Venturi 300 Atlantique

At the 1994 Paris Motor Show, the small French automaker Venturi showed the 300 Atlantique, an extensive model update of the previously offered 260 Atlantique. Only at the beginning of the same year, the Scotsman Hubert O’Neill had taken over the brand and commissioned this facelift directly from Gérard Godfroy. Within just six months, numerous rounded edges helped to give the mid-engine coupé a more modern appearance. At the front, the pop-up headlights were retained, while the rear showed the taillights of the Ford Sierra. At the sides behind the doors, small air intakes provided more fresh air in the engine compartment. Venturi also used newly designed seven-spoke rims. The interior was given a homely feel with wood trim and leather upholstery. White-backed VDO circular instruments displayed not only the speed and rpm but also the tank capacity, engine temperature, oil pressure and oil temperature, and (if fitted) the boost pressure of the turbo.

With or without turbocharger

As in all the brand’s models, the 300 Atlantique was powered by the three-liter PRV V6 engine. PRV stands for the three companies involved in the development of this engine, Peugeot, Renault and Volvo, in whose model series this V6 was used for a long time. In the Venturi, it produced 154 kW/210 hp without turbocharger and 207 kW/281 hp with turbocharger. The turbocharged PRV engine came from the Alpine A610. From 1998 on there was the 300 Atlantique Biturbo with 228 kW/310 hp. This received the newer L7X V6 engine from Renault. With the help of its 394 Nm of torque and the five-speed manual transmission, the 300 Atlantique Biturbo accelerated to 62 mph (100 kph) in 4.7 seconds. Venturi gave a topspeed of 171 mph. With this power, the car was able to place itself well in the field of competitors and even won some comparison tests in car magazines.

70 vehicles in seven years

Despite these successes in international magazines such as TopGear, the Venturi 300 Atlantique was unable to establish itself commercially. Only 57 examples of the first two variants with and without turbocharger were produced. Added to this were 13 units of the 300 Atlantique Biturbo, which was only produced in 1998, 1999 and 2000. These were Venturi’s last sports cars as a French brand. Already in 1996, the Thai company Nakarin Benz had taken over. This was followed in 2000 by another takeover by the Monegasque Gildo Pallanca Pastor, who shifted the focus to the production of electric sports cars, record-breaking vehicles and special vehicles. In addition, the brand was a manufacturer in Formula E until 2019. Since then, it uses Mercedes technology as a customer team and competes under the team name ROKiT Venturi Racing. Gildo Pallanca Pastor also moved the company headquarters to Monaco immediately after the takeover. This ended the history of the original Venturi brand from Couëron.

032 at Artcurial in Paris

At the auction house Artcurial a Venturi 300 Atlantique Turbo comes under the hammer in the context of the Retromobile in Paris at the beginning of March. The car is chassis number 032 and was the only new car delivered in Italy. The first owner was a Mr. Moretti from Parma in 1997. He ordered his Venturi in the color “Gris Nimbus” (silver grey) with Cartier red leather interior. In 2015, the car returned to France and received an extensive refresh including repainting from the second owner. To date, not even 15,000 kilometers of mileage have been accumulated. Of course, both vehicle keys and the logbook are also present and part of the auction. Artcurial expects a hammer price between 80,000 and 100,000 €. A good price for a rare youngtimer sports car.

Images: Artcurial, Kevin Van Campenhout