Joe Rogan Experience #1982 - John Hennessey

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast,…

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:00

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (instrumental music plays) What up? Mr. Hennessey.

   2. JHJohn Hennessey0:14

      Mr. Rogan.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:15

      Fun hanging with you today. (laughs)

   4. JHJohn Hennessey0:16

      (laughs) It's been a blast. We, uh-

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:18

      That, that fucking vehicle that you have built is the most ridiculous thing I've ever been inside in my life. I can't believe how fast it is. Like, it doesn't-

   6. JHJohn Hennessey0:26

      Well, we only did the speed limit today, right? So-

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:28

      Yes.

   8. JHJohn Hennessey0:28

      Um-

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:28

      We did... But we got there very quickly.

   10. JHJohn Hennessey0:29

       The... We got there very quickly. Yes.

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:31

       Yeah.

   12. JHJohn Hennessey0:31

       1817 horsepower and, uh, 3000 pounds, so you got some power to weight ratio to work with there.

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:37

       That's like 700 more horsepower than a Tesla Plaid.

   14. JHJohn Hennessey0:41

       Yeah, it's like taking a McLaren 765 LT and adding a thousand horsepower to it.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:46

       (Puffs)

   16. JHJohn Hennessey0:46

       Something nobody needs, but we've sold 36 of those.

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:50

       (laughs)

   18. JHJohn Hennessey0:50

       The Venom F5.

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:50

       What is ha-... What happened to you in your life that you needed to make these preposterous cars?

   20. JHJohn Hennessey0:56

       Well, you know, uh-

   21. JRJoe Rogan0:57

       Like what, what is going on? Like what... (laughs)

   22. JHJohn Hennessey0:59

       Yeah, there it is.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:00

       Like-

   24. JHJohn Hennessey1:00

       That's the Venom F5.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:01

       How did you get to be this guy? Like what did, uh... How did this start out where you, you're making these-

   26. JHJohn Hennessey1:06

       You know-

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:06

       ... 1800 horsepower cars?

   28. JHJohn Hennessey1:07

       It's probably kinda like, you know, the pool hall deal when we were younger. Like, I didn't have a good relationship with my old man. He was a car guy, but we didn't get along. And, I don't know, maybe six years later, you know, I'm 60 now, I've got s- you know, I still feel like I got a little chip on my shoulder and something to prove. Maybe a little bit-

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:24

       Oh.

   30. JHJohn Hennessey1:24

       ... less now, but, but for sure.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Right, right. …

   1. JHJohn Hennessey15:00

      at the bank balance and I'm like, "Man, I used to have some money in the bank before I got engaged and bought a race car and raced all over the place." And I thought, "You know what? I- I really like doing this car thing. Maybe other people would pay me to modify their cars like Carroll Shelby, like Alois Ruf with Porsches-"

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:16

      Right, right.

   3. JHJohn Hennessey15:16

      "...Reece Galloway." And so, um, 19... You know, October of 1991, we opened up Hennessy Motorsports and I hired a mechanic and got a toolbox and- and off we went. And that kind of led into the JDM market. So-

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:30

      What- what kind of cars are you modifying back then? Like so you were-

   5. JHJohn Hennessey15:33

      Yeah, any... Dude, anything that would roll in the door. And- and I kind of had a little bit of notoriety from the Silver State Race. So, you know, it was JDM, so it was Supras, 300ZX Twin Turbo.

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:43

      Ah.

   7. JHJohn Hennessey15:43

      Um, you know, so Grand National-

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:46

      Supra?

   9. JHJohn Hennessey15:46

      Yeah, Supra. So- so the Mark IV Supra.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:48

       Yeah.

   11. JHJohn Hennessey15:48

       Um, you know, the Cyclone, the, uh, the Typhoon, you know that had like-

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:53

       Oh, the GMC pickup truck? That's crazy pickup truck.

   13. JHJohn Hennessey15:54

       Yeah, that had like the 3.8 liter single-

   14. JRJoe Rogan15:57

       Yeah.

   15. JHJohn Hennessey15:57

       ...single turbo V6. And so then a guy calls me up, uh, in early '93 and he said, "Hey, I've got one of the first Dodge Vipers coming." It was actually a model year '92 but with... They had some production delays so the car didn't come out till the spring of '93 and he says, "Hey, I wanna... I'm gonna... I bought a Viper and I want to take it to the Silver State Race, and I wonder if... Can you help me put like the safety equipment and help it pass tech?" And I said, "Sure." I said, "But I'll make you a deal. If you let me modify it, I think I can get another 100 horsepower in that Viper, and I'll do it for free."

