02.11.2010 MASERATI V8 REPLACES LONG RUNNING ALFA V6 IN LATEST VERSION OF GILLET VERTIGO SPORTS CAR

GILLET VERTIGO .5 SPIRIT - MASERATI 4.2 V8 (420 HP)
GILLET VERTIGO .5 SPIRIT - MASERATI 4.2 V8 (420 HP)
GILLET VERTIGO .5 SPIRIT - MASERATI 4.2 V8 (420 HP)

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.

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.
 

© 2010 Interfuture Media/Italiaspeed