I’ve driven quite a few fun and very unique vehicles in my day. From custom golf carts, to super bikes, to sports cars and other truly one of kind customs I’ve had many experiences with fun rides. When I saw the Vanderhall Venice online I thought it looked pretty cool, but I didn’t expect to fall in love with it the way I did!
The Vanderhall Venice is a 3 wheeled, turbo charged, full time convertible that looks great and is even more fun to drive. The Vanderhall Venice starts right under $30,000 in price. I’ll be honest when I first saw the price tag I thought it was a bit high for an ‘adult toy’. I thought who is going to get a full time convertible vehicle that would have to be a secondary vehicle at that price tag? Then I drove the vehicle and I understood that this driving experience is like none other.
Shout out to Freedom PowerSports in Hurst TX for helping to coordinate with Vanderhall on getting this unit to me to test out. Great team there for sure.
Lets look at the standard features and specs on the Venice edition:
–1.4 Liter 4 Cyl Turbo-This engine can GO. 0-60 in a little over 4 seconds. One of my favorite things about this is the blow off valve and hearing the phhsshhhhhh whenever you let off the gas.
–6 Speed Auto Trans – smooth shifting between gears. The gear shifter is low profile in between the seats. So if you have ‘wider’ passengers it may be hard to get to.
–Heat– We test drove ours in May in Dallas, TX so I didn’t actually test the heat option.
–Heated Seats – the model we had came equipped with these and they have 3 varying levels of heat. It will heat up your backside!
–Black V-Tex Black Grills – I call this the phantom grill as the head lights and turn signals are housed behind this grill to keep it extra clean.
–LED Headlights– The headlights are all time running and they also have the ability to put on high beams.
–18” Wheels – These are big wheels for such a small and low to ground car and they looked awesome.
–1375 dry weight
–Wooden Steering Wheel – there is no airbag but there is a small horn in the center
–400 Watt Bluetooth Audio System– there are two speakers one on each side that work well around town, but are not suited for highway driving. If you crank it up too loud it starts to distort. I also had difficulty on multiple occassions having the bluetooth hook up correctly.
When you get into the Vanderhall you have to do so Dukes of Hazzard style as there are no doors. You essentially grip the seat and swing your legs over and slide in as it is LOW! One thing to note is do not brace yourself by the windshield as it is not designed for this. Once you’re in the cockpit insert the key to left hand side and turn the key. The engine purrs and you get a sense of child like excitement about the experience you are about to have. The automatic gear shifter is in between the seats and you push down on it and slide it to the correct gear. There is no gear indicator, so you will need to know 1 back is reverse, 2 back is neutral and 3 back is drive. Buckle up! The seat belts are on the opposite side of what you are used to, but work the same way. Then you can hook up your bluetooth device to have some tunes to jam to on the ride of your life. There are two side mirrors (no rearview mirror) that you can adjust to ensure you see what is behind you. Slide the Vanderhall into drive and hit the gas and you’ll hear the engine wind up and as you let off the gas the turbo blow off value phsshhhh noice (That I LOVE).
As you drive the Vanderhall around it is pretty comfortable ride around town. I drove it for a couple of hours on the interstate and this can take it’s toll. You’re exposed to the sun, elements, and wind whipping on you, and I much prefer the liesure cruises around town and country roads. The other thing that you need to be prepared for is the attention you will get. While stopped in traffic people honked their horn, gave me thumbs up, took pictures of it driving, and expressed that they wanted one of these. When filling up at the gas station people would come over to talk to me about it and want to pose with the Vanderhall in pictures. This vehicle got more attention than anything I’ve ever driven before.
The Vanderhall does not have a trunk, as the gas tank is in the back. It does have a small compartment behind the seats that you can place a few small bags in. It also has roll bars over the top of each seat that should help if, heaven forbid, you get in that type of accident. The brake lights and turn signals in the back are LED and for as small as they are do a pretty good job of lighting up the night. The dash guages are pretty simple: RPM, Gas, MPH and Temperature. As the gas guage got to around a 1/4 of a tank it really started to fluctutate back and forth between being on E and being on a 1/4 of a tank.
PROS: most fun driving experience I’ve had, looks amazing, attention getting, makes you feel free.
CONS: No cupholders, No clock, no airbags, can be tough in long interstate commutes
Overall: After our time reviewing the Vanderhall was up, my wife made the comment: “I think I want to trade my vehicle in and just drive a Vanderhall all the time.” I can also concur that after driving the Vanderhall and then going back to my sports car it felt like night and day. The Vanderhall is the real deal and if my wife gets her way we will have one in our garage sooner, rather than later.
