Venturi is a Monaco-based automotive manufacturer. Founded in 1984 by French engineers Claude Poiraud and Gérard Godfroy as MVS (Manufacture de Voitures de Sport), the company's purpose was to compete in the "Grand Tourisme" market. This was only the most recent post-war attempt at building a sporty luxury car in France, following in the footsteps of Facel Vega, Monica, and Ligier. As with its predecessors, Venturi was immediately faced with many challenges ranging from an unknown name to its under-capitalized and under-staffed state. Venturi did nonetheless manage to continue in production for nearly sixteen years, declaring bankruptcy in 2000. The same year, Monegasque Gildo Pallanca Pastor purchased Venturi, and decided to focus on electric-powered motors. This change of direction led to the limited-production Fétish, the first electric sports car in the world. Following the public's enthusiasm for this first electric model, the brand developed 5 other innovative concept cars.

The first Venturi came out in 1984, created by Claude Poiraud and Gérard Godfroy, two former engineers at Heuliez. The goal was to present the only "Grand Tourisme" French car capable of competing with the English Aston Martin, the Italian Ferrari, and the German Porsche. The first car shown had a Volkswagen Golf GTi engine and the name was originally spelled "Ventury", with a "y" at the end. In 1985, the car was shown with a 200 PS Peugeot 505 Turbo engine, but by the 1986 Paris Motor Show it had reached its definitive form with the PRV V6 engine. Production began in 1987, with five cars built in the first year with production increasing in the subsequent years. The headquarters of the company was located in Couëron, Pays de Loire, where almost 750 cars were produced in the forthcoming 20 years.

From 1987 to the mid-1990s, they built mid-engined coupés and roadsters with turbocharged PRV engines and Renault gearboxes. Engine power ranged from 200 to 260 PS for the then offered MVS Venturi Coupé and Transcup series. The naturally aspirated Venturi 160 used the catalyzed 2849 cc version of the PRV V6; this was meant to be sold in Japan and was therefore also available with an automatic transmsission. Only a handful were built. There was also the 185 PS  Venturi 180, mainly developed for Italy, which used the turbocharged 1995-cc inline-four Douvrin engine from the Renault 21 Turbo.

mvs

Godfroy designed a very stylish mid-engined sports car with some influence from BMW M1, Lotus Excel and Ferrari 328 GTB. This was the first MVS Venturi. It employed a chassis made of steel tubes and box section reinforcement. Suspension was provided by double-wishbones up front and multi-link at the rear. The body shell was made of glass-fiber like Lotus to save weight. Aerodynamic drag was an excellent 0.31. The first production engine and gearbox came straight from Renault Alpine GTA, i.e. a 2.5-liter PRV V6 turbo with 200 horsepower and 5-speed transaxle, but the combo was turned 180 degrees such that the engine was mounted longitudinally in the middle of the car while the gearbox extended aft of the rear axle. The Venturi looked big, but it was actually very compact with a length of 4090 mm, width of 1700 mm and a wheelbase of 2400 mm. Kerb weight was quoted at 1180 kg, so performance should be comparable to the GTA V6 turbo, which was pretty good for its time.

By the turn of the decade, a more powerful 2.8-liter engine was introduced. Still based on the PRV V6, it was modified with a longer stroke, higher lift cams, new exhaust and revised ECU mapping. The Garrett T3 turbo provided up to 0.95 bar of boost pressure, lifting maximum output to 261 hp and peak torque to over 300 lbft. The car was called Venturi 260. Performance was significantly improved, even though the claimed top speed of 168 mph and 0-62 mph time of 5.3 seconds were a bit optimistic.

MVS Venturi models (includes Coupé and Cabriolet versions):

1987-1990 – Coupé 160 automatic, Transcup, Transcup automatic (six built)

1987-1990 – Coupé 200, Transcup

1991 – Coupé 210, Transcup

1992 – Coupé 180, Transcup (export model, mainly for Italy)

1989-1996 – Coupé 260, Transcup (sold as the MVS 2.80 in 1989)

1991 – 260 Atlantique1994-1996 – 260 LMTrophy - 73 built for racing, ten later converted for street use by the factory

atlantique

The Venturi Atlantique was a mid-engined, fiberglass-bodied French sports car produced by Venturi Automobiles from 1991 to 2000.

260: The original 260 was a revised version of the Venturi APC 260, carrying over the 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 engine with 260 PS, but with a reduced weight of 1,110 kg. It was good for a top speed of 269 km/h and accelerated from 0-100 km/h) in 5.3 seconds.

300: Scotsman Hubert O'Neill purchased Venturi in 1994 and conceived of the Venturi 400GT as well as a revised Atlantique. After a rushed design time of six months, the new Atlantique 300 was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. Its 3.0 V6 PRV engine was lifted from other Peugeot/Citroën models and was good for 210 PS  in naturally aspirated form or 281 PS with a turbocharger which was essentially the same engine as used in the Alpine A610. Venturi again went into receivership in 1996, and was bought by Thai firm Nakarin Benz, under whom the company focused its concentration upon road cars.

