Originally a kit car manufacturer, Toréer tried their hand at a 100% original small sports car in 1989 and succeeded, with its blood still in the manufacturer’s system today. They stay true to their original, focused philosophy of “if you can’t make it more powerful, make it lighter, and if you can’t make it lighter, make it more powerful."
The first original Toréer, with basic styling and a peppy turbocharged inline 4 boasting 125 hp. Original concept plans called for a midship twin-turbo V6, but cost cutting resulted in a front-engine layout. It returned surprisingly good gas mileage and sold well in Europe. It was a popular budget track car thanks to its extremely low weight and price, especially when it was exported to eastern Europe in 1990. It was never sold in North America.
Soon after the 200S, this improved model building on it was built thanks to wildly increased income. It shared the same engine, but with technical upgrades to boost power to 164 hp. The new Sommet also gained a styling upgrade, with a more timeless and aggressive design and a subtle “T-shape” grille. This model was eventually exported to North America as the Toréer Turbo. The 250S also saw extreme success in western and eastern Europe.
With plenty of money funneling in from aspiring Czech boy racers, Toréer executives had their mind set on something with more than 4 cylinders, and with plans to rebuild the Sommet with a mid-engined layout already put into place, they needed something front-engined to keep the original Sommet’s bloodline intact. The Rivale, originally conceptualized as the “Serpent,” quenched that thirst, with a traditional FR layout and a naturally aspirated inline 6. It also had a less aggressive suspension tune and subtle styling to attract a less niche audience. The Rivale was sold everywhere the Sommet 250S was, and was called the Rivale in all regions.
Finally, now with enough funding from the Rivale and the original Sommet, its second generation became mid-engined just like how it was meant to be from the start, although it had a dated look since it was originally developed a decade before the Rivale. With a hefty 297 hp from a turbocharged version of the Rivale’s inline 6 and an experimental AWD drivetrain, it’s no secret that for its price, the Sommet II was quite the competitor (and quite the heavyweight.) It was never sold in eastern Europe due to being deemed too upmarket.
As Toréer rode on the Rivale, Sommet II, and some eager shareholders, they saw the need to modernize. In 2005, a concept for the next Rivale was proposed and showed at the 2005 Geneva International Motor Show. It became notorious for its experimental styling, but made up for it with a relatively small and efficient V10.
After a year of both praise and criticism from the concept, and development of an outgoing model, Toréer put the Rivale MK2 into production with improved looks and multiple trims.
440S - Luxury model with everything you need
4.4L V10, F4, 6spd seq
390 hp, 314 lb-ft
0-60 in 4.7 seconds
60-0 in 33.3 m
¼ mile in 13.02 seconds
Top speed of 175 mph
Pulls 1.10 g (200m)
3671 lb
$61465 without markup
121.3 competitiveness in GT P. (Gasmea), 131.7 in GT P. (Fruinia)
280C - Base model with small, much more efficient inline 6
2.8L inline 6 turbo, FR, 7spd adv. auto
355 hp, 269 lb-ft
0-60 in 7.26 seconds
60-0 in 33.1 m
¼ mile in 15.5 seconds
Top speed of 160 mph
Pulls 1.10 g (200m)
3473.8 lb
$51342 without markup
108 competitiveness in GT (Gasmea), 107.4 in GT P. (Fruinia)
440T - High-end, performance-oriented model
4.4L V10 twin-turbo, F4, 6spd seq
571 hp, 465 lb-ft
0-60 in 4.6 seconds
60-0 in 33 m
¼ mile in 12.43 seconds
Top speed of 193 mph
Pulls 1.11 g (200m)
3997.7 lb
$77889 without markup
129.4 competitiveness GT P. (Gasmea), 140.1 in GT P. (Fruinia)
The Sommet MK3, equipped with the inline 6 from the base model Rivale, brought the Sommet into the modern world. Although that inline 6 was slow in the heavy Rivale, the new Sommet was light enough to let the engine shine. Its styling served as an homage to the very first Sommet.
In 2014, Toréer realized that their lineup’s dated styling wouldn’t last for much longer, so they slightly facelifted their models with standard LED lights and other slight changes.
For years enthusiasts had been waiting for something like the original, front-engined Sommet. Small, light, underpowered, but with great handling to rip apart the autocross. In response, a new engine, somewhere in between the efficiency of an inline 4 and the power of an inline 6, was developed, and stuck in a super-light chassis. Although the Venin had extremely front-heavy weight distribution (I’m talking 60/40 here), it handled surprisingly well and was a favourite among enthusiasts not looking for anything particularly fast. Due to its low production cost and MSRP, it was the first new Toréer to be exported to Eastern Europe and was a smash hit.
160TC (Cabriolet with an auto for uninitiated normies)
1.6L inline 5 turbo, FR, 5spd adv. auto
164 hp, 164 lb-ft
0-60 in 7.39 seconds
60-0 in 34 m
¼ mile in 15.66 seconds
Top speed of 124 mph
Pulls 1.14 g (200m)
2569.3 lb
$12280 without markup
135.8 competitiveness, 58.5% affordability (Light Sport Budget, Gasmea)
128.1 competitiveness, 52.4% affordability (Light Sport Budget, Fruinia)
With their V10’s efficiency and power becoming dated, Toréer developed a new V8 engine for the Rivale starting in 2016 thanks to increased profits from the accessible (GT86-like) Venin. This V8, internally named the VSX (Vee Supercar eXpérimental–VSE sounded too boring) quickly became Toréer’s magnum opus, with more power than the V10 in the 440S and better efficiency than the inline 6 in the 280C. Other improvements to the MK2.5 include tighter handling and a new double clutch gearbox. Unfortunately, its brand-new engine and gearbox commanded a higher price, and the new Rivale sold noticeably less than the old one.
