Alpine M63
The Alpine M63 was the first racing car from Alpine and was developed for sports car racing 1,962th
Development history and technology
The first designs for the Alpine M63 came from Len Terry . Terry was already working for Colin Chapman in 1962 and became internationally known in the mid-1960s for the construction of the Lotus 33 . Jean Rédélé contacted Chapman and Terry when the idea of their own racing sports car at Alpine was taking on more and more concrete forms. Terry agreed to a design that was based heavily on the Lotus 23 . Terry did not yet orientate himself in his work on the future technical regulations of the CSI , which had already published the new framework conditions for the races of the sports car world championship . Alpine’s main goal was to take part in the Le Mans 24-hour race . In 1963 , the first M63 was to be launched there. Since this endurance race was a championship run in the sports car world championship, the new regulations also took effect there. Redélé had a rough draft, but was unable to implement it.
The French racing driver Bernard Boyer referred his friend Richard Bouleau . In addition to racing, Boyer himself also worked as a vehicle designer. Boyer constructed later, Matra - seaters and - prototypes and had a driver's contract with Alpine. Bouleau worked at Saviem in 1962 in the development department for trucks and had no experience in building racing cars. After initial skepticism, Rédélé Bouleau had Terry revise the designs. Together with Boyer, he adapted the British's ideas to the new regulations and designed the chassis.
Now the fourth designer came on the scene; Marcel Hubert . Hubert, who was later responsible for the successful Alpine prototypes of the 1970s, gave the car its aerodynamic body shape. The car had a backward flowing rear and the engine behind the driver, which made the M63 a mid-engined racing car . With an empty weight of 601–620 kg, the M63 was very light, which was not uncommon in this small sports car class at the beginning of the 1960s. The wheelbase was 2400 cm. The car was powered by a 4-cylinder Gordini engine that Amédée Gordini had developed for the Renault R8 . With a displacement of just 996 cc, it developed 95 hp (70 kW). The factory stated the top speed of 232 km / h.
The first car, chassis number 1701, was completed one day before the technical acceptance for the Le Mans pre-tests in Dieppe and brought to Le Mans just before the deadline. Bernard Boyer drove the first laps with the new car, then factory driver José Rosinski took over the actual test work. It quickly became apparent that there was a problem with the steering, which was far too easy. On the slightest steering correction on the fast straights of the Circuit des 24 Heures , the car broke out and Rosinski had difficulty keeping the M63 in a straight line. After the end of the test drives - Rosinski drove his best lap in 4:40 minutes - the racing car was overhauled in Dieppe. During the next test drives at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry there was the fine-tuning. The problems with the steering no longer appeared; the changes in the plant had achieved the desired result.
Another test followed in order to be prepared for the long race at Le Mans. A real race was best suited for this, and Alpine registered the vehicle for the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring .
Racing history
1963
Since the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring was new territory for the team and works drivers, Jean Rédélé started looking for an experienced sports car driver to join the racing team in the race . The choice fell on the US American Lloyd "Lucky" Casner . Casner, who ran his own racing team with Camoradi Racing , won the race in a Maserati Tipo 61 in 1961 . Up until now, however, Casner had almost exclusively driven high-capacity and high-horsepower racing cars and had to get used to driving the little Alpine. He and Rosinski formed a successful duo that finished the race in eleventh place overall and celebrated the first class win for an Alpine sports car.
Le Mans and the death of Bino Heins
The two chassis 1702 and 1703 were also ready for the Le Mans appearance, so that Alpine reported three vehicles. In the particular interest of the teams with small-displacement vehicles there was the index rating - a ratio rating for vehicles of different performance levels - which Alpine absolutely wanted to win. The three vehicles were driven by Piero Frescobaldi and René Richard , José Rosinski and the Brazilian Christian "Bino" Heins and Bernard Boyer together with Guy Verrier . The latter was the heaviest of the three M63s thanks to a new gearbox.
The death of Christian Heins was the result of an engine failure at Aston Martin DP214 by Bruce McLaren . Heins had actually already ended his racing career and was persuaded by Rédélé to come to Le Mans for one last race. He had come with his young wife and their child. Due to the engine failure, the track just before the Mulsanne was smeared with oil. In a passage that is driven at full throttle, this was fatal. Since the marshals reacted far too late, there were three accidents in quick succession, including Roy Salvadori in the Jaguar E-Type Lightweight owned by Briggs Cunningham . When Heins got to the scene of the accident, the runway was littered with wreckage. He tried to evade at high speed and got off the track. The M63 hit a telegraph pole and Heins, trapped in the car, died in the flames.
After this accident, the result was unimportant for Alpine. Both remaining cars retired during the course of the race due to gearbox and engine damage.
Three more appearances in sports car races followed. Henri Grandsire and José Rosinski finished ninth and eleven in a race for the 12-hour race in Reims .
Barquette M63
For the Trophée d'Auvergne, the chassis in 1703 and 1704 got a new body. Richard Bouleau had simply removed the roof and installed a windshield for the cockpit. The concept did not prove itself on the fast, but also tight, track at Clermont-Ferrand . After almost five hours of driving, Rosinski and Grandsire were only 13th and 15th.
The year ended with another race on the Circuit de Charade, where the closed M63s were driven again. This time there were the first podium placements; Grandsire was second and Rosinski third.
1964
In 1964, too, the focus at Alpine was clearly on success in the Le Mans 24-hour race. Work was already underway in Dieppe on the successor to the M63, the M64 . The Alpine M63B was created as a transitional model . Chassis of the M63 with the aerodynamically revised body of the M64. There was a first finish at Le Mans; Roger Masson and Teodoro Zeccoli finished 20th overall.
An M63 was sold in the USA; It is not known which chassis it was and where the car has gone.
1965
In 1965 this Alpine type was hardly used any more; at Le Mans, Robert Bouharde and Pierre Monneret retired due to ignition damage.
Vehicles and their whereabouts
- Chassis 1701: First M63; Used in the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring in 1963, the 24 hour race at Le Mans in 1963, the 12 hour race in Reims in 1963 and in the 12 hour race in Sebring in 1964 . The car is still in its original condition and now belongs to a private collector.
- Chassis 1702: M63; Used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1963; This chassis was completely destroyed in Christian Heins' fatal accident.
- Chassis 1703: M63; Used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1963, the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1964, the Trophée d'Auvergne in 1963 and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1964. The car is still in its original condition and is in today Le Manoir Automobile Museum in Lohéac .
- Chassis 1704: M63; Used in the Trophée d'Auvergne 1963, the Sebring 12-hour race in 1964 and the 1964 Targa Florio . The car is now owned by a French collector.
- Chassis 1707: M63; Used in the Targa Florio 1964: This vehicle also still exists and belongs to a private French collection.
- Chassis 1708; M63B; This car had three engine variants. In addition to the 996 cc Gordini engine, two 4-cylinder engines from Renault with 1149 cc and 1002 cc. Used in the Targa Florio 1964, the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring 1964 , the 24-hour race of Le Mans in 1964 , the 12-hour race in Reims in 1964, the 1000 km race in Paris in 1964 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1965 and the 12 Hours of Reims in 1965. The car now belongs to the French mathematician Gérard Besson.
literature
- Roy Smith: Alpine Renault The Sports Prototypes Volume 1963-1969 . Veloce Publishing, ISBN 978-1-845841-91-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Roy Smith, Alpine & Renault - The Sports Prototypes Volume I 1963-1969, page 25
- ↑ Chassis numbers at alpinerenault.free.fr