Steven Tyler was the first in the world with a Hennessey Venom GT Spyder, and now the Aerosmith front man’s car can be yours. It’s set to go under the hammer at the upcoming Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona and all proceeds from the sale will be donated to charity.
Tyler first saw the Venom GT when the car made its debut as a coupe at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. While down in Hennessey Performance’s home state of Texas for filming of “American Idol” later that year, Tyler gave Hennessey a call and asked for a test drive. A couple of hours later, he ordered the car—a convertible.
Hennessey built just five Venom GTs for the 2013 model year, including the first Spyder. The price tag was a cool $1.1 million.
Power comes from a twin-turbocharged 7.0-liter V-8 delivering 1,200 horsepower and 1,155 pound-feet of torque. The engine is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission and rockets the car from 0-60 mph in just 2.7 seconds.
Steven Tyler takes delivery of his Hennessey Venom GT Spyder – image: HPE Design
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Tyler’s car also features a custom audio system tuned by David Frangioni, CEO of Audio One and a former audio engineer for Aerosmith. The interior is black leather, offset by red accent stitching and a teardrop eye logo similar to one of Tyler’s tattoos.
All proceeds of the sale will go to Janie’s Fund, a charity set up by Tyler to support abused girls. It was inspired by his 1989 hit song “Janie’s Got a Gun.”
The Barrett-Jackson auction runs from January 14-22. Tyler’s car will be sold on January 20.
Another celebrity ride to go under the hammer at the event is a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am owned by Burt Reynolds. The Bandit himself will be there to drive the car up on the auction stage.
