#JohnHennessey

If you want the performance of a Bugatti Veyron in an all-American package (that’s one tenth the price), look no further than Hennessey Performance Engineering’s HPE1000, a $65,000 upgrade for the Chevrolet Camaro SS.

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last 15 years, and have never heard of John Hennessey or his dream of scaring the crap out of anyone brave enough to get into the passenger seat of one of his cars, here’s a quick rundown. He makes fast cars faster. Much Faster. So much faster that if you bring him your Cadillac CTS-V, he’ll give it back to you with so much power that when you drop the hammer, OnStar will think you’ve been rear-ended. What then, if you bring him a 1,900 lb. Lotus Elise?

Well, We’ll tell you. First he’ll re-build the car so it’s about a foot longer in the tail. He’ll have to do that, because the Toyota-sourced 4-banger is getting thrown in the garbage, replaced with the GM LS9 (aka. Corvette ZR1 Engine), producing 725-hp in “baseline” form, and up to 1,200-hp in twin-turbo versions. This car weighs 2,400 lbs. Anyone do the math here? Anywhere between 2 and 4 pounds per horsepower, depending on the engine. For the record, the Bugatti Veyron lugs around 4.54 pounds per horsepower. Bring your own death wish, people.

[Source: Hennessey]

And now, a video of the Venom GT testing in the U.K. after the jump:

Initially thought to be a far-fetched fantasy, Hennessey Performance Engineering has announced that it will debut its Venom GT supercar at the Geneva Auto Show next year and AutoGuide has learned some important chassis and powertrain info about the vehicle. In a chat with company founder and CEO John Hennessy at the SEMA Show last week, he informed us that rather than a more obvious twin-turbo Viper V10 powerplant, the Venom GT will be powered by a version of the supercharged Chevrolet LS9 motor – the same one found under the hood of the Corvette ZR1. This also happens to be the very same engine used in Hennessey’s new HPE700 Camaro where it makes 725-hp.

One of just two vehicles worthy to flank the Mobil 1 booth at the 2009 SEMA Show is the Hennessey HPE700 LS9 Camaro. As the name suggests, under the hood there’s a supercharged LS9 motor lifted from a Corvete ZR1. The easy-to-remember HPE700 name isn’t entirely accurate, however, as the engine has been tuned somewhat to deliver closer to 725-hp. As for torque, it’s rated at 741 ft-lbs from just 3200 rpm.