If you’re anything like us, you probably lust after the Ford F-150 Raptor like there’s no tomorrow. FoMoCo’s off-road performance pickup is the sort of super-capable machine most carmakers only dream of building; it’s a three-ton truck that can take speed bumps at 60 miles an hour and smash across desert terrain at 100, yet still rides as smooth as a luxury car.
Yet most people who buy this crazy rig, sadly, will likely never take it deep into the desert or over the river and through the woods. Instead, they’ll use it for highway slogs, around-town cruising and showing off at neighborhood car shows. If that describes you, we have a suggestion: why not skip the Raptor and buy this 775-horsepower Hennessey F-150 instead?
After all, we’d argue the Hennessey Venom 775 is much better suited to that sort of urban and suburban show-car life. It may not have the fancy Fox shocks and OEM suspension of the Raptor, but its six-inch lift kit means it has more vertical presence than the dino-themed truck. (It may not be able to run across Baja, but it can certainly hop a curb or two.) Don’t worry about climbing up and in, though; drop-down steps make clambering aboard easy.
This being a Hennessey vehicle, though, the real attraction lies under the hood. The Texas-based shop took the stock 5.0-liter Coyote V8, strapped on a 2.9-liter supercharger, then made a host of other tweaks to dial this F-150 up to a stunning 775 horsepower. That, of course, is 325 ponies more than the Raptor, and enough to send the Venom 775 from 0 to 60 mph in a claimed four seconds flat.
Brembo brakes with discs the size of large pizzas help this truck slow back down from the sort of insane speeds you’re likely to obtain after a few more seconds in the gas pedal; it’ll do at least 116 mph, considering that’s the speed it hits through the quarter mile. The occupants might not notice, though, swaddled as they will be in an interior with custom leather upholstery.
One added bonus over the Raptor for the appearance-minded buyer: the Venom 775 will be far more rare. Just 100 will be made, all sold though Brown Lee Ford of Tennessee. Their website says “call for price,” but we’d say don’t expect much change back from a $150,000 bill.
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