Back in the mid-90s, Renault decided that celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Espace MPV wasn’t enough with balloons and cake. No, they wanted fireworks, so they built a minivan with the heart of a Formula One car. The result was the Espace F1, a machine so outrageous it still feels like a fever dream.

This wasn’t a tuned-up people carrier. Underneath its carbon-fiber body panels sat a bespoke monocoque chassis and, bolted in the middle, a 3.5-litre Renault RS5 V10 engine straight out of the Williams FW15C that dominated the 1993 F1 season. That meant nearly 800 horsepower screaming to 14,000 rpm, funneled through a six-speed semi-automatic gearbox to the rear wheels. Forget school runs, this thing could hit 100 km/h in under three seconds and top out at over 310 km/h. In a van.

The interior was just as mad. Four racing buckets, the engine visible through clear panels behind the rear seats, and absolutely no concessions to comfort. It was a family car only in the sense that four people could technically fit inside, if they didn’t mind sitting next to a V10 with ear plugs in…

continue reading