300 biturbo: The Twin-turbo version of the Atlantique 300 was released in 1998 and used the later L7X V6, a Renault variant of the V6 ESL engine which brought the power up to 310 PS at 6,200 rpm and 394 N⋅m of torque at 3,800 rpm, with a top speed of 275 km/h and a 0-100 km/h time of 4.7 seconds, this addition made the Atlantique a serious performance competitor to the Lotus Esprit V8. 13 examples were built in 1999-2000; this model was the last Venturi to be considered French, before the firm became based in Monaco.

300 gtr: In 1999, 2 cars were built exclusively for track racing. They were designated Venturi 300 GTR.

Venturi again faced bankruptcy in 2000, and the Atlantique went out of production. Although current owner Gildo Pallanca Pastor, a Monegasque millionaire, has resumed production of Venturi cars, he has shifted the emphasis to electric sports cars such as the Venturi Fétish, retiring the Atlantique badge. Company production will be even more limited at 10 units per year.

400

The Venturi 400 GT is a sports car produced by the French car manufacturer Venturi. The coupe was produced from 1994 to 1997 with less than 100 units. Only about 15 street versions and 73 units for racing were built.

The Venturi 400 Trophy, also known only as Venturi Trophy is a competition car built in 1992 specifically to compete in tourism competitions. It was powered by a V6 biturbo engine. The biturbo, derived PRV / EIA engine, was capable of delivering 408 hp, with a torque of 530 Nm and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds.

From the racing version came the Venturi 400 GT, a road model whose production was definitely much more limited. It was presented by the famous French racing driver Henri Pescarolo in 1994 at the company headquarters, at Couëron. The main differences consisted of a series of small changes aimed at road homologation, while the engine was the same as the race version, with a 5-speed manual gearbox and a top speed of 290 km/h. The passenger compartment, which was obviously of higher quality, was very different, taking up that of the Venturi 260. The 400 GT was fitted with a catalytic converter, as in the last versions of the 260. The 400 GT remains one of the best performing French cars ever produced, and it is in fact the very first car in the world to have standard carbon brakes.

600 lm

In 1993 Venturi focused on motosports such as Le Mans and the BPR Global GT Series. Many of these cars were converted from the Venturi 400s raced in the Gentlemen Drivers Trophy organized by Stéphane Ratel.

The highlight of the 600 LM was its Renault PRV engine which could produce around 600 bhp. Many cars were upgraded to this level of specification late in their career.

Following five cars which raced the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans, Venturi upgraded the design with a Renault PRV 3.0-litre Turbo V6 primarily for the Agusta Racing Team. These ran in the GT1 class and were homologated by a single road-going version. In 1995, again three cars were entered in the GT1 class at Le Mans and one by Venturi Automobiles SA which placed 21st overall, the car’s best result.

fetish

September 28th, 2006-By presenting the first desirable electric vehicle at the 2004 Paris Motorshow, Venturi created on the one hand a new segment, that of the electric sports car, and on the other hand carried an extremely positive message for the future of the automobile, composed of high performance and driving pleasure.

With the engine ideally placed in the rear central position with a carbon monocoque chassis, the Fetish architecture is comparable to that of a racing car. Thanks to a constant 220 Nm torque its last generation 180 kW induction engine ensures gentle or strong acceleration depending on the drivers requirements.

Venturi’s highly innovative approach meant a complete change in cultural direction, the evolution from the traditional sports car to a noiseless electric sports car, as well as a radical change in technological references, placing the battery, not the engine.

The engine’s 180 kW (disconnectable ASR) combined with roadholding quality derived from the Venturi Atlantique 300 and large tires of 265 at the rear make the Fetish a homogeneous sports vehicle in terms of both roadholding and exceptional drivability. Acceleration from 0 to 100km/h is in under 5 seconds. Fetish offers a range of 250 km and a fast complete recharge in 1 hour (under 30 kW three-phase) and in 3 hours with a standard grid thanks to its onboard charger.

Only 25 units have been produced.

vbb 3

Venturi Automobiles is no stranger to the world of high-speed electric vehicles. The company's ongoing collaboration with Ohio State University saw the Buckeye Bullet 2.5 set the current EV land speed record of 495 km/h in 2010, and now the team is setting its sights on a new mark with what's billed as the most powerful electric car ever made – the Venturi VBB-3. The third generation Venturi “Jamais Contente” (which translates as "The Never Satisfied") cost a cool US$6 million to build. The aim of the project is to hit progressively higher targets over the next two years, with the ultimate goal being to exceed 708 km/h.

