Automobiles Gillet, the
Belgian specialist sports car maker, is turfing the
long-running Alfa Romeo 'Arese' V6 engine out of its
Vertigo .5 sports car and instead will use Maserati's
4.2-litre V8 which has already been seen in its track
racers. The engine is rated to produce 420 HP in the new
application. The new model version, dubbed the Vertigo
.5 Spirit, will go on sale next month and this
composite-material stuffed sports car will weigh in at
just 990 kg.
Gillet sees the Vertigo .5 Spirit as a firm return to
its roots for the Belgian company. Former racing driver
Tony Gillet presented his first automobile prototype at
the 1992 Brussels Motor Show and two years later the
"Vertigo" was on sale, quickly entering the Guinness
Book of Records for its acceleration abilities.
Gillet built cars for Prince Albert of Monaco, French
singing icon Johnny Hallyday and a special
joystick-operated version for former F1 driver Philippe
Streiff who suffered reduced mobility after an accident
in pre-season testing at the Jacarepaguá circuit in
1989.
With the arrival of
the Vertigo .4 Strief the constructer began a long
association with Alfa Romeo's legendary "Arese" V6
engine and when the Vertigo .5 was presented for its
preview at the 2008 Brussels Motor Show the same engine
was retained under the bonnet. At the same time
Maserati's 4.2-ltre V8 engine was fitted to the Vertigo
race version that had been competing under the "Belgian
Racing" banner since 2001, including in the FIA GT
Championship.
The latest-generation
model, the Vertigo .5, went on sale last year, and now
the dry-sumped Maserati unit (in 4.2-litre guise rather
than the latest 4.7-litre option) goes under the bonnet
mated to a 6-speed sequentially-operated gearbox feeding
the 420 HP of power through the rear wheels. An example
of Vertigo .5, fitted with the Alfa Romeo V6 engine, was
also rebodied by Italian design house Zagato earlier
this year in a project funded by a Dutch collector in
order to create the one-off Alfa Romeo TZ3, shown to
much acclaim at the Concorso d'Eleganza Vlle d'Este,
which honoured the marque's centenary.
The new Maserati
V8-engined Vertigo .5 Spirit (wheelbase 2340mm/front
track 1602mm/rear track 1706mm/length 3960mm/width
2010mm/height 1115mm) again features a lightweight nomex/carbon
monoshell with a pure racing-style suspension: double
wishbones all round, push-rod with dampers and springs
at the front and independent arrangement at the rear, a
format that has evolved right from the first cars that
Tony Gillet (who was also previously an agent for
Donkervoort and prepared cars for the Paris-Dakar Rally)
developed. AP brakes are used all round with 4-pot
calipers, 330mm ventilated brake discs at the front and
300mm discs at the rear. The traditional distinctive
body shape is unchanged from the Vertigo .5, featuring
the company's trademark long sweeping bonnet, while the
new model runs on 19-inch wheels with 225/35Z tyres at
the front and 275/35Z at the rear.
