At the beginning of the 1990s, the Venturi 400 Trophy was made for a French single-make racing event. It stands out because its 3.0-liter V-6 engine is in the middle, and its body is made of Kevlar material. Bidding is currently at $101,000, with a week left until the Florida sale ends on August 1. This prototype is being made for the street, so the price is high. The Ferrari F40 has always been too expensive for the average fan to buy, but prices have increased a lot in recent years and are now in the millions of dollars. Are you looking for a race-bred, mid-engined, twin-turbo exotic car with carbon-Kevlar chassis that doesn’t cost more than $700,000? Here’s an odd but exciting mix of French racing style and Japanese performance tuning from the golden age. Today’s pick at Bring a Trailer, a Hearst Autos publication like Car and Driver, is a highly customised Venturi 400 Trophy. Soon, you will need a complete description of what a Venturi is, so for now, take everything in. composite chassis, I hate. BBS, Brembo, Ohlins, HKS, and Recaro make performance parts. Through a rear-opening clamshell hood, you can see a twin-turbo V-6 with 408 horsepower at the plant and more like 500 horsepower here. Next, the Lexan windows fold up, and the dashboard is full of open fuses. Even though this car isn’t as well-known as Ferrari’s gift to itself for its 40th birthday, it is still unique. Two French engineers who used to work at the Heuliez coachworks started Venturi in the middle of the 1980s. Venturi’s best work for road cars was the 400 GT sports car, which was only made in a small number and would have been forgotten if it hadn’t been in the driving game Gran Turismo 2. The 400 GT was the version of the 400 Trophy that could be driven on the road. The 400 Trophy was a series for “gentlemen racers” meant to be the French version of Porsche or Ferrari’s one-make racing series. It was one of Stéphane Ratel’s first big wins. Ratel is a French racing organiser who played a significant role in the growth of GT2 and GT3 racing. Even though only a little over 70 cars were made, the series was popular and ran for four years. The car in this picture is number 50, but it has changed significantly since it was used for Trophy racing. It raced in 1992 and 1993, then was sent to Japan and adjusted to be driven on public roads there. Instead of making the racing chassis less suitable, it worked better. The imagination’s feast The car was sent to Tokyo to be tuned with HKS GT-SS turbochargers and MoTec engine control. Yokohama’s Daikoku Parking Area turned into a shrine of speed on Sunday morning. This is because Yokohama is the capital of Japan. On the other hand, this car was made for early-morning weekend races through Hiroshima’s tunnels and valleys, where the roads are usually empty. Only the strong hiss of the dual turbochargers and the unexpected fury of a well-tuned 3.0L PRV V-6 growling up to redline could be heard. There was no radio or any other noise in the room. Only 15 400 GTs were made, making it one of the rarest cars ever. With shaky boutique supercar firm build quality and grabby carbon brakes, these cars aren’t made to be the most fun to drive. This 400 Trophy, on the other hand, was made into a street car by a tuning expert in Tokyo during the time of the secretive Mid Night Racing crew. A racing crew had used it for several seasons to shake it down and make changes. It takes the best parts of two types of cars that have nothing in common with each other but do. Even though it would be cool to see an F40 in traffic, Ferrari made more than 1300 of them. There are only so many Venturis in the US, and this type may be the only one. The best offer is $101,000, and eight days remain. Think about this 400 Trophy more than the F40 because it is more unique and special to own and drive than Ferrari’s best car.
