RE: MVS Venturi 200: Spotted

[Taylor James]

£35000 for that? Not a chance thanks. I'm sure there's someone somewhere who would like it at that price but I suspect they may be very hard to find. Maybe it's me but there seems to be a lot of overpriced stuff coming on to the market recently. Rats and ships do come to mind.

[Bladedancer]

Turbobanana said:

Bladedancer said:

"mid engine sports car built entirely using French systems and components" - if that's not scary I don't know what is :P

Still, a piece of automotive history worth preserving, by someone with very, very deep pockets

Or...

Something a bit different, probably on a par with a contemporary Lotus Esprit in terms of performance, reliability and image, using readily-sourced proprietary components from a major manufacturer.

For a cotton wool-wrapped ownership experience, do what everyone else does and buy a Porsche. For those who tread a different path, this looks great: stylish, (moderately) affordable and well cared for.

For this money? Nah.

NSX it would be for me. (and yes, I am aware how much original NSX is these days and I am aware that sub 40k will most likely get you an automatic)

Edited by Bladedancer on Wednesday 10th April 13:54

[Turbobanana]

Bladedancer said:

For this money? Nah.

NSX it would be for me. (and yes, I am aware how much original NSX is these days and I am aware that sub 40k will most likely get you an automatic)

Edited by Bladedancer on Wednesday 10th April 13:54

I think that kind of confirms my point, re cotton wool. Cheapest NSX on PH at the mo:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

It's in Northern Ireland, is a grey import with 80,000km and has been modded. It's £32,995. And yes, it is an auto.

I know which I'd spend my (hypothetical) money on.

[sr.guiri]

Water Fairy said:

That interior is almost as nasty as my old TVR wedges lol

I love that interior, BECAUSE it's a bit nasty. Love those Ferrari style wheels too.

RHD though, does that devalue this car??

I ask as where I live we drive LHD and usually the RHD equivalents in the UK seem cheaper.

[sr.guiri]

Turbobanana said:

For a cotton wool-wrapped ownership experience, do what everyone else does and buy a Porsche. For those who tread a different path, this looks great: stylish, (moderately) affordable and well cared for.

There's an awful lot of Mr. Safes in this world. Those are the people that would feel safer "investing" 35K into a Range Rover Evoque than this. Let them, I say, we don't want them pushing up the prices of these little gems any further.

[Arsecati]

IF I was to spend £35k on this, I don't think I could handle the endlessly repeated question...... 'is that one of them kit-cars?'. :/

[anonymous-user]

Having owned Lotus and Corvette I'm familiar with the difficulty of finding somewhere moderately convenient and sufficiently competent to maintain the cars. I had a long hard look at these spectacular Venturis back in the day - but just couldn't swallow the prospect of being in UK with a very expensive and very low volume French specialist sports car and no one to look after it. I do a fair amount of maintenance myself but sometimes you need an expert with the right lifts and tools to tackle bigger jobs.

These are IMO possibly the greatest French, specialist sports cars of all time. Love 'em.

[DSC OFF]

Imop there’s a gap in the market left void by the noble and esprit or even the v8 r8, a nice 400bhp mid engined road car that’s not a cayman, around 75k

It’s the market the tvr Griffith should have aimed for but unfortunately they’ve got giddy

Hope someone can resurrect Venturi like Alpine

[J4CKO]

I like that but with those wheels and side profile it has a "Not original artists" Ferrari vibe.

[jango]

With owning a Venturi 300 and Alpine A610 can say these cars are a lot of fun to drive. I also work at lotus, tvr, Alpine and Venturi garage so get to drive all sorts of cool stuff but the Venturi out handles tvr and the lotus stuff easily

[Podie]

jango said:

With owning a Venturi 300 and Alpine A610 can say these cars are a lot of fun to drive. I also work at lotus, tvr, Alpine and Venturi garage so get to drive all sorts of cool stuff but the Venturi out handles tvr and the lotus stuff easily

[DP33]

Face-lifted 205 heating controls? Nice.

[anonymous-user]

jango said:

With owning a Venturi 300 and Alpine A610 can say these cars are a lot of fun to drive. I also work at lotus, tvr, Alpine and Venturi garage so get to drive all sorts of cool stuff but the Venturi out handles tvr and the lotus stuff easily

I'd be interested to hear which one you prefer?

I've always liked the A610.

[jango]

Venturi for handling and track car
A610 for looks and its little more hardcore with the boost

[mikEsprit]

Turbobanana said:

Bladedancer said:

"mid engine sports car built entirely using French systems and components" - if that's not scary I don't know what is :P

Still, a piece of automotive history worth preserving, by someone with very, very deep pockets

Or...

Something a bit different, probably on a par with a contemporary Lotus Esprit in terms of performance, reliability and image, using readily-sourced proprietary components from a major manufacturer.

For a cotton wool-wrapped ownership experience, do what everyone else does and buy a Porsche. For those who tread a different path, this looks great: stylish, (moderately) affordable and well cared for.

It's neat, but an 87 Esprit (215hp) is going to be 5.6ish 0 to 60 and an 88 (225 hp) is going to be a little quicker than that. That's a pretty big disparity, imo, in terms of performance compared to the MVS 6.9 seconds 0 to 60. This thing must be noticeably heavier.

[CAMELZED]

Je ne sais quoi.

[RSVR101]

A guy I know bought the one that Hammond reviewed. It’s actually a lot better engineered than it appears in pics, feels very well put together irrespective of its French heritage
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qj68ZeHO86o

[lotuslover69]

DSC OFF said:

Imop there’s a gap in the market left void by the noble and esprit or even the v8 r8, a nice 400bhp mid engined road car that’s not a cayman, around 75k

It’s the market the tvr Griffith should have aimed for but unfortunately they’ve got giddy

Hope someone can resurrect Venturi like Alpine

Doesn't the Evora fill that space currently? 400+ bhp rrp £75000

The venturi didn't get off the ground, by comparison the same year Esprit Turbo SE produced 264bhp with 1300kg of weight. The venturi had 200bhp with 1380kg weight.


One of these in great condition in 2012 sold for 10k, i am sure they are probably worth more than 10k now but i highly doubt anyone would pay 35k.

[Turbobanana]

lotuslover69 said:

One of these in great condition in 2012 sold for 10k, i am sure they are probably worth more than 10k now but i highly doubt anyone would pay 35k.

You say that, but this is the age of crazy prices and £100K Ford Sierras.

It would be great if there was something like the Land Registry, but for cars: an easy way to find out what cars actually sold for, not just what the asking price was. Auctions are one thing, but the market is full of private treaty / trade sales where the £asking is not necessarily representative of the £selling.

[will_]

HardtopManual said:

The green Venturi that was featured this time last year is still up for sale (at the same price quoted in the article)

I love the looks but wouldn't fancy trying to sell one.

Agreed - exiting one of these will be difficult, so you need to buy accordingly.