The Virtuous Fetish

By Unmesh Kher

Never mind its sexy, carbon-fiber chassis or that it can zip from zero to 60 in less than 5 sec. What's really impressive about the Venturi Fetish, which made its North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show this month, is that it produces nary a puff of smoke: the Fetish is powered by 100 rechargeable batteries that keep it going for 200 miles. The Fetish is emblematic of a trend in the automobile business: carmakers realize that if they hope to sell more environmentally friendly vehicles (which account for less than 1% of the cars and light trucks sold in the U.S.), they'll need to spruce and rev them up considerably. Thus Honda is coming out with a hybrid version of its Accord that is even more powerful than the original. Lexus, meanwhile, is getting brisk preorders for its 2005 luxury hybrid SUV, the 270-horsepower RX400h. But don't expect the Joneses next door to pull up in a Fetish anytime soon. Venturi CEO Gildo Pallanca-Pastor says his tiny Monaco-based company will probably make no more than 25 of the cars this year. The price tag: $686,000. --By Unmesh Kher