Mod shop creates brutish Cadillac with more than 1,000 horsepower

By W.J. Hennigan

Sept. 6, 2012 12 AM PT

There aren’t many cars on the market today that can line up against this Cadillac in a drag race and run with it.

Yes. You read that right.

Hennessey Performance Engineering in Sealy, Texas, has turned out a heavily modified, turbocharged 2012 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe that’s designed to dust nearly all the supercars that are out there.

The car, dubbed 2013 VR1200 Twin Turbo Coupe, is the latest from Hennessey, the auto tuning company that modifies and creates high-powered cars.

Hennessey swapped out the Caddy’s stock supercharged 6.2 liter V-8 engine and instead installed a twin turbocharged 7.0 liter V-8 engine. With the upgrade, the company expects the car to kick out more than 1,226 brake horsepower.

Hennessey calls it the “most powerful four-seat vehicle available on the market.” And it just may be.

Check out these numbers: According to Hennessey, the Caddy is expected to zip from zero to 60 mph in just 2.9 seconds; finish a quarter-mile drag race in 10.2 seconds; and have a top speed of 242 mph.

The cost? $295,000 plus shipping.

“I’ve owned several Cadillac CTS-Vs over the past few years,” John Hennessey, company founder, in a statement. “But I wanted to build something really special and much more powerful.”

So one day, while testing the company’s 1,244-horsepower Venom GT, he thought “it would be fun to have a larger version of our supercar.”

Thus, the VR1200 Twin Turbo was born.

Hennessey widened the rear of the vehicle by 7 inches and the front by 3 inches. There are stylistic upgrades, as well, including a extractor hood, rear fender flares and 20-inch rims.

But, if you’re looking to buy one, Hennessey said it limited production to just 12 cars. And three have already been spoken for.

Hennessey has been in business in Texas since 1991. Last month, the company expanded its business to Southern California when it added a new facility in Lake Forest.

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W.J. Hennigan

W.J. Hennigan covered the Pentagon and national security issues from Washington, D.C., before leaving the Los Angeles Times bureau in November 2017. While there, he reported on war, counter-terrorism, and the lives of American service members from more than two dozen countries and previously covered the aerospace and defense industry from Los Angeles. Hennigan earned awards from the National Press Club, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, and was a contributor to the Los Angeles Times coverage of the terror attacks in San Bernardino that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2016.

Mod shop creates brutish Cadillac with more than 1,000 horsepower

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