The Franch F40? Venturi 400 Trophy Spotted for Sale

For many petrolheads, the Ferrari F40 is the ultimate supercar. Some had the bedroom wall poster (I had an F40 bath towel, myself), some remember it as a truly groundbreaking achievement, the fastest car in the world, some respect its significance as the last car created under Enzo Ferrari.

Those of us who love driving, though, lust after the F40 for its almost irreplaceable driving experience. Nearly 500hp of heavily turbocharged power through a manual gearbox to the rear wheels, with just over a tonne to move around and no driver aids. The F40 is formiddable, but of course, prices are at a point where next to no one can afford one, and even those who can are understandably shy of pushing them hard.

But then, a car showed up at DK Engineering that immediately gave us F40 vibes from a company you may or may not have heard of called Venturi.

So, what or who or where is Venturi? If you’re more familiar with French names like Bugatti or Alpine and less so with Venturi, that’s hardly surprising. But what Venturi achieved in the ’90s is a slice of exotic car history that deserves a shout-out. Venturi was founded in the mid-1980s by Claude Poiraud and Gérard Godfroy, both ex-Heuliez engineers, with a dream: to build French supercars that could mix it up with Italians and Germans.

Their early models (like the 200, then the 260) laid the groundwork. But their boldest step came with the 400 Trophy, a full-on racing machine that later spawned a road-friendly sibling, the 400 GT.

From its inception, the 400 was built to race. In fact, Venturi created a one-make “Gentleman Drivers Trophy” series, where buyers could purchase a turn-key 400 Trophy and enter a season of racing with factory support, identical prep, identical hardware, and a fair playing field. The series ran six rounds per year, on circuits like Le Mans, Pau, Paul Ricard, Nürburgring, Magny-Cours, Dijon.

Just 72 400 Trophies were built for competition in the, and despite the series name inferring a more laid-back approach to motorsport, Venturi did not hold back on the development of the cars. Using technology like carbon-ceramic brakes, six years before their introduction by Mercedes-Benz.

Those F40 vibes didn’t just come from its boxy wedge silhouette, pop-up headlights and fixed rear spoiler, but for its technical spec. Its 407hp, 530Nm twin-turbo V6 isn’t quite a match for the F40’s V8, but it isn’t a million miles away, and it sends that power to the rear wheels through a five-speed straight-cut gearbox, and weighs just 1,100kg thanks to a lightweight composite body (carbon/Kevlar/fiberglass mix) over a sturdy steel tub and spaceframe elements. In some comparisons, it was even quicker than the Ferrari F40, and routinely dubbed “the French F40”, largely because of styling cues and sheer exotic rarity.

Following two seasons of racing, this example, along with just nine others, returned to the Venturi for a road conversion. The factory offered existing owners a bespoke tick-box road conversion. 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 at 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 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.

Owning a Venturi 400 (Trophy or GT) is not for the faint of heart. Given the limited number built, sourcing original components (especially composite body panels, turbo parts, or chassis bits) is likely to be tricky, although the good news is that many of the mechanical bits are from known platforms from the likes of Renault and Chrysler.

If you do take the plunge though, long-term values could well be on your side because there are so few. The market for obscure supercars with real pedigree is niche, but strong, as the not insignificant £325,000 price tag suggests, and most importantly, you’re sure to have a great deal of fun whether on road or track, and maybe you’ll even get some of that wild ride F40 experience, but with an extra couple of million in the bank because it doesn't hail from Modena wearing a prancing horse.

Full Details Here