The Hennessey Venom F5 has finally been unveiled at SEMA 2017, and the Texas-based firm behind the new hypercar has its sights firmly on Bugatti’s speed record.

Just 24 examples will be build, each with a base price of $1,6-million (that’s about R22,3-million).

Hennessey says the Venom F5 was “designed and built from the ground up with one goal in mind: to be the absolute fastest road car on earth”. The carbon-fibre body (which helps keep overall weight at a claimed 1 338 kg) boasts active aerodynamics that the company promises will yield a coefficient of drag of just 0,33.

So, to the greasy bits. The Venom F5 is powered by a twin-turbo 7,4-litre V8 engine that Hennessey says will deliver more than 1 193 kW and 1 762 N.m. It’s married to a seven-speed single-clutch paddle shift transmission and delivers its oomph to the rear wheels.

The resulting (claimed) performance figures are staggering. Hennessey says the Venom F5 will sprint from standstill to 300 km/h in “less than 10 seconds”, which it says is quicker than current Formula 1 race cars. Zero to 400 km/h and back to zero will be “under 30 seconds” (compare that to the Koenigsegg Agera RS and Bugatti Chiron here).

And the all-important top speed? Well, the US company lists an official speed of 301 mph, which translates to a whopping 484 km/h…

“We’ve designed F5 to be timeless so that in 25 years it will still have a level of performance and design that will be unmatched,” said John Hennessey, company Founder and CEO.

“The F5 is an all-new car, designed and built from the ground up, from the engine to the chassis. We expect the Venom F5, named for the most powerful tornado speed winds on the Fujita scale, to be the first road car capable of achieving more than 300 mph.”

Now we just have to wait for Hennessey to attempt that speed record (although the vehicle appears to wear Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S rubber in its official images, we’re particularly interested to see which tyres are used for the top speed run).