Vencer Sarthe – Dutch Supercar with an American Heart | Unknown Supercars

The automotive market in the United States alone is worth tens of billions of dollars annually. New players are constantly entering the supercar segment, with hundreds of new cars launched every year worldwide. Due to this, it becomes extremely difficult and somewhat impossible for one to keep track of all new and exciting supercar launches on the market, and that is where this series of Unknown Supercars comes in.

This long read is about an exclusive supercar from a Dutch company called Vencer. The gamers among you may know about the car in question; the Vencer Sarthe. Read on to know every detail about this rare supercar.

About the Company

The story starts in 2008 when a business owner from the Netherlands named Robert Cobben sold his plumbing, heating, and electronics business in building industries. The business in question was quite successful, and Robert never really intended to sell it in the first place. However, one fine day Mr. Cobben was offered an obscene amount of money that he simply could not refuse. So was the incredibly lucky destiny of Mr. Cobben that just a month after he sold his beloved business in the construction industry, the world was hit with one of the worst economic crises in history.

As a result, when businesses all over the world were struggling to recover from the disastrous catastrophe, Robert spent the better part of a year traveling and exploring all over the world with his girlfriend. Moreover, two months after returning from his expedition, Mr. Cobben set on an elaborate journey to fulfill his lifelong dream of making cars, fast cars; and the Vencer brand was born in 2010.

Robert wanted to create a supercar brand like no other to provide the ultimate driving experience and would be made in ultra-low production numbers. It would be the car for people who already have experienced the Ferraris and Lamborghinis and were looking for something different, something pure where it is just the driver, and the vehicle and all else disappears. The biggest problem? There were already many such boutique carmakers in existence, Pagani being the most successful example. So the challenge here was to offer something better and different than what was already available on the market.

Another major problem was money. Small-scale startup manufacturers such as Vencer need a lot of money to develop a new car from the ground up. There is a lot of technological infrastructures, skilled employees, and prototyping equipment needed for such purposes. But somehow, Robert Cobben managed to procure all necessary items, thereby successfully setting up a supercar company in Holland. Vencer followed suit of other similar manufacturers in many aspects, like developing major components of the car. Components like the powertrain, suspension, etc., would prove to be too expensive for Vencer to develop and manufacture independently. So the Dutch brand went the option to buy such components from other reputable brands. This move would not only ensure high-quality parts but also help in eliminating development costs.

After three years of hard work developing and sourcing parts for its first car, Vencer revealed the Sarthe supercar in 2013.

The Sarthe Story

Endurance Racing fans among you might have already figured out the inspiration behind the name of Vencer Automotive’s first supercar. Yes, it is inspired by the Le Mans circuit, where the 24Hr race occurs every year. The reason for the Le Mans connection is very personal and close to the heart of Mr. Cobben because you see, as a little kid, Robert used to attend the 24Hr endurance races watching the racing cars zoom past him at speeds well above 200 mph on the Mulsanne straight. A particular favorite of little Robert was the 1980s Le Mans prototype vehicles. He instantly vowed to himself at that point that he would someday build a road car that would embody the true spirit of Le Mans racing cars of the 1980s.

This dream partially materialized in 2010 with the establishment of the Vencer brand. The name Vencer is a Portuguese word that translates to “win” in English. Vencer then launched the Sarthe at the 2013 Top Marques show in Monaco, just over 1,000km away from Circuit de La Sarthe in Le Mans. The Vencer Sarthe was everything Robert and the team at Vencer wanted it to be. The car was an honest representation of little Robert’s vision while standing in the audience watching racecars go 220 mph on the Mulsanne Straight. The Vencer Sarthe was a powerful, pure, and old-school road car with Le Mans prototype racers’ spirit. It was minimalist in the sense that everything on the car had a purpose.

Later in the same year of its launch, the Dutch brand showcased the Sarthe at the 2013 Salon Prive auto show of the UK, where the supercar made its UK debut. At the event, it was awarded as “the most sensational car of 2013” by the organizers. Moreover, the production version launched in 2015 featured several improvements (more than 100 changes and modifications) compared to the pre-production version launched at Top Marques.

Under the Skin

The stuff you don’t see is where the Vencer Sarthe really shines. The supercar is powered by a 6.3-liter supercharged V8 engine that produces 622 horsepower at 6500 rpm and a maximum of 618 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm. The engine was sourced from General Motors and tuned according to Vencer’s requirements by Hennessey. The pre-production model launched in 2013 featured a naturally aspirated 6.3-L V8 that made 510 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque. For better comparison, the new engine provides 480 lb-ft of torque at merely 1500 rpm.

Vencer says the decision to strap a supercharger to the fire-breathing V8 was taken to improve throttle response while also increasing horsepower and torque figures. As a result, the production model Vencer Sarthe sprinted from 0 to 62 mph, 0.2 seconds faster than the prototype in just 3.6 seconds, and onto a claimed top speed of 210 mph.

All 622 horsepower is sent to the rear wheels via a 6-speed transaxle manual gearbox and a Torsen limited-slip differential, ensuring excellent handling characteristics. Moreover, the monstrous engine is mounted right behind the driver in a mid-engine configuration, so you can hear it roar all the time. The result is an almost equal weight distribution of 45% at the front and 55% at the vehicle’s rear. The engine is also mounted lower into the chassis giving the supercar a low center of gravity.

