Hennessey Dodge Demon 1700 salutes HEMI with more power than a US Military Tank 

Hennessey’s final love letter to the recently discontinued HEMI V8 turns to twin turbos for an extraordinary 1700 horsepower.

Can you have too much of a good thing? Not if Hennessey’s latest skunkworks project is anything to go by. That’s right, the kings of excess are back and this time they’ve transformed the iconic Challenger Demon into one of the most powerful ICE machines in history. 

Remember the obscenely potent Exorcist Camaro we showed you earlier? Take that monster’s already quadruple digit bhp total, then casually add the entire output of a Lamborghini Hurracan STO, and you’ll still come up 60 horsepower shy of the new Challenger Demon 1700 Twin Turbo’s figure.  

But how’s that even possible? Well, clue’s in the name: Twin Turbo. Evidently, the former Demon 170 Last Stand Edition we saw last year wasn’t truly the ‘last’ or most powerful iteration of Dodge’s venerable small block. Having stretched the old supercharger to its limit, Hennessey decided that the only route to more grunt was via a pair of immense turbochargers. This was a move that paid off: the new 1700-bhp output is 700 horsepower more than the old set-up could muster and, realistically, more shove than any car could ever need.

We would joke that with such colossal firepower Hennessey must be using surplus military stock to beef-up the driveline and stop the powerplant from spontaneously detonating itself into little pieces. In reality, though, battle tank internals wouldn’t even suffice — the Demon 1700 produces 200 horsepower more than an M1 Abrams (yes, the one with the big cannon and tracks). Incredible.  

There’s certainly no questioning its potency, but can the final Demon make use of all those ponies? Helping to ensure that it can — and do so reliably — Hennessey has formed an even more exclusive in-house tuning division named “Hennessey Special Operations” (HSO). This crack team has been tasked with engineering the smallest volume, most extreme projects to perfection.

Aside from the E85 ethanol blend which now fuels it, few details have been given around the exact nature of the modifications. Although HSO asserts that, “...a more robust powertrain ensures the maximum power goes to the pavement.” And, if Hennessey’s targeted figures are to be believed, the Demon 1700 should be capable of running a ¼ mile time of 7.9 seconds at 175 mph. Name a road car that can cover the ‘strip faster.  

If you’re the sort of person who wakes every morning to the sound of Metallica’s Enter Sandman, and wrestles alligators for fun, you’ll want to know how to get a Demon 1700 in your garage. For starters, you’ll need to already own a ‘regular’ Demon as a donor vehicle, and then slide a cool $200,000 Hennessey’s way for the necessary upgrades. Plus, with HSO restricted to just 20 vehicles a year, there will be plenty vying for a spot on the waiting list.

With Dodge’s next generation of electric muscle cars just around the corner, do you think they have any hope of living up to bombastic HEMI brutes like the Demon 1700?  

Hero image credit:  Hennessey