Venturi Automobiles built mid engine sports cars in France under the name of MVS (Manufacture de Voitures de Sport).

The first Venturi came out in 1984, created by Claude Poiraud and Gérard Godfroy, two former engineers at Heuliez.

The goal was to present the only 'Grand Tourisme' French car capable of competing with the French Bugatti, the Italian Ferrari, and the German Porsche.

The headquarters of the company were located in Couëron, Pays de Loire, where almost 750 cars were produced over a 20 year period.

From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, they built mid-engined coupés and roadsters with turbocharged PRV engines and Renault gearboxes.

A limited edition 400GTR was also built for racing homologation requirements and later used in the 24 Hours du Mans.

Venturi was also briefly involved with the Larrousse Formula One team.

The team's 1992 car, which bore the Venturi name, was designed and built by Venturi Larousse UK, a British company formerly known as Fomet 1, which had prev...