CarBrandLogos archive · Venturi · 2006

VenturiFétish

An electric sports car offered a decade before anyone was asking for one.

Photo: Allo002 · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Venturi history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Venturi Fétish, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

When Gildo Pallanca Pastor bought the remains of Venturi, he redirected the company entirely towards electric propulsion. The Fétish, shown in 2004 and built in tiny numbers to 2007, was the statement of intent: a two-seat open sports car with a carbon body designed by Sacha Lakic, a motor mounted behind the cabin driving the rear wheels through a single reduction gear, and a lithium-ion battery pack at a time when almost no production car used one.

Stand Venturi Mondial 2006 · No machine-readable author provided. Mcassonnet assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 2.5

Mondial de l'Automobile 2002, Paris - France

Design and engineering

There was no gearbox in the conventional sense and no clutch — direct drive through a limited-slip differential, which is now standard practice for electric cars and was then almost unheard of outside prototypes. The price was extraordinary and the production run was measured in single figures.

Mondial de l'Automobile 2002, Paris - France · Mic from Reading - Berkshire, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0

In production

It is best understood as a demonstration rather than a product. Tesla's Roadster was still years from delivery, and Venturi was making the argument that an electric car could be desirable rather than penitential. The company never built volume, but it was early, and it was right.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Designer

Sacha Lakic

Body

2-door convertible

Technical specification

The Fétish, in detail.

Production: 2004–2007
Class: Sports car
Body style: 2-door convertible
Layout: Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout
Transmission: Differential gear reduction with limited-slip differential, direct hold
Designer: Sacha Lakic
Manufacturer: Venturi (electric car company)