Venturi is a French automobile manufacturer, specializes in designing and marketing of luxury sports cars. The brand was created in 1984 by four former employees of the Heuliez and was then called "MVS" (Manufacture of sports cars).
The history of the brand began in 1984 when four former employees of the Heuliez Claude Poiraud (Engineer), Gerard Godfrey (designer), Jean-Pierre Sachot (method development) and Jean-Jacques Turquand (production manager), decided to apply their skills to build a first model to scale 1, so they named "Venturi" to recall the word "adventure" and the phenomenon of acceleration of the "venturi effect".The body is made of polyester from a master carved from a block of foam polyuréthane.La implementation is entrusted to the Company ATMC Group GPR whose creative director Guy Prache is a friend of Claude Poireaud and Gerard Godfrey. Prache Guy decides to invest in the project Venturi by supporting, among others, the consequent costs of parts and mothers molds to achieve the body. Prache Guy was one of the first to buy a Venturi. During the presentation of the Venturi at the Paris Salon in October 1986, the success is the appointment of potential customers and investors are known. The most serious and most passionate of them called Herve Boulan, a regular financial community, has long been passionate about cars. The project is interested in and encourages Claude Poiraud and Gerard Godfrey to be more ambitious in developing a true sports car capable of competing with Ferrari and Porsche.
In 1985, the company Valfimo is founded with a capital of 250 000 francs. The initial project was based on a small transverse engine or 205 GTI Golf GTI. But these engines are considered inadequate for a second car was born with an engine of Peugeot 505 Turbo mounted transversely in the center and rear developing 200 horsepower. Jean Rondeau is also attracted by the adventure Venturi and participates in its development. Many mechanical components from the great French production as the gearbox from a Citroen CX transmission inherited from the Matra Murena and suspensions for the Peugeot 205 GTI and the Renault 25.
Jean Rondeau provides its premises to the young team. Year after year Rondeau managed to gather around him the skills, both human and technical resources to its success. Lucien Mounted Philip Bone, Philip Belou are his faithful lieutenants. The structure created by Concept Auto Rondeau obviously works for the race but also begins to turn towards more civilized during work and study projects developed alongside Guy Venturi. Self Concept began working very closely with the small firm.
It is built and developed the first prototypes of this new and elegant French GT baby Claude Poiraud and Gérard Godfroy. In June, Philip Belou attack plans of the chassis. In turn Claude Poiraud arrives with his team, which is expanding August 15 with the arrival of a bodybuilder, Christophe Bihr. On September 24 the Manufacture of sports cars (SLE) was officially born with Herve Boulan as CEO. Some years later the brand will be called Venturi and appoint its models with names related to engine power.
In 2001, the Monegasque millionaire Gildo Pastor Pallanca bought Venturi and decided to focus on electric drive vehicles, which led to the realization of Fetish model.
More recently developed prototypes as "eclectic", the first autonomous vehicle to power the world at low speed equipped with solar panels that can recharge the batteries on the principle of wind turbine and can be plugged into the electricity grid and "Astrolab, the first hybrid electric / solar car (with 3.6 m2 of panels) capable of running at 120 km / h with a range of 100 km.
Coming in 2009 Venturi will install its new assembly plant for electric cars in the Sarthe, midway the cities of La Fleche and Sable-sur-Sarthe. The site should be used at the beginning about 90 people.
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