Alpine A500 F1 car

Constructor	Alpine-Renault
Category	Formula 1
Designed by	Andre de Cortanze
Chassis	tubular steel, part of the monocoque reinforced with duralumin
Motor	Renault EF1 1.5 V6 Turbo
Transmission	Hewland FG 400 6-speed manual gearbox
Fuel	Elf
Tyres	Michelins
Drivers	Jean-Pierre Jabouille Jean-Pierre Jaussaud René Arnoux

The Renault-Alpine A500, was a Formula 1 single-seater jointly created by Gordini and Alpine at the request of Renault, produced between 1975 and 1976 and used to debut the turbo engine in Formula 1. later this engine was mounted on the Renault RS01.

History

The car was tested on many circuits, including Dijon and Jarama with Jean Pierre Jabouille as test driver. Subsequently, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and René Arnoux will test the car. André de Cortanze worked on the project, who designed the Alpine chassis, Francois Castaing on the V6 turbo engine and Macel Hubert on aerodynamics.

Due to various problems that the single-seater suffered from, such as the delay of the turbo, the overheating of the engine caused by the same and the precarious road holding, the single-seater remained in the prototype state.

The main feature of the A500 is the engine, which as per the regulations of the time provided for a maximum displacement of 1.5 litres for supercharged engines; the French technicians of Gordini chose the six-cylinder V derived from the F2, which was increased to 1492 cm³ and supercharged with a Garrett turbine. On the dyno it delivered 500 HP at 11,000 rpm and was mounted on a car specially made by Alpine. In addition to the turbo, the car made its debut with Michelin radial tires.