Hennessey’s Christmas Tree Run: Corvette ZR1 clocks 315 km/h

Hennessey has revived its signature Christmas Tree Run and edged the benchmark toward a near-symbolic 320 km/h. In 2025, the latest Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 set the decorated-tree record at roughly 315 km/h, turning this holiday stunt into a straight-line sideshow of its own: take a road-going supercar, strap a lit Christmas tree to the roof, and push it to the limit on a runway. Watch the run here.

The choice of machine is hard to argue with. The 2026-spec ZR1 carries a 5.5-liter flat-plane-crank V8 with two turbochargers, a claimed 1,064 hp, and an eight-speed gearbox. The car used for the attempt wore the ZTK package with a substantial rear wing. That setup isn’t ideal for absolute top speed because of the added drag, yet it pays off in high-speed stability—useful when the margin for error narrows.

And then there’s the aerodynamic penalty on the roof: a roughly one-and-a-half-meter Christmas tree with lights, an “aerodynamic brick” that clearly disrupts the Corvette’s clean airflow. The spectacle reads playful, but the numbers underline just how far modern hardware can push through extra resistance. This year’s run nudges the tradition forward yet again—and does it with flair.