Renault 4CV Rédélé Special

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Renault
"The Marquis" 2015 in Dieppe
"The Marquis" 2015 in Dieppe
4CV Rédélé special
Production period: 1952-1955
Class : Sports car
Body versions : Coupe
Engines: Otto engine :
0.75 liters
Length:
Width:
Height:
Wheelbase :
Empty weight : 550 kg
successor Alpine A106

The Renault 4 CV Rédélé Spezial was a sports car model of which Jean Rédélé made three prototypes in the early 1950s.

development

Rédélé has participated in motorsport events as a racing driver since 1950. He initially drove the Renault 4CV . Jean Rédélé was fundamentally convinced of this vehicle, but had the idea of ​​designing his own racing car that would be lighter, faster and more agile than those of the competition. Grew out of this idea in 1955 in Dieppe , the Société des Automobiles Alpine , the sports car brand Alpine . Jean Rédélé had taken over the Renault contract workshop from his father and began developing his own sports car. For cost reasons, he relied on the proven Renault 4CV as the basis for his first prototypes. However, the car was technically revised and, for example, got a completely new five-speed gearbox that Rédélé manufactured under license. He bought the license from André-Georges Claude. The body of the vehicle was a separate design. At this point in time, the bodies were still made of aluminum. Only the first production vehicle from Alpine, the Alpine A106, was given a plastic body.

Renault 4CV Rédélé Special No. 1

The 4CV Rédélé Spezial No. 1 from 1952 was the first vehicle that Rédélé built based on the 4CV. In the development of the body, Jean Rédélé was assisted by Giovanni Michelotti , who had designed the car. The aluminum body was built by Allemano in Italy. The weight of the vehicle was 550 kg. The front of the prototype was reminiscent of the Renault Dauphine, which was only built later from 1956 . Jean Redele personally brought the car from Italy to France and used it in racing himself. He won the 1953 Rallye Dieppe, the Coupe des Essarts and won the Cup of Lisbon (Portugal).

Renault 4CV Rédélé Special No. 2

In 1953 the second prototype was created, the 4CV Rédélé Spezial No. 2 with an aluminum body drawn by Giovanni Michelotti and manufactured by Allemano in Italy. Jean Rédélé brought the car to the USA in 1954; there it was exhibited at the New York Motor Show in 1954. Jean Rédélé wanted to give the car to Zark W. Reed, who planned to mass-produce it in the USA under license with a plastic body. The series car was to be named "The Marquis". But Zark W. Reed failed. Reed made mistakes and modified the car badly, whereupon Jean Rédélé withdrew the license. The Marquis was never built. There are only advertising brochures for the vehicle, on which, however, not a series version but the prototype is shown. The Rédélé Spezial No. 2 stayed in the USA for cost reasons, because it would have been too expensive for Jean Rédélé to return it to France. After the 4CV Rédélé Spezial No. 2 was exhibited in New York, the racing driver Bob Holbert bought the car and used the prototype in motorsport in the USA. For example, the car took part in the 1956 Cumberland Maryland Airport race. The collector Raymond Buckwalter bought the vehicle in 1957 and kept it until his death. His daughter inherited the car, which then disappeared into a barn. The knowledge of the vehicle's past was subsequently lost. In 2009 the Rédélé family contacted a member of the American Renault Club to clarify the vehicle's identity. A search for clues began and confirmed that it was the long-lost prototype. In 2011, Jean Rédélé's family bought the car back and brought it back to France. The prototype is now in Paris in the private vehicle museum of the Rédélé family. It was shown at the Retromobile Classics Show in Paris in 2012. The car was also exhibited in France at the Saga Alpine 2015 in Dieppe.

Renault 4CV Rédélé Special No. 3

In 1955 the 4CV Rédélé Spezial No. 3 was delivered. Jean Rédélé had a car similar to the Rédélé Spezial No. 2 made again by Giovanni Michelotti and Allemano. In 1955 , Julliet Galtier and Maurice Michy won the Mille Miglia class for touring cars up to 0.75 liters . Galtier sold the car to his mechanic, who damaged it at the front. The restorer at the time took over the car and has kept it to this day.

literature

  • Alpine / 1982 / Dominique Pascal / translation by Gerard Hemmer from 1994 ISBN 3-9804059-0-7
  • Alpine Post / magazine for all Alpine friends. www.alpine-post.de
  • Cars that made history: Renault Alpine / Ulrich Bethscheider-Kieser ISBN 3-613-01407-6
  • Alpine & Renault: The Development of the Revolutionary Turbo F1 Car 1968 to 1979 / Roy Smith
  • Alpine passion