Hennessey Venom GT Teased With Video

SEALY, Texas — Fans of John Hennessey shouldn't have to wait much longer for their first official glimpse of the Texas tuner's long-gestating Venom GT. Originally slated to debut earlier this month at the Geneva show (the prototype wasn't quite ready), the Lotus-based supercar now will make its formal bow on March 30, just ahead of the 2010 New York Auto Show.

And we should clarify what we mean by "formal bow." March 30 is the new target date for the release of the first detailed, high-res images of the production car, which isn't likely to appear in public until this summer, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Europe and Pebble Beach in the States.

Details on the Venom GT — including its mind-numbing, mid-mounted 1,000-horsepower V8 — were released last August, followed shortly after that by a passel of projected performance figures that were equally astonishing.

In the sketches that were issued last summer, as well as the latest shadowy teaser shot, the Venom GT's origins in the humble Lotus Exige are evident, despite the fact that Hennessey has said he plans to stretch the donor model by nearly 2 feet and widen it by nearly 12 inches.

No word on whether the breathtaking $600,000 base sticker price estimate from last year is still in effect.

Inside Line says: Stay tuned for further details in about two weeks. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent