Dang, so the rumors are true! They do half-assed ish

thought the car was sold to Larry ellison?

Whoa... perhaps the guy who was working on that did in fact have to much Hennessy

Just sayin' ...

I shudder to think what other things may have been done under the hood. I hope he got a good deal on the car

Whoa... perhaps the guy who was working on that did in fact have to much Hennessy

I shudder to think what other things may have been done under the hood. I hope he got a good deal on the car

Just sayin' ...



vs.

90k, guy got ripped off big time. I thought people do research before paying such a large price?

But why a shop without the facts would choose to bash us I find alarming. My phone number is not hard to find. I feel it would be better served to call and get the facts instead of trying to slam another company. It is very unprofessional to try to bash another company just so you look better. If anyone has any questions my number is 979-885-1300.

Either way those are the facts and do with them as you wish.

First let me introduce myself. I am the General Manager of Hennessey. While John has commented on his past on this forum I will leave that alone but I will address this vehicle as it was brought to my attention today. I have shipped over 350 cars since I have been here in the last two years and you will find no unresolved issues.

This GTR was one of the very first GTR's into the country. We bought the car, paid a premium for it so we could get it to the media right away. No parts or pieces existed for this car at the time. This car was purely a prototype, built in three days from the day we acquired it to be tested by the media. It was featured in many magazines, performed perfectly and if I recall was 0-60 in 2.8s and 10.8 in the 1/4. Then we did some stuff with it for Texas mile where it also performed great and still holds the record I think. While our production cars are totally different as you can see by the custom flanges and hoses. We have modified over 40 GTR's to date with our production pieces and we also sell our kits to many other shops.

As far as this customer, I spoke to him a few months ago and told him we would happily address any issues he was having for no charge. He has had the car for about 9 months I believe and was delivered running great. He mentioned to me it started running funny and that is when i told him we would take care of it. Also this customer bought this car off of ebay knowing the history of the car and knowing it was a prototype car.

But why anyone without the facts would choose to bash us I find alarming. My phone number is not hard to find. I feel it would be better served to call and get the facts instead of trying to slam another company. It is very unprofessional to try to bash another company just so you look better. If anyone has any questions my number is 979-885-1300.

Either way those are the facts and do with them as you wish.

Just sayin' ...



vs.

Hi Dave,
I am not here to bash but am just wondering why you guys would let the car go to market with your prototype pieces on the car. This car has Hennessey advertising all over it. I would think at the least you would ready the car for sale with all the finished and completed pieces installed? I know other companies that have shop cars for R and D but I have never seen them leave their unfinished parts on a shop car to retail to the "public". I understand the R and D and your timeline constraints but I don't understand why you wouldn't "finish" the car with the updated parts before selling it.

Is that the final production part, or more R&D?

Is that the final production part, or more R&D?

The guy should file a dispute with ebay and get out of the deal.
I would like to see the original ebay ad to see if they described the car as a mocked up test mule that's not running properly.

It's a shame that he will need to spend more money to make it right.

Some months after I’d given up on the car altogether, I got a call from Jason Heffner. I’d heard of Heffner’s cars and Bill spoke highly of him but I didn’t know too much about him other than that. Jason told me Bill had talked to him about my Viper and he wondered if I would be willing to send the car out to him to work with. He didn’t talk about money, he just said maybe he could help with the car. I sent it to him (plug for Gary Almond here--Thanks Gary!) and assured Jason that he could have it as long as he wanted it since I’d had it for five years already without it running for more than a few hours.

Again, without going into the details of what he found under the hood, Jason worked and worked and worked. He called and updated me consistently every step of the way. In the end there was a lot of work that had to be done, parts to be replaced and/or modified (the second turbo was also blown) to make it all work but the day came when he called and told me the car was finished. He felt bad that it wasn’t perfect but he said it ran “pretty well” and that he’d done everything he could do. A week later, Gary Almond delivered it to me and I can honestly say it didn’t look like the car I’d sent him. Not only had he fixed the engine and turbo system and installed all braided SS lines instead of the rubber ones it had came back to me with but he’d added an AEM EMS, installed Penske suspension (one of the many things I never received from [******] despite the legal settlement) and had the whole car wet sanded because he felt the paint “just wasn’t quite right.” When I asked him what I owed him he just asked if I’d feel comfortable covering his cost for the AEM and the Penskes. He would not take money for anything else and insisted that he just wanted to help out.

