Hennessy Venom = Lotus GT-1

S

SuperShouden

(Banned)
7,542
SuperShouden
So...to me, the Hennessy Venom looks like the Lotus GT-1 if it were updated with the modern Lotus looks:

Lotus GT-1:
2006-lotus-gt1-3.gif


Hennessy Venom:
01-venom-gt-official-dark-630op2.jpg


Lotus Exige:
lotus-exige-1.jpg


Now, with Dodge buying out the Lotus Europa body for us in their Dodge EV, and with Hennessy's previous support of Dodge, the Venom GT just might be a re-badged Lotus GT-1 with a new engine.
 
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The EV was based on the Europa, not the Evora. It also was a concept car and will likely never go anywhere since FIAT cancelled the ENVI program when they bought Chrysler.
 
Cale
And the Hennessy has a chassis built by Hennessy.
Click to expand...

*shrug* Doesn't matter who it's built by, it's still a Lotus Exige GT-1.

And thanks for the correction of where Dodge's EV came from. I meant Europa, but my fingers typed Evora for some stupid reason.

But, because it's not really an original design...and because it's a Hennessy, it goes in the seriously uncool file, in my book. Now, if it was really the rebirth of the Lotus GT-1 with the Lotus badges and powerplant, then it'd be cool. But Hennessy's a douche, and the car design is definitely from Lotus.
 
To be fair, Hennessy was not inspired to do it by the Lotus GT-1. In fact, I never knew about it and in all likelihood neither did John Hennessy. The goal of the Venom GT was to make the fastest car in the world, not a homologation special.
 
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Maybe not. But he could have just taken a Lotus Exige, lengthened it to accommodate the bigger engine and you have the Hennessy Venom GT/Lotus Exige GT-1. I mean, you can't look at the two photos in the OP and tell me there are similarities. The side windows and windshield alone are nearly identical

EDIT: Added a Lotus Exige photo to the OP.

EDIT 2: I believe Hennessy knew about the GT-1. The dimensions of the the Venom are VERY close to the dimensions of the GT-1:

Lotus GT-1 (Venom GT)
Length 4491 mm (4,655 mm)
Width 2070 mm(1,960 mm)
Wheelbase 2300 mm (2,800 mm)
Track – Front 1480 mm (1,612 mm)
Track – Rear 1500 mm (1,604 mm)

Both cars have V8's. The Venom has a little over twice as much power.
 
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SuperShouden
Maybe not. But he could have just taken a Lotus Exige, lengthened it to accommodate the bigger engine and you have the Hennessy Venom GT/Lotus Exige GT-1. I mean, you can't look at the two photos in the OP and tell me there are similarities. The side windows and windshield alone are nearly identical
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Stretch an Elise/Exige chassis to fit a longitudinal V8 engine and you are likely to come up with something which resembles the GT1. The glass area of both will look the same since both cars use standard Lotus parts.
 
SuperShouden
Maybe not. But he could have just taken a Lotus Exige, lengthened it to accommodate the bigger engine and you have the Hennessy Venom GT/Lotus Exige GT-1.
Click to expand...

That's essentially what he did...the Venom GT is based off the Exige, uses a heavily modified Exige chassis and, according to VenomGT.com, "utilizes components including but not limited to the roof, doors, side glass, windscreen, dash, cockpit, floorpan, HVAC system, wiper and head lamps. Hennessey Performance and the Venom GT are not associated with Lotus Cars."

You do understand how Hennessey Performance work, right?
 
Murcie_LP640
That's essentially what he did...the Venom GT is based off the Exige, uses a heavily modified Exige chassis and, according to VenomGT.com, "utilizes components including but not limited to the roof, doors, side glass, windscreen, dash, cockpit, floorpan, HVAC system, wiper and head lamps. Hennessey Performance and the Venom GT are not associated with Lotus Cars."

You do understand how Hennessey Performance work, right?
Click to expand...

Well, when Hennessey modified Vipers, they essentially just re-tuned the engine, added a couple turbos and some body work.

With the Venom...since they used pretty much everything BUT the engine from the Exige...that's pretty much what they did here but just replaced the engine with a V8.

But...John Hennessey HAS to have known about the Lotus GT-1 because Lotus did exactly the same thing he did, only they used an Elise and probably changed the dash. And he stretched the Exige to almost the exact same dimensions as the GT-1. And, both the Lotus GT-1 and Venom GT use Chevy sourced V8s.

