Jay Leno 3-Wheeling it with the 2017 Vanderhall Venice
There’s a new 3-Wheeler on the block: Leno meets Vanderhall.
I know what you’re thinking. Vander-what? No it’s not a Morgan 3-Wheeler, this reverse trike is its own thing. In this latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, Leno invites Steve Hall, founder and owner of Vanderhall Motor Works to talk about and drive the 3-wheeled wonder. Hall explains how he started selling luxury cars right out of college, eventually purchasing a Noble M400 & M12s, which taught him lot about automotive manufacturing. Vanderhall began prototyping back in 2010 and eventually released their first model, Laguna last year. Today, the company offers two models: the Venice which you see here in the video and a higher end model called the Laguna (Sport Premium).
Getting right down to business, let’s talk about the Venice itself. Starting with chassis, the entire unit is made of aluminum and weighs just around 1450lbs. The Venice is powered by a GM 1.4L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that drives the two front wheels. The rear wheel is mounted not unlike the swing-arm setup on a motorcycle. It doesn’t drive or turn, it’s just there along for the ride. Unlike other 3-wheelers, Vanderhall decided to go with a front-wheel drive setup because they felt that it had more stability over the more popular rear-wheel drive layout. The Venice comes with a 6-speed, torque converter, automatic gearbox with a separate lever for manual shifting duties. With 180 horsepower and 185lb-ft of torque, the Venice can accelerate to 60 in just 4.5 seconds.
What’s it like to drive?
As Leno takes the Venice out for a test drive, it’s very obvious that the engine is turbocharged as whooshing and hissing noises from the wastegate can be heard every time Jay lets his foot off the throttle. As Vanderhall intended, the stability was mentioned and appreciated from Jay. Mr. Hall says that the Venice feels like a mid-engined car in the way it drives. From the numerous fly-bys, it seems like the Venice has decent acceleration. However, the automatic transmission does seem a bit at odds with the rest of the package. One wonders how much better it would be with a traditional manual gearbox or perhaps a dual clutch automatic unit.
It’s not perfect, but for a starting price at $29,500, it’s not that bad for a weekend toy to drive around town. What do you think about the Vanderhall Venice? Would you get one or opt for something else like a Morgan? Let us know on the forum!
