Another day, another mournful farewell to another V8-powered driver's car. Reaching the end of the road this time is the Chevrolet Camaro muscle car. Ensuring the Camaro goes through the quarter mile traps at an all-time high is Hennessey, the renowned Texas-based hypercar manufacturer and tuner. The firm has resurrected the 1,000 bhp Exocist, creating the Final Edition. Just 57 will be made - one to mark each year since the Camaro first entered production.

Introduced in 2017, the Exorcist was created by Hennessey as a riposte to the Dodge Demon and its headline-grabbing 840 hp output. As John Hennessey, company founder and CEO puts it: “Our comprehensive upgrade to the Camaro ZL1 is one of my all-time favourites. The chassis, suspension, and powerplant work seamlessly together, so all the driver experiences is raw, unbridled horsepower. There’s nothing else like our Exorcist, so we’re eager to share this special limited edition with fans of this iconic car before it’s gone forever.”

In standard form, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has a 6.2-litre supercharged LT4 V8 rated at 650 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. Hennessey fits the Camaro's pushrod V8 with a larger supercharger, high-flow air induction system and upgrades the auxiliary fuel system, fuel injectors, and fuel pump.

Next up, the cylinder heads are ported, custom HPE camshafts are fitted, and the intake valves, exhaust valves, valve springs, retainers, lifters, and pushrods are upgraded. An oversized heat exchanger is fitted for enhanced cooling, while long-tube stainless steel headers and high-flow catalytic converters improve breathing. 

Following years of R&D and refinement, the Exorcist ‘Final Edition’ is calibrated with a finely tuned HPE Engine Management software upgrade. This enhancement, along with the comprehensive overhaul of the engine, results in the LT4 engine achieving an output of 1,000 horsepower and 966 lb-ft of torque – a 54 per cent increase in power and a 49 per cent boost in torque. Performance is jaw-dropping, as the Exorcist ‘Final Edition’ boasts a 2.1 second 0-60 mph time, 9.57 second ¼ mile, and a top speed of 217 mph.

Impressively, all of the upgrades are backed up by Hennessey's comprehensive 3-year / 36,000-mile limited warranty. Production of the Final Edition is already underway underway, and each car will be marked out by its commemorative engine bay plaque and special exterior graphics.