Alpine A350

The Alpine A350 was a Formula One car designed for Alpine by Richard Bouleau in 1968, the French maker's one attempt at the sport's top series in that decade. It was powered by a 2,996 cc Renault-Gordini V8, built with Renault's heavy involvement, and it featured an innovative flat suspension that Bouleau devised to keep the wheels perpendicular to the ground whatever the body did. Driver and tester Mauro Bianchi ran it at Ladoux, Zolder and Zandvoort, and the team planned to enter it in the 1968 French Grand Prix. Renault then forbade the use of the Gordini V8, which it judged too weak against the Cosworth DFV, and the A350 never took part in a Grand Prix. Its engine, rated at 310 horsepower, trailed the leading rivals, and the only prototype built was destroyed a few months after that race, leaving just the wheels and a fragment of bodywork.