For Sale at Auction: 1991 Venturi 111 Cup in Carmel, California

Chassis No. VK8CUP11191CH0019

France produced few rivals to the Italian and German GT establishment, which is part of what makes the Venturi so unusual. Designer Gerard Godfroy and engineer Claude Poiraud-the latter a veteran of Alpine-set out in 1984 to build a French mid-engine sports car worthy of comparison with Porsche, Aston Martin, and Ferrari, trading under the name MVS, for Manufacture de Voitures de Sport. The first prototype, shown at that year's Paris Motor Show, was spelled "Ventury" and carried a Volkswagen Golf GTI four-cylinder engine.

Built around a tubular steel backbone chassis with box-section reinforcement and clothed in low, aerodynamic fiberglass bodywork, the Venturi paired double-wishbone front suspension with a multi-link rear. Period observers, struck by its proportions, often mistook it for something from Maranello. The basic recipe-the layout, the backbone structure, and the fiberglass shell-carried through production, but the car was steadily developed, gaining revised suspension and a choice of engines at differing power outputs. A 1990 update brought a deeper front spoiler and new side sills, and the MVS name gave way to Venturi alone, accompanied by a new logo.

This 1991 Venturi 111 Cup is thought to be one of just three built for the Italian market, where a 2.0-liter ceiling sidestepped the 38-percent tax then levied on larger-displacement cars. The solution was a turbocharged, fuel-injected 2.0-liter inline four drawn from the Renault 21 Turbo, rated at a claimed 185 horsepower. Mounted ahead of the rear axle and driving the rear wheels through a five-speed transmission, the four-cylinder was both lighter and more compact than the six-cylinder engines fitted to other Venturis, sharpening the handling and improving fuel economy.

Retaining its original Black paint, this 111 Cup is trimmed in Magnolia leather, with walnut burlwood set into the dashboard, center console, and shift knob. Equipment includes air-conditioning, five-spoke aluminum alloy wheels, electrically adjustable seats, power windows and mirrors, and a Clarion CRH 70 AM/FM cassette radio. The car is understood to have been ordered by the proprietor of the original Venturi dealership in Venice, Italy, and was never sold on, leaving it in genuine time-capsule condition. At the time of cataloging, it has recorded fewer than 2,000 kilometers. The current owner acquired the car at Broad Arrow's inaugural Amelia Island Auction in 2023 and has continued its impeccable preservation since.

Admired in period for its lively performance and composed handling, fewer than 600 cars of all types are thought to have been built between 1986 and 2000. Seldom seen in the United States, this 111 Cup confronts its next custodian with a genuine temptation: leave the odometer where it sits, or surrender to the obvious and explore its capabilities on a mountain pass as its builders intended.