From 1984 to 2000
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 transmission. 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.
Venturi was also briefly involved with the Larrousse Formula One team. The team's 1992 car, which bore the Venturi name, was designed and built by Venturi Larousse UK, a British company formerly known as Fomet 1, which had previously designed the 1991 Fondmetal Formula One cars.[4] The Venturi 400 GT remains one of the highest performing French cars ever produced, and was the first car in the world to have standard carbon brakes.[5] True to that claim, the Atlantique 400 GT with a 2975 cc DOHC 4 valves per cylinder twin-turbo V6 engine rated at 300 kW at 6000 rpm and 520 Nm at 4500 rpm of torque with a compression ratio of 7.3:1,[6] delivered excellent performance to put it on par with Ferraris of the early 90s. The 400 GT could hit 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds and 291 km/h top speed, while the Atlantique 300 Biturbo with a 310 PS V6 could accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds and could reach a top speed of 275 km/h.[7]
A limited-edition 400 GTR was built to satisfy the homologation requirements to compete in 24 Hours of Le Mans. High-level competition has also brought fame to the brand. Stéphane Ratel, who would later found the FIA GT Championship, was at the origin of the Venturi Gentlemen Drivers Trophy. A total of 72 cars were manufactured[8] and the customers were offered the possibility of converting the cars to road specification at the end of the season. These cars were driven by a total of 75 drivers. Venturi also won fame through its brilliant performances in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, particularly in 1993 with Christophe Dechavanne and Jacques Laffite with the Venturi Jacadi team, and in 1995 with Paul Belmondo racing on the 600 SLM.
However, it was in the BPR Global GT Series races that Venturi established its pedigree defeating Porsche and Ferrari on several occasions. In 1994 in Dijon-Prenois, with Ferté and Neugarten on the 600 LM Jacadi, at the 1000 km of Paris with Henri Pescarolo and Jean-Claude Basso on the 600 LM, and finally at the 4 Hours Spa race, once again with Michel Ferté and Michel Neugarten.
From 2000 to the present day
In 2000, Gildo Pallanca Pastor bought Venturi and decided to focus on electric-powered vehicles.[9] This led to the creation of the Fétish model, and involvement in a series of technology demonstration 'missions'.
In December 2009, Venturi announced its acquisition of French motorcycle manufacturer Voxan, allowing the firm to enter the motorcycle market.
Mission 01: Jamais contente
Mission 01: Jamais Contente is a program launched in 2009 in partnership with the Ohio State University's Center for Automotive Research (CAR). It aims to set electric vehicle speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The Venturi Buckeye Bullet is the heir to the Jamais Contente, the first ever automobile to break the symbolic 100 km/h mark in 1899. This torpedo-shaped electric car, piloted by Camille Jenatzy, reached 105 km/h, setting a world record for any method of propulsion (steam or petrol)
The VBB-2, a hydrogen fuel cell-powered version, broke the 487 km/h mark in 2009.[10] The following year, the VBB-2.5, an upgraded version with an electric battery pack, achieved an average speed of 495 km/h.[11] Finally, in 2016, the VBB-3 – the most advanced electric version of the vehicle with 2,200 kW (3,000 HP) of power – set a new FIA-certified world record of 549 km/h[12] that still stands today.
Mission 02: Shanghai to Paris
Mission 02 is an electric car journey reminiscent of Citroën's Croisière Jaune (Yellow Expedition), one of the first rally raids of the 20th century. Departing from Shanghai on May 3, 2010, the expedition covered 14,900 km, crossing China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany, finally arriving in Paris on July 13. To date, this is the longest distance covered by an unassisted electric vehicle. This performance was accomplished by Xavier Chevrin and Géraldine Gabin. The vehicle used was an electric Citroën Berlingo "Powered by Venturi". Two battery packs were added in order to increase its range to 500 km.
Mission 03: Back To Telegraph Creek
Venturi has completed its own zero-emissions version of Citroën's historic Croisière Blanche expedition (also called the Bedeaux expedition), a 20th-century automobile raid that entailed crossing the Canadian North-West. That historic expedition ended in failure, owing to the nature of the terrain and the disastrous climatic conditions.
On 6 March 2019 in British Columbia (Canada), the Venturi Antarctica travelled 42 km in extreme temperatures as low as -30 °C. The aim of the expedition was to put the machine through a battery of tests in climatic conditions similar to those at the South Pole.[13]
In June 2021, Venturi unveiled the next generation Antarctica which will be deployed at Princess Elisabeth Antarctic research station in December.[14] The vehicle is 3.4 meters long, 2.18 meters high and weighs 2.5 tons. The battery has a capacity of 52.6 kWh allowing an autonomy of 50 kilometers, while the two axial flow motors are capable of developing 60 kW each. Recharging takes from 2 to 18 hours, depending on the context and the weather. With its fold-down bench seat, the vehicle is able to carry up to six people, along with equipment and a second battery to extend the initial range of 50 km.[15]
Mission 04: Kilimanjaro to Okavango
Mission 04 is a modern-day version of the “Croisière Noire” (Black Cruise), a 1924 automobile expedition that crossed the African continent from north to south. This expedition was the first crossing of Africa by an electric vehicle without assistance. This time, Xavier Chevrin drove alone but the car remained unchanged (see mission 2). Setting out from Nairobi on 11 May 2012, he covered a distance of 5,800 km unassisted, reaching Johannesburg a month later.[16]
Mission 05: Kennedy Space Center
In December 2021, the Voxan Wattman, driven by Max Biaggi, set 21 new world speed records for an electric motorcycle.[17][18]
Mission 06: International Polar Foundation
Returning from a trip to the Antarctic in 2009, H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco remarked to Venturi's President Gildo Pastor that the research stations there had no environmentally-friendly, non-polluting vehicles. So the Prince Albert II Foundation asked Venturi to come up with a zero emission solution, to carry passengers and equipment to and from the scientific research sites. At the time in 2009, the technology for driving on uneven terrain at temperatures of -50°C did not exist.
In 2019, following the 2010 experimental version, a second version of Antarctica has been tested in Canada (see mission 3 above).
The third version of Antarctica was fully optimized on 10 December 2021, when Gildo Pastor and his teams delivered the vehicle to the International Polar Foundation, at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station (see mission 3 above for more informations regarding the vehicle).[19]
Mission 07: Spitzberg
As part of the celebrations and commemorations of the centenary of Prince Albert I, Gildo Pastor, Chairman of Venturi, to pay tribute to the great-great-grandfather of Prince Albert II, entrusted eco-explorer Xavier Chevrin with a mission on the island of Spitsbergen, in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. For 21 days in June 2022, the Venturi adventurer covered 234 kilometres on cross-country skis, in temperatures as low as -15°C.
