Venturi Fetish
The Venturi Fetish holds a remarkable place in automotive history: it was one of the world's first high-performance electric sports cars, debuting in concept form at the 2002 Paris Motor Show — four years before Tesla was even founded as a car company, and six years before the Tesla Roadster reached customers. While it never achieved the commercial success or cultural impact of Tesla's later products, the Fetish demonstrated that electric power could deliver genuine sports car performance at a time when most people associated EVs with golf carts.
The Fetish was developed after Venturi's acquisition by Monégasque entrepreneur Gildo Pastor in 2000. Pastor redirected the company from combustion engines to electric propulsion, seeing an opportunity to combine Venturi's lightweight sports car expertise with emerging battery and motor technology. The result was a two-seat roadster with a rear-mounted permanent-magnet electric motor producing 300 horsepower and 380 Nm of torque.
The body was constructed from carbon fiber, keeping the weight to approximately 1,150 kg despite the battery pack. The chassis used a tubular steel structure with double-wishbone suspension at all four corners. Performance was striking: 0-100 km/h in 4.3 seconds and a top speed limited to 200 km/h. The range, using lithium-ion batteries (later lithium polymer), was approximately 200-340 km depending on driving style and battery generation — impressive for the mid-2000s.
What made the Fetish remarkable was not just its statistics but its context. In 2004, the idea of a high-performance electric sports car was genuinely radical. The automotive industry was focused on hydrogen fuel cells and hybrids as the future of alternative propulsion. Venturi, from its small workshop in the south of France, was demonstrating that pure electric performance was not only possible but thrilling.
The Fetish was priced at approximately $450,000, reflecting its low-volume, hand-built nature. It was sold to a small number of wealthy buyers and technology enthusiasts who wanted to own a piece of automotive history. The exact number produced is not well documented, but it is believed to be fewer than 30 units.
Today the Venturi Fetish is recognized as a landmark in the history of electric vehicles. It proved the concept years before Tesla popularized it, and its existence demonstrated the vision and courage of Gildo Pastor and the Venturi team. As a collector car, it represents both extreme rarity and genuine historical significance.
The Venturi Fetish is an extremely rare collector car with fewer than 30 believed to exist. Provenance and documentation are critical. The battery pack is the key technical concern — battery degradation is inevitable, and the original cells may need replacement with modern equivalents. The electric motor and controller are bespoke and specialist knowledge is required. The carbon fiber body is durable but expensive to repair if damaged. Contact Venturi directly (now based in Monaco) for support and parts. Given the car's historical significance as a pioneer of high-performance EVs, values are likely to increase as the electric vehicle revolution continues.
The Venturi Fetish was initially developed at Venturi's Couëron facility near Nantes, with later production associated with the company's Monaco headquarters. The car was first shown as a concept in 2002, with customer deliveries beginning around 2006. Production was extremely limited — estimated at fewer than 30 units total. The battery technology evolved during the production run, with later cars receiving improved lithium-polymer cells with greater range.