Alpine A220
The Alpine A220 was a sports car prototype that was used in sports car races in 1968 and 1969.
At the end of 1967 there was a paradigm shift at Alpine . So far, Jean Rédélé and his technicians had limited themselves to the construction of racing vehicles with an engine displacement of up to 1.5 liters. However , the team developed a 3-liter racing car for the sports car races in 1968, especially the long-distance race at Le Mans .
This idea was made possible by a new Gordini engine. Gordini combined two 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engines to form a conventional V8 engine . In the first variant, the unit received four Weber carburettors, which were replaced by an injection system in 1969. The carburettor V8 engine developed 228 kW (310 hp), the injection engine 257 kW (350 hp). A 5-speed ZF circuit was used as the transmission.
The chassis and body were taken over from the A210 and adapted so that the heavier and wider engine could be integrated into the chassis.
The A220 made its debut in the spring of 1968 at a national sports car race in France. It quickly became apparent that the car for the 3-liter class was underpowered. In addition, the lightweight, aerodynamic fiberglass body was perfectly suited for the A210, but tended to oversteer in the faster and heavier A220.
In 1968 there were four A220s at the start of Le Mans, but only one - at the wheel André de Cortanze and Jean Vinatier - reached the finish. With eighth place overall, the car was at its destination in front of three A210s, but the car could not reach the podium that was hoped for.
When the A220 did not finish in Le Mans in 1969 , the project was discontinued at the end of 1969, despite several victories at smaller events.
literature
- Roy Smith: Alpine Renault The Sports Prototypes Volume 1963-1969 . Veloce Publishing, ISBN 978-1-845841-91-1 .