   16. JRJoe Rogan16:28

       (laughs)

   17. JHJohn Hennessey16:28

       I said, "I won't even charge you to do it." I said, "The only thing I'll ask in return, I'll take you out to the race, we'll- I'll support you, we'll... I'll bring my mechanic, we'll look after your car. After the race, if you'll..." Again, my buddy, Joe Jacuzzi, was with Mitsubishi at the time, um, said, "Hey, I'll take you around LA and I'll introduce you to the editor at MotorTrend and Hot Rod and Car Craft and Road and Track," and sure enough, we did all that and we... I initially did it with my 3000GT, got some articles off of it, and I'm like... When I was doing that back in the early 90s, this is before social media, this is before YouTube, no internet, and so that... The only way we knew about car stuff is we read car magazines, right?

   18. JRJoe Rogan17:04

       Right.

   19. JHJohn Hennessey17:04

       And so I'm doing all this for a couple weeks with Joe and going around, I'm thinking, "Man, I've been gone a long time." I did this race, I go to talk to all these media guys, and Joe's like, "Just be patient. When the magazine comes out, if they're- if they like you and they like your car and they write something nice about it, your phone will ring." And sure enough, phone started ringing. So I did all that with the Viper, and then-

   20. JRJoe Rogan17:22

       How'd you get 100 more horsepower out of it?

   21. JHJohn Hennessey17:24

       You know, the Viper is a big, um, you know, eight liter V10. And so back in those days, the- the exhaust system sounded like a UPS truck. They still kind of sound weird. It's two five cylinders basically is what it sounds like. So we freed up the exhaust, we did a cold air intake, we ported and polished the head. So we got... We bumped it to at least 500 horsepower. Then we started doing cams and stroker motors and eventually turbos, and basically from '93 through for the next 10 years into the early 2000s, I would say we were on the covers of 30, 40 magazines, including all the major buff books.

   22. JRJoe Rogan18:00

       Isn't it crazy when you think about the progression of cars and- and power, that if you go back to the original Viper, it wasn't really that fast?

   23. JHJohn Hennessey18:07

       ... now, compared to today, now-

   24. JRJoe Rogan18:09

       What did it have horsepower-wise? The original out there?

   25. JHJohn Hennessey18:10

       It was, uh, well, the original was 400-

   26. JRJoe Rogan18:11

       400, yeah.

   27. JHJohn Hennessey18:11

       ... and then they went to 450.

   28. JRJoe Rogan18:13

       So, 400 is like... I mean, you get a regular Mustang GT, you're getting 460.

   29. JHJohn Hennessey18:18

       Yeah, yeah, and the new-

   30. JRJoe Rogan18:19

       Like, right off the factory floor.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   That's where I learned…

   1. JHJohn Hennessey30:07

      like, I mean, I've seen videos. I haven't seen you train in person.

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:10

      That's where I learned it.

   3. JHJohn Hennessey30:10

      But I'm like, it's like-

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:11

      I learned it from him.

   5. JHJohn Hennessey30:11

      ... you know, one whack of the, your, your leg and you got some broken ribs.

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:15

      Yeah. W- I, but I learned it from that guy.

   7. JHJohn Hennessey30:16

      Wow.

   8. JRJoe Rogan30:16

      I mean, I learned it from... I mean, I, he most certainly helped me many, many, many times. But watching him, I learned it from. I mean, I weren't learning that was possible. Like, I'd never known that a person could do that.

   9. JHJohn Hennessey30:27

      Right.

   10. JRJoe Rogan30:28

       Like the amount of force. I was like, "That is insane."

   11. JHJohn Hennessey30:31

       So, you were doing that and you were doing, uh, toss newspapers around the same time?

   12. JRJoe Rogan30:34

       Yes. Because-

   13. JHJohn Hennessey30:35

       So, newspapers was your income source, but-

   14. JRJoe Rogan30:37

       Right.

   15. JHJohn Hennessey30:37

       ... but, fighting was your passion and-

   16. JRJoe Rogan30:39

       Yeah.

   17. JHJohn Hennessey30:39

       ... and cost some money for travel and whatever.

   18. JRJoe Rogan30:41

       It was a, it was a good way, once I got out of high school, it was a good way to generate some money while I was doing this crazy thing where I was trying to make the Olympic team for TaeKwonDo.

   19. JHJohn Hennessey30:49

       Really? Okay. Oh.

   20. JRJoe Rogan30:50

       Yeah. So, I was competing. I won the Massachusetts State Championship, like, four years in a row.

   21. JHJohn Hennessey30:56

       Okay.

   22. JRJoe Rogan30:56

       And I was competing in the Nationals and I had never... I couldn't win the Nationals. I got clo-... I came close a couple of times and I, I, uh, got in the finals of the US Cup with this guy, uh, Kareem Jabbar, who was the National Champion. It was a very disputed close decision that I thought I could've got. But, so I was at that level. I was, like, right close. But unfortunately, then I started kickboxing.

