Gillet Vertigo

[McLarenF1God]

http://fast-autos.net/gillet/02gilletvertigo.html

I'm sure many of us know of this car, but I'm not sure I like it. It looks...well it doesn't look bad, but it certainly doesn't look gorgeous either. Now, you'd expect it to have some kick ass performance, but it falls short of just mediocre.

Nissan Maxima's are more powerful. It does have some decent acceleration I might add....I think I would be embarassed to drive it around. Too weird.

[Geert]

The Vertigo is the only car that's build in Belgium at this time. That's right: a Belgian car, so it has to be good! :wink:

It uses lots of high tec stuff, lots of carbon fibre (Carbon fibre monocoque => tasty!), an Alfa Romeo GTA engine (147), 6 speed sequential transmission and the balance of the car is spot on (low weight and a good weight distribution).

The guy who is responsible for the design used to race rally cars, so he should know what he's doing. Technically, it's one of the most intriging car I ever saw IMHO. It's only way to expensive and really not practical, but hey... No pain no gain! :)

Question... Why do they use it in Endurance Racing if the performance really isn't that good? :?

Check it out at http://users.pandora.be/gilletvertigo/main.htm

[1zippo1]

If I'm not mistaken, I thought it held the 0-100km/h world record before some caterham-like car broke it. It was something like 3,26sec.

However, it seems to say 4.5 sec on the site. In each case, I like the car. And I respect what they do. I don't think it's so easy to make a sportscar like this out of nothing.

[Fleischmann]

Not my taste :(

[callen]

thumbs up i say. I always like this car on GT3, ive never seen it in action tho. how many do they produce?

[FerrariFerrari]

Question... Why do they use it in Endurance Racing if the performance really isn't that good?

The one they use for endurence racing is extensively modified. It
puts out 425bhp and weighs only 875lbs so it will fly down track.

As for the road version, though it isn't my first choice in cars it does
have a certain sort of odd appeal to it. It does look a bit different, but
I don't think that I would be "embarassed to drive it around" in fact in
a strange way I kind of think it looks beautiful. And as "Geert" said it
is quite an advanced car. But with a base price of $110,000 and a whole
slew of expensive options, some of which I personaly think should have
come standard like the air conditioning(that's a $5,246 option) and the
sound system, it's way to expensive.

[McLarenF1God]

875lbs OH MY GOD!!! That is incredible. Hey Geert thanks for that site! I didn't know they used it for endurance racing but how do you know it isn't good for that type of racing??

[HeilSvenska]

Ive seen it before in some website, but its strange retro styling could not get my interest...the name Vertigo suits the car very well...

[draak666]

It did hold the world record for fastest road car when it was launched. I think it looks pretty intimidating in a rear view mirror. I also met the creator and founder of the company on one occasion. He did say how many cars were produced, but I forgot the exact number. I think only 20 were sold (possibly 40) since it's creation. Now they also focus on racing.

I saw four of them from close-by on last week's Brussels car salon and it sure is something to be proud of... It's been many years since the last Belgian brand of luxury cars Minerva went out of busuiness.

[yg60m]

I don't know if it's a reference but i know that Johnny Haliday (french singer) bought one some years ago. He asked it to be painted with flames on each sides :shock: but, later he said that he couldn't really drive it because it was ... hum, unreliable :?

[gucom]

hehehehe at least holland has the world-famous car brands Donkervoort and Spyker, and Spyker also participates in Le Mans
came in last in 2003 Le Mans 24H. Ah well atleast they finished the race(in the evening they went into the pits, and only got out the following morning, so they drove like 10 hours at most, lol

[1zippo1]

hehehehe at least holland has the world-famous car brands Donkervoort and Spyker, and Spyker also participates in Le Mans
came in last in 2003 Le Mans 24H. Ah well atleast they finished the race(in the evening they went into the pits, and only got out the following morning, so they drove like 10 hours at most, lol

Ooooow, so you're going to make this a Belgium vs Holland topic now :twisted: Don't even get me started :P

[coloradosilver]

AHHHGGGG, that is SO disappointing. A car with lines like that needs way more power than it has. I was expecting that thing to have no less than a V8 and 400+ hp. Thats just a pathetic effort. Reminds me of a Chrysler Prowler. That car looks great, but with that V6, it just doesn't have the brawn to back it up.

[McLarenF1God]

The prowler was a total flop. Overpriced and slow. Aall show and no go. It deserved to fail.