Out of tune; Viper specialist John Hennessey up to his cylinder heads in problems.(Brief Article)

Ninety-eight percent of his customers love him, John Hennessey says. But a few hate him and some have sued.

Hennessey Motorsports in Houston specializes in tuning Vipers, adding more power to what is already one of the most powerful cars in the world. Hennessey's Vipers have been featured in this and many other magazines, and the cars he has sent to us and to other media were impressive performers. Hennessey presents himself well, projecting an image of the consummate Texas good ol' boy whose reassuring conversational style and howyewdoin' demeanor put customers at ease. People believe they will get what he says he'll give them. But not all people do.

According to a lawsuit filed in Salt Lake City, Utah resident Taig Stewart sent his Viper GTS to Hennessey last May for an engine upgrade to 1100 hp along with several other modifications. For that he wire-transferred $142,500 to Hennessey. The lawsuit states the parties agreed the car would be done by mid-July 2001. As of press time the car was still sitting under a tarp in Hennessey's shop in Houston. Or most of the car, anyway. Stewart's suit claims Hennessey sold the car's engine, transmission, wheels, tires and hood. The suit seeks return of the money, the Viper and ``no less than $1 million'' in punitive damages.

Hennessey claims he's just slow in getting the work done.

``My side of the story is we're planning on finishing his car and planning on giving him everything that he paid for,'' said Hennessey. As for the parts being sold, ``That's totally false. We've got all his parts in the shop except the hood and he wanted to do a lightweight hood.''

Stewart is not the first unsatisfied customer. The longer we dug the more dissatisfaction we found. Here's a sampling:

* On Nov. 14 a New Jersey court entered a final judgement of $133,674 against Hennessey on behalf of Viper owner Gary Dan for a botched conversion.