes, Blackbird is also being pitched as a genuine grand tourer, engineered for over 800 miles in a single day, with gullwing doors, room for two carry-on bags up front, extra storage out back, and four cupholders because who doesn’t get thirsty on long hauls in a carbon-tubbed hypercar?
Houston luxury car dealer Post Oak Motor Cars ran with the Texan angle on social media, only half-joking about optional storage for a cowboy hat, boots, and a firearm. Standard equipment it is not, but it captures the spirit of a car built with more personality than restraint.
