Venturi 400 Trophy (1993)

Venturi was established in Monaco in 1984 by two French ex Heuliez employees, Claude Poiraud and Gérard Godfroy – With the goal to compete in the upper echelons of racing and road grand touring cars, to rival the Italian Ferrari, the German Porsche, British Aston Martin. Releasing highly forward-thinking concept cars in the mid 1980’s, ‘Ventury’ – as they were formally branded, became MVS Venturi and would go on to release the ‘GT’ – the road-going, PRV V6 powered, mid-engined coupe.

Enjoying relative success with albeit small production numbers; by the early 1990’s the company had its eye firmly on racing, aiming for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and acquiring the Larousse-Lamborghini Formula One Team. However, little success can be discussed from the single year that Venturi Campaigned the LC92 – Scoring a single point and both cars failing to finish on eight occasions.

Stéphane Ratel, who would go on to create the FIA GT Championship, first started the Venturi Gentleman Driver’s Trophy in 1992; a turn-key, one-make championship for the bespoke-built 400 Trophy that spanned 4 years. 72 examples would be completed, weighing in at 1,200 kg with a carbon composite body and powered by a 407 hp twin-turbo V6.

Succeeding the Trophy, the 400 GT was developed as the new GT-class challenger continuing to utilise the boosted twin turbocharged V6. Dialling up the boost, the 3-litre Venturi would accelerate in gear harder than a 5-litre Ferrari.

The Venturi 400 GT can certainly be considered a success, featuring on grids around the world between the 1994 and 1997 season. Notable performances from Venturi’s international racing campaign include fielding 7 cars into the 1993 Le Mans 24hr and winning several BPR International endurances races, beating 3.8 RSRs in the process.

The brand would go on to develop a high output development model – The 600 LM - to try and compete with the now ferocious GT1 specials hailing from Germany and Japan.

In the year 2000, the brand was purchased by the Monegasque businessman Gildo Pallanmca Pastor,and would go on to develop high efficiency electric research prototypes – pioneering electric vehicles and setting world records for expedition distances and motorcycle top speeds.

This example is one of the final 10 Trophies to be completed. 72 examples were built for competition in the Gentleman Driver’s Trophy, a 6-round series that would last 4 years. Despite the series name inferring a more laid back approach to motorsport, Venturi would not hold back on the development of the cars. The 400 Trophy would use carbon-ceramic brakes, the same units that would be fitted to the 1994 400 GT, six years before their introduction by Mercedes-Benz.

The 407hp twin-turbo V6 sent power to the rear wheels through a 5-speed Sadev straight-cut gearbox, whilst the car itself tipped the scales at a scant 1,100 kg.

This example was completed in 1993 and purchased by Francis Andriveau who competed in two seasons of the series. Following on from this, this example, along with just 9 others returned to the Venturi for a road conversion.

By this point the 400 GT production had already ceased. At its launch the GT was offered at 100,000 Franc premium, despite being heavier and slower. With a list price of 800,000 Francs (c.£200,000), it was a tough sell in 1996!

The factory offered existing owners a bespoke tick-box road conversion. With this example, the Trophy received the GT-specification bonnet and bumper, moving to the road-going variant’s pop-up headlight design. The doors were replaced too, with the wing mirrors now a raised height and the sliding windows removed in favour of electric windows! The rear clam, although very similar, was replaced too, as denoted by indents to allow rear indicators to be seen from the side of the car. The OZ Futura wheels as standard for the Trophy were in fact replaced by lightweight OZ Magnesio wheels with a five spoke design. The interior of this car received some more luxuries including air conditioning and Recaro SPG bucket seats. This is one of just two examples to retain its full internal roll cage, usually removed during the process.

Subsequent to the road conversion, this example was sold to a French hillclimber in Gabriac, although he did not compete in the car. The car would pass through the care of another French racer and has since resided in a significant collection since 2020.

Offered today with a fresh service in our own workshops, this is a very rare opportunity to acquire one of 10 factory converted examples of Venturi’s venerable 400 Trophy. The French answer to Ferrari’s F40, sure to turn heads, is available to view at our showrooms outside London immediately.

• One of 10 factory road converted examples
• Air conditioning added but factory roll cage retained
• One of only 73 Venturi Trophy produced
• Raced for two years in the Venturi Gentleman Drivers Trophy
• Less than 5,200 kilometres from new
• Freshly serviced in our workshops