Gillet
Gillet is a Belgian automobile manufacturer, started in 1994 by former racing driver Tony Gillet. The company produces the Vertigo sports coupé, an ultra-lightweight (990 kg) 'bespoke' and hand-built sportscar. The first Vertigo was powered by a Ford Cosworth 2.0 litre 4-in-line, later evolutions are powered by more powerful engines: the 3.0 litre Alfa Romeo V6 engine and the 4.2 litre Ferrari/Maserati V8 in the latest evolution called Vertigo.5.
Company background and design of the Vertigo
Tony Gillet was a successful racing driver, winning the Belgian
hill-climb championship for several consecutive years and competing in
two Dakar Rallies. In 1982 he became the Belgian importer for Donkervoort, a Dutch Lotus Super Seven-styled
car. In January 1990 he broke the 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) record for
production cars with a time of 3.85 seconds in a specially modified
Donkervoort. The Vertigo held the 0–100 km/h record for production cars
at 3.1 seconds, but this has since been broken.
The first Vertigo prototype was finished in 1991 and shown at the
71st Brussels Auto Show in January 1992. In the following two years the
car was finalised for production. It was shown at the Paris and Geneva
car shows in 1993. Two more cars were built: a second prototype to
finalise production design and the first production car, which was used
for certification, including the frontal crash-test, seat anchorage
resistance and safety belts anchorage resistance tests.
The production Vertigo differed from the first prototype in materials
and design. The chassis was fabricated in carbon fibre and honeycomb
materials (a technology directly borrowed from Formula One),
insuring greater strength and stiffness, while saving (58 kg (128 lb)
in chassis weight. The body was given more fluid lines with higher side
windows and retractable headlights, making it closer to the first design
drawings
A Vertigo was sold to Philippe Streiff,
a former Formula One racing driver who is handicapped after an accident
during pre-season testing in 1989. This Vertigo was modified to be
joystick-controlled and given an automatic transmission.
Gillet introduced the Vertigo .5 at Brussels in January 2008, it
incorporates features from the Vertigo race car used in the 2007 FIA GT
race series.
25 Vertigos have been sold to date.
Famous Vertigo-owners are Prince Albert of Monaco and the French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday.
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