Housed in a 11.64 m-long carbon fiber skin, the 4WD VBB-3 features an electric motor that can deliver power of up to 3,000 hp (2,200 kW) and weighs about 3.2 tonnes in total, with batteries accounting for about half its weight.

venturi.com

Venturi Racing (formerly Venturi Formula E Team) is a Monegasque motor racing team controlled by Scott Swid (Chairman and principal owner), Susie Wolff and José M Aznar Botella. The team competes in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Venturi Racing competes with a single-make chassis built by Spark and initially built its own powertrains, before partnering with Mercedes for the 2019–20 season. In March 2018, Venturi became the first Formula E team to establish a junior programme.

2014–15 season

Venturi was founded by Gildo Pallanca Pastor and became one of Formula E's founding teams by committing to the championship in December 2013. For the series' inaugural season, it was announced that the team had signed Nick Heidfeld and Stéphane Sarrazin as its drivers, with Franck Baldet as team coordinator.

2015–16 season

For the 2015-16 season, Venturi supplied powertrains to customer team Dragon Racing and signed 1997 Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve as a teammate to Sarrazin. After the Punta del Este ePrix, however, the Canadian left after 'disagreeing on the direction of the team'. He was replaced by Mike Conway.

2016–17 season

Sarrazin was retained for a third consecutive season by Venturi and was partnered by FIA GT World Cup driver Maro Engel who replaced Conway at the team.^[15]

Venturi commenced the campaign with a double points finish at the 2016 Hong Kong ePrix.

2017–18 season

For the fourth season of Formula E, Venturi re-signed Engel and hired seven time Macau World Cup winner Edoardo Mortara.

On his debut weekend in Formula E in Hong Kong, Mortara claimed the team's first podium since the 2016 Long Beach ePrix.

2018–19 season

In May 2018, Venturi signed a three-year deal with 11-time Formula One race winner Felipe Massa and rehired Mortara for a second season. Norman Nato was named as the team's Reserve Driver. Former professional racing driver Susie Wolff became the Team Principal while Franck Baldet became Technical Director.

2019–20 season

In October 2019, Venturi confirmed that Mortara would again partner Massa while the team entered a powertrain partnership with Mercedes-Benz.

On the eve of the 2019-20 season opener, the team announced a three-year title sponsorship with telecommunications company ROKiT.

2020–21 season

For Formula E's seventh season and first as a World Championship, Venturi re-signed Mortara and promoted Norman Nato to a full-time race seat, with the Frenchman replacing Massa.

2021–22 season

In September 2021, Venturi re-signed Mortara for a fifth successive season while Season 3 champion Lucas di Grassi joined the team, replacing Nato who, in turn, joined Jaguar Racing as Reserve Driver. Susie Wolff, meanwhile, was promoted to the position of CEO while Jérôme D'Ambrosio took over as Team Principal.

The Venturi LC92 (also known as the Venturi Larrousse LC92 or the Larrousse LC92) was a Formula One racing car designed by Robin Herd, Michel Tétu and Tino Belli for the 1992 Formula One season. Built to replace the Lola LC91 used in the previous season, after Larrousse had ended their agreement with Lola, the LC92 used a 3.5-litre Lamborghini 3512 V12 engine. It was the first car that Larrousse had built since Venturi had bought a controlling stake in the team, with Bertrand Gachot and Ukyo Katayama being selected to drive the car. Although the LC92 finished more races than its predecessor, it was no quicker, and Gachot scored the team's only point of the season at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix. After Venturi sold their stake in Larrousse at the end of the season, the LC92 was replaced by the Larrousse LH93, which was marginally more successful.

Following the end of the 1991 Formula One season, the Larrousse team had been declared bankrupt, and former partners Brian Hart and Lola, the latter of whom had built Larrousse's 1991 car, the LC91, ended their contracts with the team due to the large sums of money they were owed. In order to keep his team going, team boss Gérard Larrousse signed a deal with Venturi, and hired Robin Herd and his Fomet company to build the 1992 cars. With Herd as technical director, Michel Tétu as the designer and Tino Belli as the aerodynamicist, the car they came up with was the LC92, which bore Venturi's name. The team did a deal with Lamborghini to use the firm's 3512 V12 engine, as they had done previously in 1989 and 1990. Bertrand Gachot was retained from the previous season, whilst Ukyo Katayama was hired to partner him. In September 1992, Venturi sold their stake in the team to Rainer Walldorf's Comstock firm. However, this deal descended into farce when it was discovered that Walldorf was actually a wanted felon called Klaus Walz.  After a brief spell on the run, Walz was killed by police after a nine-hour siege in a hotel.

Lamborghini made the move to Formula One in 1989 when the FIA outlawed turbocharged engines. Former Scuderia Ferrari designer / engineer Mauro Forghieri was commissioned to design and build a new, 3.5 litre V12 engine for use by the French Larrousse team in 1989. Dubbed the Lamborghini LE3512, (Lamborghini Engineering 3.5 liters 12 cylinders) the 3,493 cc, 80° V12 engine was reported to be the best sounding engine of the new 3.5L naturally aspirated formula.