   23. JHJohn Hennessey31:17

       Okay.

   24. JRJoe Rogan31:17

       And when I started kickboxing, immediately I realized how helpless I was against, uh, someone who had really, really good hands.

   25. JHJohn Hennessey31:23

       Right.

   26. JRJoe Rogan31:23

       I was getting fucked up kickboxing.

   27. JHJohn Hennessey31:25

       Okay.

   28. JRJoe Rogan31:26

       And then I, I kinda lost my faith in TaeKwonDo, because, uh, I realized how limited it was, 'cause they don't punch to the face.

   29. JHJohn Hennessey31:32

       Okay.

   30. JRJoe Rogan31:32

       So, you get like a... It's... You get the most amazing leg dexterity-
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Wow. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      the pay-per-view went out, and like the people didn't get to see- Oh, no. ... the last rounds of the main event. Oh, no. It was a huge disaster. The UFC had to give back who knows how much money. Right. 'Cause it was like their big event in Vegas, and the pay-per-view fucked up. So Dana, had Dana bought it yet at this point? It was the Zuffa, uh, the- Zuffa, which was the Fertitta brothers and Dana. Okay, okay. They're the organization that bought it. I see. Okay. So the Fertitta brothers bought it. Right. And then Dana was running it, and this was the very early stages. And this was, you know, they, th- there was no, there was no TV to speak of that was showing the UFC. Right. They had to get this deal on Spike TV to put it on television. Right, right, right. And that was like years in. Sure. So this is like 2005. Okay. So we're like four years later. These guys are hemorrhaging money trying to make this thing happen. Yeah. And, uh, when, when, when that was going on, nobody took it seriously. Like everybody thought it was just like... Isn't that when they came, came up with the idea of Ultimate Fighter? Is that kinda maybe what turned the corner for them? Mm-hmm. That's exactly what it is. They paid for everything. Yeah. They paid to put the show on. They, I think they even bought out the ads, and they took care of the whole thing. They put it on television. It was like a Hail Mary, and it was- Yeah. ... a fucking touchdown. Wow. And Stephan Bonnar, uh, rest in peace, he just died. Okay. And Forrest Griffin had the most insane fight in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter. Wow. And people were just calling friends up, "You gotta watch this. This is insane," because the viewership skyrockets during the fight- Yeah, sure. ... 'cause it's so wild. Right. And that fight made the UFC. Okay. That fight made the sport- Really? ... because then people were like, "What is this?" Okay. And then they put on another event. Yeah. And the other event got fucking huge. And then Chuck Liddell came out to the scene. Yes. And when Chuck Liddell was the champion, Chuck Liddell was so fucking terrifying. Yeah. He was this do or die berserker. He would just come at you just swinging bombs, take one on the chin, knock dudes out. His fights were wild. He didn't give a shit. He was the, the real reason why the UFC became uber popular because you would watch The Ultimate Fighter, and it was wild fight, a great fight, but then you need a destroyer. Right. You need a destroyer. Yeah. And that destroyer was Chuck Liddell. Okay. And for the run where he was at the top, where Chuck Liddell was just murking people. So he was kinda like the Michael Jordan in that he basically took it- Well- ... took the sport to another level? No- well, you know, he was, he was an exceptional champion. Okay. But I wouldn't say he was the Michael Jordan. Okay, okay. He was just- Fair enough. ... he had a j- l- h- he had the most fan-friendly style you could ever imagine. He would just come after dudes- Okay. ... and smash people. Like he was never trying to win decisions. Chuck Liddell was trying to send you into the dream world. Okay. And, and that became UFC. So he was an enter- he was an entertainer. He was- He was very entertaining. ... he was, he was Maximus the, uh- Yes. ... yeah. He was- Gladiator. When he would win, he would throw his arms back- Yeah. ... like this. (screams) It was crazy. (laughs) See if you get, see if you get a video of Chuck Liddell knocking someone out and then celebrating because it was like this iconic primal rage celebration. Yeah. And when, you know, you can only fight like that for so long. Sure. H- here's the reality- It's gonna take the toll. ... of physical damage on the body- Mm-hmm. ... and the kind of sparring that you have to do to fight like that. Yeah. But when he did it, my God, it was glorious. His fights when he, when he knocked out Tito Ortiz, like oh my God, he was a monster. Right. He, he was a monster. Yeah. He was just smashing people, and he was a really good wrestler too, so good luck taking him down. Wow. You know? So this is- Oh my gosh. I mean, this is Chuck with the fucking mohawk. Yeah, the mohawk. I mean, look at this fucking savage, dude. Oh my God. Look at this sav- watch this. Yeah. Look at this. Look at him. Oh, they're not showing this cel- Like a pit bull. Look at him, look at this celebration.Bro-

   2. JHJohn Hennessey48:40

      Wow.

