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Hennessey's Jeep Grand Cherokee is a 181-mph Christmas tree delivery sleigh

Never mind that red-nosed Rudolf guy, yule be impressed with how rapid this 1,000-hp SUV can deliver the Christmas spirit.

Chris Paukert
Following stints in TV news production and as a record company publicist, Chris spent most of his career in automotive publishing. Mentored by Automobile Magazine founder David E. Davis Jr., Paukert succeeded Davis as editor-in-chief of Winding Road, a pioneering e-mag, before serving as Autoblog's executive editor from 2008 to 2015. Chris is a Webby and Telly award-winning video producer and has served on the jury of the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards. He joined the CNET team in 2015, bringing a small cache of odd, underappreciated cars with him.
Chris Paukert
Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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Texas tuner Hennessey Performance is claiming it has captured the record for the the World's Fastest Christmas Tree: 181 mph.

Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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The run was conducted on a closed test course using a modified 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.

Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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Stock Trackhawk models already brandish a ridiculous 707 horsepower, but the Hennessey model brings that total up to 1,000.

Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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Hennessey went to Lowe's and bought a six-foot Douglas Fir, strung up some lights, and strapped it down to a suction-cup roof rack for the record run.

Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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Don't worry, a pro driver was involved.

Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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Hennessey has done this sort of stunt before: In 2017, it took one of its modified Dodge Challenger Widebody models to 173 mph -- and it had a smaller Christmas tree on its roof.

Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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Considering how much less aerodynamic the Jeep would seem to be than the Challenger coupe, this seems like a particularly impressive top speed.

Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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The high-speed run was conducted at the Continental Tire Proving Grounds in Uvalde, Texas, about 90 minutes west of San Antonio.

Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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Of course, all of this "World's Fastest" talk may be a bit glib -- we're not aware of the stopwatch-wielding folks at Guinness World Records (let alone the FIA) actually having an official record for such things.

Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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That said, in the holiday spirit, we're going to give this one to Hennessey. If nothing else, its HPE1000-modified Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk seems like one cool sleigh.

Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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Keep clicking or scrolling for more images of this 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk tuned by Hennessey.

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