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Venturi Atlantique, the Tale of a Forgotten French Supercar You Probably Never Heard Of

Today we’re going to talk about the Venturi model that was probably their biggest hit, the Atlantique, which saw three distinct variations in the Atlantique 300, Atlantique 400 GT and Atlantique 600 LM. If these cars sound familiar and you have a nagging feeling you have seen them before, then you probably did. They were even featured in the racing game Grand Turismo 2 back in 1999.
Venturi Atlantique 300 19 photos
Photo: Artcurial, Kevin Van Campenhout
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Departing from the childhood nostalgia, the Venturi Atlantique 300 was actually a more than half decent sports car. Its power came from a rear mounted, a turbocharged 2.8L V6, mated to a 5-speed manual transmission, pushing out about 260 HP to the rear wheels. The design, however, is a bit more controversial. The main inspiration seems to be the Ferrari F355, although with various elements taken from other Ferrari models of the time and added into the mix. Later on, in 1998, it saw an upgrade to the 3.0liter twin turbo PRV engine that made 310 HP. Unfortunately, only two left-hand drive cars in this upgraded trim were produced.

Moving on, the 1995 Venturi Atlantique 400 GT features an uncanny similarity to the Ferrari F40, making it very clear where this French manufacturer was taking their ideas from. We won’t judge them for it as imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Once again, power comes from the mid-mounted PRV engine, tweaked to produce 402 HP and send them to the rear wheels.

The final form this car ever took was the 600 LM. Using the same PRV engine, which the Venturi engineers managed to boost to a staggering 600 HP, the car took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as Group GT1. For a 3.0-liter V-6 to put out numbers like that back in the 90s, it was almost unheard of. That is what makes it even more disheartening to know that Venturi ended up declaring bankruptcy in 2000 and was bought by a Monegasque millionaire.

Nowadays, the company is known as Venturi Automobile and they only make electric vehicles, meaning their awesome knowledge in making power out of V6 engines is forever lost. There are still some V-6 hero cars left, like the R35 GT-R and the new Honda NSX, but it fills our hearts with sorrow knowing Venturi could have been among them.
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About the author: Bogdan Bebeselea
Bogdan Bebeselea profile photo

As a kid, Bogdan grew up handing his dad the tools needed to work on his old Citroen and asking one too many questions about everything happening inside the engine bay. Naturally, this upbringing led Bogdan to become an engineer, but thanks to Top Gear, The Fast and the Furious series, and racing video games, a passion for automotive entertainment was ignited.
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