Venturi Venturi 200 / MVS Venturi History

Claude Poiraud and Gérard Godfroy unveiled the prototype at the 1984 Paris Motor Show under the MVS banner, aiming to build the first truly French grand tourisme capable of rivalling the English, Italian and German benchmarks. After several engine experiments — including a Golf GTi unit and a Peugeot 505 Turbo four-cylinder — the design settled on the mid-mounted PRV (Peugeot–Renault–Volvo) V6 in its Renault 25 Turbo state of tune, producing about 200 PS.

Customer deliveries began in June 1987 from the factory in Couëron, Pays de Loire; 52 cars were completed in that first year alone. The bodywork was fiberglass over a steel spaceframe, keeping weight to around 1,100 kg. A naturally-aspirated 160 PS variant and the Transcup — a targa-roofed version with a folding three-piece roof panel — were added in 1988, broadening the tiny lineup. Total production of this first series ran to the early 1990s, when the restyled Atlantique replaced it.