Gillet (Belgium)
Belgium’s most distinguished domestic car manufacturer, Gillet was founded by Tony Gillet in 1990s. With a flair for eye-catching design, this exotic car manufacturer, for nearly 16 years now, has continued to build striking, high-performance sports cars. A little known fact about Gillet is that it is the only Belgian brand of cars in the world.
When a successful racing driver, winner of the Belgian hill-climb championship for several consecutive years decides to design a sports car, the world stands and stares! Tony Gillet, with his years of experience with powerful cars, has designed the Gillet Vertigo and done exactly that.
With the exhibition of the first Vertigo prototype at the 71st Brussels Auto Show in January 1992 and a display at the Paris and Geneva car shows in 1993, this power packed machine had won the hearts of many admirers. A second prototype and a production car followed. The chassis of the production Vertigo was fabricated in carbon fibre and honeycomb materials, saving in chassis weight and insuring greater stiffness and strength. More fluid lines with higher side windows and retractable headlights were added in the body.
Most of us are likely to come across a Gillet Vertigo only in racing games of the order of Gran Turismo, but it does exist in the real world and has a similar record pace and style. Gillet has recently introduced a new version of the car called the Vertigo 5 some 15 years later at the same show as it was launched. Light as a feather, this new baby is powered by a big 4.0L version of Alfa Romeo’s V6, that propels this regal race car to 60 mph in just 3.26 seconds. It is expected to cost €135,000 when it goes on sale.
Philippe Streiff, a former Formula One racing driver who is handicapped after an accident in 1989 is known to have bought a Gillet Vertigo which was slightly revised to be joystick-controlled and given an automatic transmission. The racing version of the Gillet, The Gillet Vertigo Streiff, was named after him and is vastly used in motorsports.
Almost everything in the car is through and through original Vertigo. Windows are specially produced for this car. Doors, lights and the dash-board are exclusively made for the Gillet Vertigo. Keeping with its style, every Vertigo is 100% man-made. Once a purchase is made, everything, including the seats, is customized for the buyer!
The “Butterfly” doors of the Gillet Vertigo open with an effortless single push. Once opened, you get the view of the most elegant and carefully crafted interiors. It is fitted with excellent leather ‘racing’ seats that aid a comfortable position while driving the car. The steering wheel is on the lines of an F1 steering wheel. Through the steering wheel one can get a good overview of the dashboard and also all the information one could hope for.
The colours of the interior are well chosen. A blend of white with grey leather gives a sober and stylish mood to the interior. To top it all, this roadster offers an unbelievable boot of 130 dm3.
What one can surely say from Gillet’s impressive styling and aggressive stance is that the Gillet machines are designed to WIN races.
- Nikita Sarin
Tags: gillet, gillet belgium, gillet sports cars, sports car, sports cars
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