The Venturi Atlantique----France's Presumably Forgotten Supercar.

Now, some backstory to how I know of this car. I had a book, called the ‘World Car Guide’ 2000, and flipping through those pages, I saw scores of cars on sale in 2000, from the E36 3-Series, Bristol Blenheim, the old Seat Leon, to the Uglier-Than-It-Is-Now, Daihatsu Terios, stuff like the Ferrari 550M and 456M GT, the Pre-Facelift NSX, the DC2 Integra, and the S2000, the FD, and then the Maserati 3200 GT and Quattroporte. But as I read to Page 125, I saw the Venturi. Listed by The Express(Who made the Guide) as France’s Fastest Production Car, with the ability to rival Lotus(And presumably the 3.5 V8 Esprit) in terms of performance, readers were asked not to dismiss the Venturi too quickly because of the fact that it wasn’t very well-known. Now, up till then, I had no clue about what it was(I was around 5 then, remember), so, well, naturally, I more or less dismissed it.

Anyway, on with the car.

The Atlantique was more or less, a reworked version of the MVS Venturi, the Company’s first car. Of which variant(Of which there were many), I don’t know. The MVS Venturi used a chassis made of Steel Tubes and ‘Box-Section-Reinforcement’, with Double-Wishbone Suspension up front, and MultiLink ones at the back. The Bodyshell was made of Glass Fiber(Or, to you and me, Fibreglass) just like a Lotus.And the car, while looking rather big, was actually quite Compact: Length was 4090mm, 1700mm wide, and a Wheelbase of 2400mm. Quoted weight for that car was 1180 kilos, rather light, even for today. Using a Longitudinally-Mounted PRV 2.5-Litre Turbocharged V6 with 200 BHP, coupled to a Five-Speed Transaxle(Not much idea of what that means), the performance should be comparable to the A610 GTA Turbo, which was pretty good, for its time.

But, in 1996, Venturi moved the role of its Core Car on to the Atlantique. At this time, it was the only time the original design had been really given a reboot, becoming much ‘Smoother’, Sleeker, and Longer, making it look more like a 348 or F355. The wheelbase increased by 100mm to 2500mm while the width climbed 140mm, to 1840mm. The chassis, was constructed in the same way that it had been in the MVS.

The engine in the first variant, the 260, essentially in itself, a reworked version of the APC 260, carried over the 2.8-Litre Turbocharged V6, producing 260 bhp and 318 lb-ft of Torque.

The engine in found in the 300, was the same, 3.0-Litre, 12-Valve, SOHC V6 as the one in the MVS Venturi 400 GT, except now with a Single Turbocharger, unlike the 400 GT, which had Twin Turbochargers, delivering a power output of 281 BHP and 310 lb-ft of Torque.

But, when the 300 BiTurbo came out 2 years later in 1998, the engine had become the PRV 3.0-Litre V6, with a Single Turbo set-up swapped for a Twin-Turbo setup, meaning that the engine now produced 310 BHP. Though Peak Torque was a bit less due to a bit less Boost being used. In any case, the car was capable of 170 mph and a 0-60 time of 4.7 seconds, nearly good enough to match the Esprit V8 and F355. Bloody Hell, that’s fast.

All three cars were paired to the same 5-Speed Manual as the one used in the MVS.

Here’s some of the statistics of the Altlantique:

For the 300, the car weighed 1250 kilos, and hit 60 in 5 Seconds Dead, and accelerated on to 174 mph.

The BiTurbo weighed slightly more, coming in at 1279 kilos, hit 60 in 4.7 Seconds and went on to 171 mph.

The 260, the Very first Variant, weighed 1100 kilos, hit 60 in 5.2 seconds, and accelerated onward to 167 mph.
Yes, don’t tell me that the 300 is quicker in terms of Top Speed. I have no idea how.

But, even though it had succeeded where the MVS had failed, mainly in ride quality and refinement(Especially on the BiTurbo, where the Power Delivery was smoother), and also build quality, being able to perform the role of a GT Car rather well, people were too dismissive, clinging on to Porsche and Ferrari, and as a result, less than 700 examples left the factory, majority of them being sold in the Middle East, and with sales in the UK best described as ‘Slight’, and otherwise described as ‘Pretty-Much-Non-Existent’. That said, at 59 600 quid, I can sort of see why…

But, as a result of this, the Company faced Bankruptcy, and in 2001, Monegasque Millionaire Gildo Pallanca Pastor bought the company, and, under his direction, began to focus on building Electric vehicles instead, leading to stuff like the Fetish and Astrolab.

So, to conclude then. The Venturi Atlantique was France’s Supercar, next to the Renault Alpine A610, but with performance to nearly, just nearly, match up to the Italians, Brit’s and German’s. But, even though the car had been praised wildly by the Press, people were just too Dismissive, dismissing it as just another car maker which built fast cars for publicity, neither of which would cater to their tastes and wants, in terms of comfort and performance, and as a result, clinging on to their Porsche’s and Ferrari’s, and so, as their Sales figures spiraled, the Venturi’s dropped. But what they never realised, is possibly, what a huge mistake they’d made by doing so. This car was fast, comfortable, and even handled well, as noted like people like Clarkson and Performance Car(The magazine), with Clarkson describing it as ‘Having your very own, Personal Jet Fighter’, and Performance Car noting it as, when compared to the Esprit 3.5, ‘A More relaxing car to drive, the tidier dimensions making it easier to place on the road, riding more smoothly, with far less road noise, and with a far slicker gearchange. It was even better built.’

But yet, people dismissed it, and as a result, this is probably, one of France’s best, most exclusive, and fastest cars.

Honestly, if you want one, just go with Vaults full of cash. It might help you.

And on THAT Bombshell, you have just finished reading my article on the Venturi Atlantique, one of France’s fastest Production Cars, yet one which was hugely luxurious, even when compared to its competitors, French or not, meaning that it, was one of those cars that you really could go to a racetrack, have some fun for the day, then go home, in absolute comfort. Now that, is an achievement. Leave advice, overlooked details, and suggestions down below, and I hoped you enjoyed it.

See you at the next one.