Post-war automotive legend, Frenchman Jean Redélé died last week. He was 85. Redélé followed his father as the Renault concessionaire way up north in Dieppe, far from the technology of Paris. His dream was to return Renault to the top of motorsport.
A born leader, the Frenchman built a loyal crew of racing engineers and enthusiastic volunteers. Their stories were humble at first, unpaid overtime, drying fiberglass panels from tree limbs, but dedication and skill led to race successes. 1950’s Renault 4CV components gradually evolved into sophisticated small-bore LeMans prototypes, formula cars and rallye racers. His company, Automobiles Alpine, eventually became so successful that franchisor, Parisian giant Renault officially sponsored them by the mid ‘60’s, finally buying his company in 1976. His little Alpine factory was the foundation of modern Renault Sport’s famous LeMans wins and Formula 1 World Championships.
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His first success was with a modified 4CV in the Mille Miglia in 1952. By 1964, Alpine had many French customers racing their road cars, ultimately winning the inaugural French F3 Championship. For several years, Alpines scored victories in the important Indexes of Thermal Efficiency at the LeMans 24-Hours. As arch-rival French marque Matra became more dominant, Alpine turned to rallying the little top-selling A110 berlinette, winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1971. Its battles with rallye legend, the Lancia Fulvia HF are perhaps the most famous in history! Once Matra turned their attention to F1, Alpine scored the French F3 title again. Then, the European Formula 2 Championship was attained with the “Elf-Renault” Alpine racer.
In the mid-70’s, Renault had a new bold mission for Alpine: design a 1.5 liter turbo Formula 1 to take advantage of the latest rules. The Alpine A500 was developed after several visits with American Indy teams successfully employing turbocharging. By 1977, the Redélé engineering team had launched the “turbo era” into F1 with the devastatingly effective, nearly championship winning F1 car affectionately called the “flying teapot.” Ferrari and French rival Matra were 4 years behind Alpine in development. The LeMans sports car version quieted all skeptics of turbocharging the next year, by achieving first overall at LeMans.
Ultimately Alpine’s Dieppe factory was closed down with the creation of Renault Sport’s headquarters at Vìry Chatillon, a suburb of Paris.
Any owner of an Alpine-Renault road car must appreciate its place as a successful pioneer in motorsport glory, as Jean Redélé intended.
Jean Redélé finally retired in the late 1970s. Later in life, he would watch as the Redélé goals of ultimate Renault glory were finally achieved with the “100% Renault” double F1 World Championships in 2005 and 2006.
