When you’ve already built some of the world’s most exclusive hypercars, “bespoke” can mean a lot of things. For Hennessey, this means more than just special colors, custom badges and interior materials; customers want something really funny Upgrades on their vehicles.
Speaking with Nathan Malinik, Hennessy’s design director at Goodwood about the company’s one-off Maverick division, I asked him what the strangest request the company has ever received.
His answer? Things like real gold, built-in humidors, and yes, even custom-fitted firearm storage.
Photo by: Hennessy Performance
Malinik told me that a Venom F5 customer in Mexico wanted to sleep on his vehicle. Not pronounced gold leaf or gold-real gold instead of metal. It’s not the easiest thing to do, but Hennessy did it anyway.
‘This is strange. We built a car for a Mexican customer – we wouldn’t do this again because it was too complicated – but he wanted the metal to be gold. You say, ‘Okay, we can make gold.’ He says, ‘No, no, I want gold’… so the vents on his engine cover are real gold.’
Naturally, there’s a reason why real gold isn’t commonly used on high-end vehicles (and Hennessey won’t do that again). As Malinik explains:
‘Gold is very soft… if you go to clean a real gold piece, bad things happen. So we won’t do it again.
Thankfully, Malinik said the company is not aware of any problems with that customer’s car. But it might not even be the most absurd thing Hennessey has ever done to a vehicle.
Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution with real gold accents
Photo by: Hennessey Special Vehicles
In 2023, Hennessy created a unique Venom F5 for basketball legend and cigar aficionado Michael Jordan, complete with a humidor in the glovebox. Malinik says Jordan didn’t request it himself, but the design team “really wanted to go over the top” for this build.
Hennessy also leans deeply into its Texas roots, which means sometimes customers request things like custom firearm storage. In 2024, the company fitted a special holster to a car for a customer’s vintage Colt 1911 pistol, which, according to Malinik, fit “millimeter perfect” inside the vehicle. (You can also get gun shaped key.)
Sure, these may seem like silly requests to the average person, but when you’re spending over $2.0 million on a vehicle, you definitely want something that stands out. And through Hennessy’s new Maverick one-off division, such things are entirely possible.
Just don’t ask for real gold.
Source: Hennessey Special Vehicles
Motor1’s Opinion: It’s really no surprise to learn that Hennessey customers want some truly outrageous things in their vehicles. Real gold, humidors and gun holsters probably aren’t the last things we’ll see from Hennessey customers.