I've done some googling on the Venom and a lot of people have also made the connection between the Venom GT and the Lotus GT-1 and have "affectionately" dubbed it the "Venom GT-1"

There MIGHT be a chance that John lengthened it without knowing about the GT-1, but I think it was more like John saw a picture of the Lotus GT-1 and went "Hey, why don't we make that...well, a more powerful version of that and using the Exige body, but we can use our own Turbo V8 and it'd look super cool."

Hey, Hennessey, I don't think you understand the concept of an "original car."
 
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I'm not sure i understand what point you are trying to make about the Hennessey Venom GT and Lotus GT1 :odd:
 
SuperShouden
But...John Hennessey HAS to have known about the Lotus GT-1 because Lotus did exactly the same thing he did, only they used an Elise and probably changed the dash. And he stretched the Exige to almost the exact same dimensions as the GT-1. And, both the Lotus GT-1 and Venom GT use Chevy sourced V8s.

I've done some googling on the Venom and a lot of people have also made the connection between the Venom GT and the Lotus GT-1 and have "affectionately" dubbed it the "Venom GT-1"

There MIGHT be a chance that John lengthened it without knowing about the GT-1, but I think it was more like John saw a picture of the Lotus GT-1 and went "Hey, why don't we make that...well, a more powerful version of that and using the Exige body, but we can use our own Turbo V8 and it'd look super cool."

Hey, Hennessey, I don't think you understand the concept of an "original car."
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I really don't get what your point is. Henessey built a modified version of an Elise that looks somewhat like a failed racing version of an Elise that Lotus built ten years prior. So?


And not all Elise GT1s used SBC engines.
 
SuperShouden
Hey, Hennessey, I don't think you understand the concept of an "original car."
Click to expand...

You still don't seem to understand that Hennessey is primarily a modification company, not an actual car manufacturer. Yes, the Venom GT is branded as a Hennessey vehicle and not as a Lotus tuning kit, but Hennessey stated themselves that it is based on an Exige and uses many parts from it. The fact that it happens to use the same principle and relative design is merely a coincidence in my view.

Stavelot
But they're associated with Dodge and Dodge bought the Europa body! :lol:
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They're most FAMOUS for their modified Dodge. The Venom actually uses a Corvette engine (as even the elongated body wouldn't fit the 8.2L V10 I believe) and they have performance kits for GM, Ford, and even Euro and Japanese models as well as Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge.
 
The Exige somehow just doesn't pull off the elongated body like the old Elise GT1 could. THAT car is a beast! Would SO love to have one!

But there's no such thing as a bad Hennessy product, so it should be interesting to see how this whole Dodge-Lotus-Hennessy thing turns out.

If I were Fiat I'd take the SRT guys on a field trip and let them work with Hennessy to make the next Viper. The earth would shake with all the epicness! :drool:
 
Murcie_LP640
The Venom actually uses a Corvette engine (as even the elongated body wouldn't fit the 8.2L V10 I believe)
Click to expand...

Funnily enough, German manufacturer Bitter bought a couple of GT1's off Lotus when they dropped the project. They fitted them with Viper V10's, but could never get them running all that well.

 
That's cool - din't realize Bitter managed to sneak a few Viper engines into the Elise! Do you know how many they made or how they performed?

boiltheocean
Except the many customers cars he's delivered with no modifications made yet still charged and all the cars he's stolen parts from for his own personal projects.
Click to expand...

Didn't realize that either - after a brief search I guess I stand corrected. They do a good job of covering it up, though.
 
AMCNUT
That's cool - din't realize Bitter managed to sneak a few Viper engines into the Elise! Do you know how many they made or how they performed?
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I only got the knowledge from Wiki. Although i did recollect seing a Lotus GT1 with Chrysler V10 written on the side at some point before.

Wikipedia
Former factory driver Mike Hezemans of the Netherlands, feeling that the Elise GT1's main faults were in its power and aerodynamics, decided that the car should not be abandoned. Buying two former Elise GT1 chassis, Hezemans turned to Bitter Cars of Germany to modify the car. The front end was made longer and smoother in an attempt to increase front downforce. To replace the Elise GT1's Chevrolet V8, Hezemans and Bitter turned to Chrysler, buying Viper GTS-R 8.0L V10s which were being used in their GT2 class racing cars. The new cars were named Bitter GT1s, and promised to compete in the 1998 FIA GT Championship season.
Unfortunately the cars were never able to match even the lackluster performance of the original Elise GT1s. The only race in which they actually competed, Silverstone, saw both Bitters failing to finish. After failing to even get past initial practice at Hockenheimring, the project was cancelled.
Click to expand...
 

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