Prost and the Espace F1

Espace means space in French. F1 means not much space. Actually, no space at all in an F1 car, the apogee of motor racing. So, the 1995 Renault Espace F1 was something of an oxymoron, then.

And this is what it was like to ride in this ultimate expression of 1990s family-motoring silliness and be hurled around the old Paul Ricard racing circuit with four-time F1 World Champion Alain Prost at the wheel.

While I bought myself a hand-knitted Gansey for my birthday, Renault and Matra decided to make the world’s daftest multi-purpose vehicle for theirs; celebrating 10 years of the Espace and Renault’s involvement in Formula 1 racing. There’d been a Porsche-tuned VW Sharan and a Ford Transit Super Van, but this one took the biscuit – the whole packet, in fact.