Soliad Ventera was not born of tradition, but was born of necessity, experimentation, and a rare spark of audacity characteristic of a risk-averse company.

By the mid-2000s, the Soliad lineup was outdated. Their sedans and coupes were heavy, front-engined, front-wheel-drive vehicles designed for comfort rather than communication with the outside world. So when the small, ambitious Soliad design team unveiled a lightweight rear—engined concept—something more like a European or Japanese sports car than a Detroit bruiser-it caused confusion.

The project was almost frozen before it even started. Soliad did not have a suitable platform. The transmission was too big, the chassis was too bulky. But the idea refused to die. The solution came from outside: a compact rear-engined transmission, originally designed for the agile Hirochi SBR4. Lightweight, time-tested, and compact enough to be adapted to the Soliad concept.

Credits: Jason m