Hennessey Special Vehicles has revealed the Blackbird, its third hypercar after the Venom GT and Venom F5. Instead of extending the F5's pursuit of outright speed and power, the new model is built around a naturally aspirated V8, a six-speed gated manual, rear-wheel drive and a cockpit without screens. Production is limited to 71 cars.
The new 6.2-liter V8 is being developed with Ilmor Engineering. Hennessey is targeting 800-850 hp and more than 9,000 rpm, along with 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds and a 220 mph top speed. Those figures remain manufacturer targets rather than independently measured performance from a finished production car.
A bespoke carbon tub and carbon-fiber body underpin the Blackbird, with a target weight below 3,000 lb. Yet the engineering brief is not solely about lap times. Adaptive suspension, a larger cabin than the Venom F5 and useful luggage capacity are intended to make it a genuine long-distance machine. Hennessey says it is being engineered to cover more than 800 miles in a day.
The name and portions of the design take inspiration from the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. Among the more unusual aerodynamic details are active vertical stabilizers that deploy automatically, turning the aircraft reference into a functional feature rather than just a badge.
Blackbird pricing starts at $2.5 million before taxes. Hennessey is targeting customer production for 2029-2030, and said more than two-thirds of the 71-car run had already been allocated when the model was announced.