American boutique hypercar manufacturer Hennessey has unveiled the newest iteration of the Venom F5 Roadster. While the latest version features several styling updates and aerodynamic enhancements, the highlight of the open-top hypercar is the new gated six-speed manual transmission. Called the Venom F5-M, it is being touted as the world’s most powerful manual-shift production car.
Hennessey had to redesign the center console to accommodate the billet aluminum shift gate and the carbon fiber shifter, which now gets horizontally arranged air vents instead of vertically stacked ones, and revised air conditioning controls. Furthermore, the F5-M also features new jet-fighter-inspired toggle switches for the windows. The yoke-style steering wheel and the rectangular digital gauge cluster have been carried over.
In addition to swapping out the seven-speed automatic transmission for a manual gearbox, the M variant arrives with some noticeable aerodynamic tweaks. The three-pedal hypercar has gained a massive 55-inch dorsal fin that stretches from the roof-mounted air scoop to the trailing edge of the rear deck. Hennessey says each example of the F5-M will get its own custom livery that will combine exposed carbon fiber down the spine with unique colors of the customer’s choice. The bespoke combination will be deleted from the configurator once picked.
“We’re extreme, we’re authentic, plus we’re distinctly and uniquely American [and] these characteristics shine through in the design of the F5-M…and how it performs,” said Nathan Malinick, Hennessey Director of Design. “This is a car for bold and brave driving enthusiasts who like their hypercars to thrill with wild power, dramatic design, and an experience behind the wheel that is incomparable to anything else on Earth.”
Under the hood is the unchanged twin-turbo 6.6-liter “Fury” V8 that is capable of churning out 1,817 horsepower, which is enough to propel the hypercar from 0-60mph in 3.3 seconds on the way to a claimed top speed of 311mph. Hennessey says it will make only 12 examples of the Venom F5-M Roadster, each with a starting price of $2.65 million. However, there’s some bad news if you want to get one for yourself. The American company says all 12 examples of the manual hypercar have already been spoken for. In fact, the units will be part of the complete 30-build run of the F5 Roadster.