Further contributing to handling characteristics, the Sarthe supercar was equipped with a double-wishbone type suspension system on both axles. It is a very advanced form of suspension system that allows both axle wheels to function independently of one another while allowing greater control on suspension geometry parameters.

All that power needs to be tamed. To that end, Vencer has given the Sarthe 355 mm discs on all four wheels with eight-piston calipers on front wheels and four-piston units for the rear. The brakes are wrapped around cast aluminum alloy wheels with 19-inch and 20-inch (front and rear) tires by Vredestein Ultrac Vorti. Sticking to its commitment to making the Sarthe as basic and as pure of a driving experience as possible, Vencer has only fitted it with necessary electronic driving aids such as ABS and EBD.

The Vencer Sarthe body has been constructed entirely of carbon fiber to maintain high strength and low weight. The Netherlands being a small country with not much of an automotive industry, it was difficult for Vencer to find someone to build high-quality carbon fiber components at the required price for its car. For that purpose, Robert Cobben decided to invest in setting up his facility to make the body panels of the Sarthe. All components were to be manufactured in-house at the Vencer factory in the Eastern part of Holland.

The use of exotic materials in the Sarthe does not stop there; the supercar’s chassis comprises a tubular space frame structure made from high-grade steel, while the rear sub-frame and safety structure have been made from a material called chrome-molybdenum. For maximum strength and rigidity, the floor is made from aluminum arranged in a honeycomb structure. Thanks to clever materials and designs, the Vencer Sarthe weighs just 1390 kg (3064 pounds).

Styling Features

After its unveiling at the 2013 Top Marques in Monaco, the Sarthe became an instant showstopper because of its striking design language. The fact that it received an award at Salon Prive is a testament to the previous statement. Vencer says the Sarthe’s design has been inspired by the 1980s Le Mans prototype cars that greatly fascinated Robert Cobben. Moreover, the car was also included in the popular mobile racing game “Asphalt.” More specifically, the Vencer Sarthe was featured in the 8^th and 9^th editions of the game.

Starting at the supercar’s front fascia, it features an aggressive bumper design with a massive air-intake bust above the license plate holder. Moreover, the bumper and the fenders are molded from a single piece of carbon fiber. Keeping in mind how expensive and difficult it is to manufacture large components from carbon fiber, Vencer has done a commendable job by mastering the process in a short period.

There are additional daytime running lights (DRLs) present below the conventional headlights that not only have a cool look to them but also contribute to the overall aggressiveness of the design philosophy. Continuing through the sides, the Sarthe has two air intakes on each side behind the outward scissor doors. The larger one is used to supply air to the V8 engine, while the smaller one is used as a cooling duct for the rear brake assembly. After all, it takes a lot of work to stop this 200 mile-an-hour monster.

The rear of the Vencer Sarthe is by far the most polarizing part of the car. The design includes an updated engine cover and the addition of an active spoiler that automatically extends to provide the car with extra downforce above speeds of 62 mph. Other aerodynamic bits include the open C-pillar design.

The interior of this supercar will leave most people surprised. While one would expect to find a hardcore, fully stripped-out, and minimalist inside, the Sarthe is adorned with all the bells and whistles found in any modern luxury vehicle. The seats are hand-stitched in leather and Alcantara, and so are other parts of the vehicle, such as the glove box cover, dashboard, door cards, steering wheel, and even the air vent surrounds. Moreover, what isn’t wrapped in leather or Alcantara is adorned with shiny carbon fiber.

Yes, the Sarthe is minimalist in terms of the number of buttons it has, but only because most of the controls are incorporated in the large centrally-placed touchscreen. The screen is the heart of Vencer’s Central Information System (CIS), the control system that manages all car’s electronic activity. It provides the driver with information about driving parameters such as speed, power usage, fuel consumption, etc., and controls the car’s climate control.

What happened to it?

After the launch of the production version in 2015, Vencer announced plans to produce the supercar in extremely limited numbers in its facility in Vriezenveen, Netherlands. Initial plans included starting production with just 6 units in the first year and increasing the output to 12 units for the next model year. Each car was offered for sale for € 270.882 before local taxes. However, thanks to the availability of endless possibilities for customization, buyers could easily drive the price much higher. Another reason for such high unit cost was that Vencer, being a startup, did not have access to expensive and highly efficient machines found in modern car factories. At Vencer, a team of a handful of employees was tasked with building each car entirely by hand.

The brand was doing quite well, having opened dealerships in parts of Europe and one in China. If rumors are to be believed, Vencer even managed to sell quite a few units of its first supercar. To gather more attention, the brand allowed big media outlets to review its creation, and rather unsurprisingly, most journalists had only good things to say about the Sarthe.

Sadly, unconfirmed reports suggest the Dutch brand went bankrupt before it could achieve its production goals. Information is scarce about how many production-spec cars did the brand manufacture before going kaput. All we know is Vencer built a few prototype models that were used for testing purposes while the car was still in development stages.

Last Words

It is truly a shame that Robert Cobben’s dream was never fully materialized, even after coming so close to reality. Now more than ever, the automotive world needs more people who make cars with such great passion and vision as Mr. Robert Cobben.

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