   3. JRJoe Rogan48:40

      ... I'm telling you, when Chuck Liddell was in his prime, he was one of the most terrifying fucking human beings that's ever walked the face of the earth.

   4. JHJohn Hennessey48:46

      Wow.

   5. JRJoe Rogan48:47

      You can't do this for that long. There's only, only so many years a man can do this-

   6. JHJohn Hennessey48:51

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan48:51

      ... for like this. But my God, Chuck Liddell was so fucking entertaining. He was a destroyer, man. He would just come at you. I mean, look at this shit. He's so terrifying-looking-

   8. JHJohn Hennessey49:01

      Wow.

   9. JRJoe Rogan49:01

      ... tattoo on his head-

   10. JHJohn Hennessey49:02

       (laughs)

   11. JRJoe Rogan49:03

       ... mohawk, built like a brick shithouse, just throwing fucking hammers.

   12. JHJohn Hennessey49:06

       Who's the, who's the destroyer? Who's the up-and-coming destroyer today?

   13. JRJoe Rogan49:09

       Oh, do you see that Bob Arum knockout? Show, back that up again. This one of, this one was insane.

   14. JHJohn Hennessey49:18

       Oh. The leg?

   15. JRJoe Rogan49:20

       Dude, he would do that to everybody. He was just-

   16. JHJohn Hennessey49:22

       They're relentless.

   17. JRJoe Rogan49:22

       ... smashing people.

   18. JHJohn Hennessey49:23

       Wow.

   19. JRJoe Rogan49:25

       Phew.

   20. JHJohn Hennessey49:25

       Yeah. He didn't know what defense is. He's pure offense all the time.

   21. JRJoe Rogan49:28

       Well, he had defense but he didn't ... He just, he fucking threw caution to the wind, man.

   22. JHJohn Hennessey49:32

       Wow.

   23. JRJoe Rogan49:32

       The guy just came after people, and he was so mean. (laughs)

   24. JHJohn Hennessey49:36

       (laughs)

   25. JRJoe Rogan49:36

       But that also made the UFC-

   26. JHJohn Hennessey49:38

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan49:38

       ... because that guy being at ... That was the figurehead. That was the big guy. He was the, the face of the company-

   28. JHJohn Hennessey49:44

       Right.

   29. JRJoe Rogan49:44

       ... because he was the guy that like, if you, the casual fan, when you would talk to him, like, "Have you seen the Chuck Liddell fight?"

   30. JHJohn Hennessey49:50

       Right.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:01:15

   Yeah. Sure. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:00:00

      that on the street.

   2. JHJohn Hennessey1:00:01

      Yeah. Sure.

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:00:01

      I respect that you can drive it.

   4. JHJohn Hennessey1:00:02

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:00:02

      But you really should drive that only on a track. I mean, it's like when you're in it-

   6. JHJohn Hennessey1:00:06

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:00:07

      ... you're like, "Yeah, this is kinda crazy."

   8. JHJohn Hennessey1:00:07

      Yeah. Well, even like when we're driv- like we, you know, drive in, uh, if you still have your Tesla Plaid... I drove mine up here, you know, the performance that that thing's capable of, you, you, you should not use on the street. (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:00:17

      No. Right.

   10. JHJohn Hennessey1:00:18

       You know, sometimes there might be a place where, you know, you could go out and just have fun with yourself or your buddy but, uh, but yeah, same thing. I mean, the F5 will, you know, will go... You know, forget about 0 to 60. 0 to 60 is a metric from 60 years ago. Let's talk about 0 to 200. It'll go 0 to 200 miles an hour in 10 seconds.

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:00:34

       (laughs)

   12. JHJohn Hennessey1:00:34

       A hair under 10 seconds. It's as fast as or maybe a tiny bit faster from 0 to 200 miles an hour as compared to a modern Formula One car.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:00:42

       Jesus Christ.

   14. JHJohn Hennessey1:00:42

       Yeah. It's power-to-weight ratio wise, so. Um, but it's built in America.

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:00:46

       Jesus. (laughs)

   16. JHJohn Hennessey1:00:46

       Uh, you know, our guys just go 100 miles down the road, build them for me here and, uh, I think they'll be very collectible someday. So we'll see.

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:00:53

       How many are you gonna make?

   18. JHJohn Hennessey1:00:55

       So we built, um, 24 Venom F5 Coupes. Those are all sold out. We're now producing the Roadster and the Revolution. The Roadster, open top, go out, sunny day, have fun. The Revolution is more track focused. Now, it's like our GT3 RS, it's t- it's a, it's a track focus car, but it's still road legal. It has AC and all the comforts that you would... It has Apple CarPlay-

Episode duration: 1:48:14