Sealy, Texas - Brabus did it with the G-Wagen, now John Hennessey has done it with Ford’s seriously badass Raptor performance bakkie.
Stand back for the Hennessey VelociRaptor 6x6, a six wheel-drive off-road beast with in-your-face attitude to match. Each one takes 11 months to build, and just 50 each will be produced for the domestic and world markets, at an eye-watering $349 000 (R4.44 million) apiece.
Apart from the obvious addition of a driven third axle and Toyo Open Country all-terrain tyres on 20 inch rims, you get a lot of Hennessey performance engineering as well.
The base Raptor SuperCrew’s 3.5-litre Ecoboost twin-turbo V6 has modified turbo wastegates, a new intake, intercooler, stainless-steel exhaust system and remapped ECU, for a claimed 448kW at 6000rpm and 843Nm - that’s 113kW and 233Nm more than it left the Ford factory with - and a 0-100 sprint time of five seconds flat. All three axles have lockable differentials, which should make the VelociRaptor pretty well unstoppable.
The Velociraptor also comes with upgraded Fox suspension, custom front and rear bumpers, a roll bar and an LED light bar as part of the deal - and, for an extra $22 000 (R280 000) you can opt for a Brembo brake package with six-piston calipers.