Hold onto your Stetson hats, everyone. Texas-based Hennessey Performance has something new cooking, and this time it’s not a tuned-up version of an existing car. It’s not another version of the insane F5, either. A couple of years ago, CarBuzz learned about something from Hennessey called Project Overlord. Now, the entire world is about to learn a whole lot more.
Fresh off its appearance at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed, Hennessey took to social media today for a surprise teaser. We have some visuals, some sounds, but more importantly, we have a hashtag: #projectoverlord. The hypercar world is about to get a new player. Here’s what we know so far, including a specific debut date.
The F5’s Successor, And For A Little While, Companion
Hennessey Performance FactoryHPE
A short teaser video shared to Hennessey’s Instagram account (embedded below) slowly zooms in on a round taillight. Sadly, we have no engine sounds to accompany this visual, unless this car uses a jet engine, which by the way, it won’t. Jets are certainly a theme though, from the spooling of a jet engine in the video to the #fullafterburner hashtag.
There’s also the Diamonds Are Forever reference which, frankly, we aren’t really understanding just yet. The teaser ends with Shirley Bassey’s Diamonds Are Forever single from the 1971 James Bond film of the same name, which was the last to star original Bond actor Sean Connery, unless you count 1983’s Never Say Never Again, which isn’t considered canon in the Bond universe. But perhaps we’re getting a little too deep into the subtleties of this teaser. Suffice to say, this new car will be very fast and very exclusive. Presumably, it won’t have machine guns behind the headlights.
In a 2024 interview with CarBuzz, Hennessey boss John Hennessey chatted with us about Project Overlord. He said it would be all about driver engagement, which means a manual transmission is definitely happening. CarBuzz further confirmed that just recently at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed, talking with Hennessey Design Chief Nathan Malinick who said the F5’s successor would get a stick.
Hennessey also tells us the new car will be a low-weight mid-engine convertible, complementing the F5. It’s extreme in its own right, but not necessarily designed to be a numbers-smashing, record-setting monster.
“A manual, open-top, lightweight, high-revving, driver-engaged car is something that we want. Our original inspiration for that was Venom GT. Going back 10-15 years, that was an extreme analog car: manual, open-top.”
-John Hennessey, Founder and CEO Hennessey Performance
You might be looking at that round taillight in the teaser and wondering if Project Overload will be tied to the Venom GT, which had round taillights and was based on the Elise. Hennessey assured us that the new car is 100% Hennessey, utilizing its own platform. And while buyers will certainly be paying for an engaging, ultra-fast hypercar, Hennessey says it’s also about being part of the Hennessey experience.
“You know, certain people that buy Paganis or Ferraris, they like going to Italy and they like the whole immersion and the Italian culture,” said Hennessey. “But we kind of have our own version of that in Texas. Instead of having this really great pasta, you come to Texas, we have really great meat and we have barbecue. We go eat steak.”
Coming In August, Possibly At Monterey Car Week
Hennessey Venom F5-MMichal Okosnki/CarBuzz/Valnet
When we spoke with Hennessey’s design boss at Goodwood, he had a glimmer in his eye about the F5’s successor, but his comments suggested the car was still some time away. That’s not the case at all, as Hennessey’s teaser promises a debut of August 3, 2026. That’s just two weeks out as of this post going live on July 20. And based on Hennessey’s history at Monterey Car Week, there’s a good possibility it could show up there. Stay tuned.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
It’s clear that Hennessey has found a niche for ultra-low volume hypercars. The latest F5-M with a manual transmission has Hennessey’s production cued up for the next year and a half. The company also has buyers for its tuned production cars that, while not mainstream by any means, are at least vehicles that less affluent enthusiasts can step into.
If Hennessey can offer middle ground with Project Overlord, there’s a distinct possibility of capturing more sales from buyers who might otherwise consider something like a Lamborghini Temerario or Ferrari 849 Testarossa. It would have to be a bespoke car beyond the tuned production cars that doesn’t reach the F5’s extremes for performance, price, and exclusivity. All our questions should be answered soon.
Source: Hennessey Performance / Instagram
