FAST

FACTS

Back in 1999, Motor Trend crowned the Hennessey Venom 650R as the “The Fastest Street Car We’ve Ever Tested”, adding that it’s “the hardest accelerating, fastest slaloming (1.06 g) street-legal car Motor Trend has ever tested”. A pre-production version driven by John Hennessey himself managed to hit 203 mph at the Honda proving grounds in Arizona
What was most impressive is the lack of forced induction: 650hp was achieved in naturally-aspirated form on pump gas and was 48-state-emissions-legal … no turbos or superchargers!
Dodge dealer sent brand new Viper GTS to Hennessey Performance. Besides the engine build ($37,500), Hennessey installed a full race-focused Brembo brake system ($12,000), “VenomAero” body upgrades ($14k+), and much more

Key Model Year Changes:

Roughly 80 of these 1st gen 650R’s were produced
2000 is the final year without ABS. The following year (2001) saw 4-wheel ABS become standard
The V10 switches to lighter hypereutectic pistons. While these pistons provided less expansion, the forged pistons of the earlier models were preferred by customers for boosted aftermarket packages
Gussets with rivets are added to the frame near the steering box, strengthening a known weak point in the factory frame. TSB recalls (998 and 999) required dealers to offer this frame repair to owners of 1996 thru 1999 Vipers
Beyond the 2000MY, besides ABS and new paint colors, there were no further changes to the GTS Viper until the 2003 3rd gen

Specs: