1000-HP Jeep Cherokee Trackhawk Carries World's Fastest ...

View full post on YouTube

• Custom tuning house Hennessey strapped a Christmas tree to a 1000-hp Jeep Cherokee Trackhawk and reached a top speed of 181 mph.
• This isn't a one-time thing for the Texas tuner; its previous record of 173 mph was set in 2017 with a stock Dodge Challenger Hellcat Widebody.
• Hennessey is looking to reach 200 mph next holiday season.

A few years ago, Texas tuning house Hennessey got bored and strapped a Christmas tree on the top of a stock Dodge Challenger Hellcat Widebody to claim a record for the world's fastest Christmas tree. But the people at Hennessey have a well-known thirst for gargantuan amounts of horsepower, so clearly they were itching for a faster evergreen.

Oddly enough, this year they decided to go with a car that's almost 1000 pounds heavier and a lot taller than the Challenger, but more powerful. Hennessey strapped a Christmas tree to a HPE1000 Jeep Cherokee Trackhawk—powered by the same supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 engine found in the Hellcat, though this one makes around 1000 horsepower—and went out to the Continental Tire's proving ground in Uvalde, Texas, to break the record.

For Sale Near You

See all results for 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk for sale near 550000

While strapped to the Trackhawk's roof rack, the tree was lit up during the high-speed run to add to the Christmas spirit. If you're wondering how the lights were powered, it looks as if the string of light's cord was run through the right-side passenger door and plugged in inside.

In 2017, the tree on top of the Hellcat reached 173 mph. John Hennessey, owner of Hennessey Performance Engineering, says that a friend asked him at a Christmas party when he was going to do the Christmas-tree run again. That's how this year's effort came about. Merry Chrysler.

As if horsepower isn't enough to the Texas tuner, so is speed. Next year, John Hennessey says he's aiming for a 200-mph tree. Maybe with one of his 1200-hp C8 Corvettes?

Connor HoffmanAssociate Technical Editor

Sitting on the floor of the library and poring over issues of Car and Driver is one of Connor Hoffman's earliest memories. Choosing to attend the nation's top-ranked journalism school at the University of Missouri and graduating with a magazine writing emphasis was all part of chasing his dream of writing for Car and Driver. When he's not bragging about Mizzou having the best journalism program in the country, he's probably on a rant about Toyota trucks.