See It: Man Drives 196 MPH With Christmas Tree On Corvette ZR1

Ho, ho, holy moly!

Performance vehicle tuning house Hennessey started an unusual Christmas tradition a few years back, by seeing how fast a car could go with a Christmas tree on the roof.

It began in 2017 with a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat that hit 174 mph and was bested by a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk the company had tuned to 1,000 hp that reached 181 mph in 2019.

A lower, sleeker 800 hp Audi RS6 Avant raised the bar to 183 in 2021 before a 1,000 hp Mustang Shelby GT500 smashed the record with a 192 mph run in 2022.

This year, it pulled out the big guns with a brand new stock 1,064 hp Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 that it took to the runway at Chase Field in Beeville, Texas. The The 5.5-foot tree was festooned with more than 200 lights and some ribbon and strapped to a suction-mounted roof rack.

Despite the compromised aerodynamics, racing and test drive Spencer Geswein was able to reach 196 mph on the airstrip to set a new production car record for the stunt … although we’re not sure how many other outfits have tried to break it. The Corvette ZR1 has a confirmed top speed of 233 mph without the cargo.

“Every year we strap a tree to something a little wilder and a little faster. It’s the kind of event that reminds you why this whole thing started, because cars should be loud, fun, and just a little bit unhinged,” Hennessey founder John Hennessey said. “Running the 2026 Corvette ZR1 was a perfect finale to another amazing year for the Hennessey team.”

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Of course, now that Hennessey has its hands on a Corvette ZR1, there’s no telling what it plans to do to its engine. Perhaps a 200 mph record will be under the tree in 2026.

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