That was six months ago now. The Viper runs like I imagined it would when I sent it to John [******] five years ago. To say I think Jason Heffner is an honorable man who went way beyond the call of duty to help out a guy he didn’t even know is an understatement. Hell, he went way beyond what anyone else even offered to do for me for substantial additional money. And his work--including that on a turbo system he can’t vouch for--is exceptional. Needless to say I have nothing but the highest praise for Jason Heffner.

I realize that if I had hung out on the forums instead of just trusting the car mags before my adventures with John [******] that I probably wouldn’t have the experiences I did. But hindsight is 20/20 and I’m not complaining. What I can’t let get swept under the rug, however, is the recognition and credit for the way Bill and Jason have fought in my corner, not because they had to or were paid to, but because that is just the way they are. I said in the beginning there were many players in this story; many who turned out to be self serving, deceptive, or even downright nasty, those who turned out to be genuinely interested and helpful, and a few who were extraordinary in giving their support and giving of their time and effort with no hope for reward or compensation other than my friendship.

In any event, that’s the rest of the story. I felt it was necessary for me to finally clear the air about what really happened and to give credit to those who worked to make things right for me--especially to Bill and Jason. I’m very grateful.

Taig Stewart

Hi Dave,
I am not here to bash but am just wondering why you guys would let the car go to market with your prototype pieces on the car. This car has Hennessey advertising all over it. I would think at the least you would ready the car for sale with all the finished and completed pieces installed? I know other companies that have shop cars for R and D but I have never seen them leave their unfinished parts on a shop car to retail to the "public". I understand the R and D and your timeline constraints but I don't understand why you wouldn't "finish" the car with the updated parts before selling it.

Still no answer, on whether that's a final part?

nvrmind

First let me introduce myself. I am the General Manager of Hennessey. While John has commented on his past on this forum I will leave that alone but I will address this vehicle as it was brought to my attention today. I have shipped over 350 cars since I have been here in the last two years and you will find no unresolved issues.

....................While our production cars are totally different as you can see by the custom flanges and hoses. We have modified over 40 GTR's to date with our production pieces and we also sell our kits to many other shops.

............................Also this customer bought this car off of ebay knowing the history of the car and knowing it was a prototype car.

But why anyone without the facts would choose to bash us I find alarming. My phone number is not hard to find. I feel it would be better served to call and get the facts instead of trying to slam another company. It is very unprofessional to try to bash another company just so you look better. If anyone has any questions my number is 979-885-1300.

Either way those are the facts and do with them as you wish.

Hennessy guy, I think you've really missed the entire point of this thread.

I don't care whether it was the first gtr in the world and you need to media in XX days. The fact that Hennessy would sell a car in that state, even if a buyer was advised of whatever mods/conditions etc. speaks volumes! end of story if you ask me. dave @ Hennessy I hear what you say but it just doesn't fly!

Did you have to sell it in a hurry? I doubt it. How much time and money would it have cost you guys to go over the car before you put it up for sale. Very little of both!

Further, I don't think anyone is obligated to call you. This is a forum, on which you've now publicly admitted that it was Hennessy's work. By allowing this car to leave Hennessy's shop regardless of the circumstances Hennessy has placed themselves in the postion they are now in.

I'm sorry but gotboost was perfectly within his rights to post the pics and leave it to people to form their own opinions.

First let me introduce myself. I am the General Manager of Hennessey. While John has commented on his past on this forum I will leave that alone but I will address this vehicle as it was brought to my attention today. I have shipped over 350 cars since I have been here in the last two years and you will find no unresolved issues.

This GTR was one of the very first GTR's into the country. We bought the car, paid a premium for it so we could get it to the media right away. No parts or pieces existed for this car at the time. This car was purely a prototype, built in three days from the day we acquired it to be tested by the media. It was featured in many magazines, performed perfectly and if I recall was 0-60 in 2.8s and 10.8 in the 1/4. Then we did some stuff with it for Texas mile where it also performed great and still holds the record I think. While our production cars are totally different as you can see by the custom flanges and hoses. We have modified over 40 GTR's to date with our production pieces and we also sell our kits to many other shops.

As far as this customer, I spoke to him a few months ago and told him we would happily address any issues he was having for no charge. He has had the car for about 9 months I believe and was delivered running great. He mentioned to me it started running funny and that is when i told him we would take care of it. Also this customer bought this car off of ebay knowing the history of the car and knowing it was a prototype car.

But why anyone without the facts would choose to bash us I find alarming. My phone number is not hard to find. I feel it would be better served to call and get the facts instead of trying to slam another company. It is very unprofessional to try to bash another company just so you look better. If anyone has any questions my number is 979-885-1300.

Either way those are the facts and do with them as you wish.