HENNESSEY

Hennessey Chevrolet Corvette C8 ZR1 breaks world record for transporting Christmas trees

American tuner Hennessey traditionally presents its ultra-fast variations on the theme of transporting Christmas trees, or New Year's trees, before Christmas.

If you thought that these were super fast pick-up models, you were wrong. Although Hennessey has them on offer, this time the topic was the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 generation C8. The maximum power of the drive system has been increased to a mammoth 1,080 horsepower.

Hennessey managed to set a new record on its own list of the fastest Christmas tree transport with the help of the C8 ZR1. The maximum speed achieved was 315 km/h, and that was with a Christmas tree on the roof! This means that the previous record, held by the Venom 1000 based on the Ford Mustang, which in 2022 recorded a maximum speed of 310 km/h with a Christmas tree on the roof, has been surpassed.

Hennessey, the Texas-based hypercar manufacturer and high-performance vehicle creator, has set a new festive record taking a 5½-foot (1.7 meter) Christmas tree to 196 mph on the roof of the new 2026 1,064 bhp Chevrolet C8 Corvette ZR1. Set on the runway at Chase Field, Beeville, Texas the Hennessey achievement is believed to be the fastest ever speed achieved by road-legal car carrying a Christmas tree.

The record speed was set with the ZR1-mounted tree adorned with more than 200 festive lights and holiday ribbon. This is the seventh Hennessey Christmas Tree Run and the third piloted by professional driver Spencer Geswein. This season’s speed record surpassed the company’s own 192 mph record set in 2022 with a Hennessey Venom 1000 Ford Mustang.

Alex Roys, company President: “Hennessey’s Christmas Tree Run has evolved from a crazy little holiday stunt into one of the most fun traditions. Every year we strap a tree to something a little wilder and a little faster. It’s the kind of event that reminds you why this whole thing started… because cars should be loud, fun, and just a little bit unhinged. Running the 2026 Corvette ZR1 was a perfect finale to another amazing year for the Hennessey team.”

This year’s Christmas Tree Run starred the new 2026 Corvette ZR1, which is widely regarded as one of the most compelling performance vehicles on the market today. Chevrolet’s flagship model is powered by a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter flat-plane crank V8 engine that produces 1,064 hp and 828 lb-ft of torque.

Specialist driver Spencer Geswein, no stranger to high-speed antics (having previously piloted Hennessey’s Venom 1000 Mustang GT500 to 192 mph in 2022 and the 1,817 bhp Venom F5 to over 270 MPH in 2022 testing), once again delivered a flawless run, topping out just shy of 200 mph. Incidentally, the Hennessey team also tested the fully optioned C8 ZR1 ZTK track pack car without the tree and managed 206 mph before running out of room on the runway.

The ‘Christmas Tree Run’ has often been a hallmark of Hennessey’s year-end celebrations, with each pairing of car and tree raising the bar for speed and spectacle. Starting in 2017 with a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody, Hennessey set the tree-topped speed at 174 mph, each run has pushed to improve on past records with this season’s 194 mph ZR1 time dethroning the 192 mph Venom 1000 Mustang from 2022.

Hennessey vehicles are dyno-tested, road-tested, and backed by a 3-year / 36,000-mile limited warranty. Vehicles are available directly from Hennessey or through its authorized dealer network. Customers can learn more, explore inventory, or inquire about factory builds at HennesseyPerformance.com or by calling +1 979 885 1300.

Autonews