NEWS

30 Years of making fast cars go faster

THE year 1991 was a great year for John Hennessey, the founder and owner of Hennessey Performance. He modified his 3000GT VR4 daily driver and competed in the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb and Nevada Open Road Challenge races. The year continued with Hennessey setting a class record at the Bonneville Salt Flats and winning the Unlimited Class at the Silver State Classic open road race in Nevada. He also married the love of his life, Hope, who founded the business with him after they returned from their honeymoon.

BIRTH OF AN ICON

Building a world-renowned tuning business on the foundation of strong family support, Hennessey company has created more than 12000 customer cars since it was founded 30 years ago and has evolved into a global brand manufacturing its own hypercar.

FAST CARS, FAMOUS CUSTOMERS

Soon after founding the company, he turned his attention to boosting the performance of the now-iconic Dodge Viper. In 1997 his 650hp Hennessey Viper Venom GTS became the first to break 320km/h). By 2010, the business had built its own hypercar, the Hennessey Venom GT. Based on the chassis of a Lotus Exige, the 1 244hp (928kW) monster weighed just 1244kg and was powered by a turbocharged Hennessey V8 that set a production car Guinness World Record for the fastest 0-300km/h time (13.63 seconds) in 2013, then followed that in 2014 with another world record, becoming the fastest production car in the world with a 436km/h top speed.

Truck tuning emerged as a new customer-led trend in 2012 with the 600 horsepower Hennessey Velociraptor beginning a generation of “hypertrucks” from 1 000 horsepower supercar slayers to 6x6 conversions. Alongside the monsters of the road, the Hennessey team continued its muscle car work with models such as its 1000hp ZL1 Camaro – named The Exorcist. Today, along with producing more than 500 customer cars a year, the Hennessey team is focused on the bespoke Hennessey Venom F5 hypercar. The car boasts 1 355kW from its Hennessey-built 6.6-litre twinturbocharged V8 engine and targets a top speed of over 500km/h. IOL MOTORING

Would you like to see Caterham Seven launched in SA?

IN 1973, Caterham Cars (a dealership run by Graham Nearn that specialised in selling Lotus Cars) acquired the rights to manufacture the Lotus 7 from its creator, Colin Chapman. Nearn built a respectable business, one that would see its name on the wing of a Formula 1 car, but the business changed hands frequently as the car evolved and consumers tastes changed. Japanese consortium VT Holdings, however, believes the Seven should live on well into the future, so that future generations can continue to enjoy a machine that embraces the spirit of driving. Caterham Cars has been acquired by the Japan-headquartered automotive group from its current owners, Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun.

DEALERSHIP HERITAGE

The company assumes custodianship of the British sports car brand, having been the Japanese importer for the Seven since 2009. It currently sells over 120 cars in the country annually.

As one of Japan’s largest retailer groups with over 200 showrooms nationwide and investments in the UK, Spain, Thailand and South Africa, VT Holdings is also the importer for a collection of two and four-wheeled brands including Royal Enfield and Lotus in its home market. Would you like to see the Caterham Seven launched in South Africa? We’ve reached out to VT Holdings to see if the company would consider South Africa as a viable market, so watch this space ... IOL MOTORING

You can now get the VW Amarok V6 in bullet-resistant form

SOUTH African armoured vehicle specialist SVI is now doing bullet-resistant conversions on the 190kW Volkswagen Amarok V6 TDI.

The conversions take about 12 weeks, SVI says, and customers can choose from various options, with the SVI B4 package (handgun protection level) starting at R433000 and the B6 conversion (which can stop bullets from assault rifles such as the AK47 and R1) priced from R655000. The more affordable B4 package is touted as the “perfect anti-hijack solution” and only adds 280kg to the Amarok’s kerb weight, versus 650kg in the case of the B6 package. However, it appears clients tend to opt for the B6 protection level, which is described as the “ultimate civilian level of armoured protection”.

According to SVI, the conversion entails stripping the interior to the bare metal and building the vehicle up as an armoured unit. Steel armoured plates and composite materials are used for the body and 38mm-thick armoured glass replaces the original glazing. The suspension is upgraded to cope with the extra 650kg. The vehicle looks identical to the standard Amarok on the outside.

SVI also offers packages for the Ford Ranger models. IOL Motoring

BMW’s ferocious new M3 and M4 twins

BMW launched the new M3 and M4 in Cape Town this week after unveiling the vehicles under lockdown late last year.

The new M3 and M4 sport the controversial front end styling that we first saw on the 4 Series in 2020, but it does offer more aggressive styling elements that set it apart from the regular sedans and coupés. We haven’t seen the car in person yet, but we’ll be testing both models in two weeks, at Gerotek, so be sure to follow us on social media so you don’ miss a beat of the action.

WHAT’S NEW

South Africa only receives the Competition models, which produce more power (375kW and 650Nm compared with 353kW and 550Nm on the standard models).

The pair do away with the quick-changing DCT that we know and love, as BMW M engineers have reverted to a torque converter automatic again.

BMW’s also going the AMG route when it comes to traction control, with up to 10 different levels of electronic stability intervention available as standard.

For now, we’re only getting the rear-wheel drive models, but there will be all-wheel drive xDrive versions at some point in the future. You’ll be able to switch the four-wheel drive models to rear-wheel drive mode like you can in the current M5.

RACE INSPIRED

The latest generation BMW M3 and M4 are the fastest compact passenger models of their kind thanks to the use of numerous motorsportbred materials in their construction. The 3-litre straight six that powers them, for instance, is highly upgraded compared to the previous generation M3 and M4, particularly in the areas of cooling and turbo piping. Prices for the BMW M3 Competition and M4 Competition are R1 860 000 and R1 940 000 respectively, as standard, and all models come with a five-year/100 000km full maintenance plan. IOL Motoring