For a reason as stupid as fun, someone put six wheels and two engines to a Renault 5 Turbo. And the result was great

Six -wheeled cars have always generated some fascination. From The famous Tyrrel P34 with which Jody Scheckter managed to win a Formula 1 career to the Mercedes G63 AMG 6×6 that became famous for their huge presence and their ability to overcome any obstacle in the desert.

The story we bring today has a bit of the first and a lot of the second. The first because, we could think, a Renault 5 Turbo has much more to do with a “little” Tyrrel P34 (at least if we think of its 4.32 meters long for the 5.63 meters maximum that can measure a formula 1 current) that with a gigantic three -axis mercedes.

But it also has the second because the original germ of this RENAULT 5 SIX TURBO He was born with the idea of ​​overcoming any obstacle that was presented to him along the way. Any obstacle that, for example, could be found in the Dakar.

Yes, in the Dakar.

A very crazy Dakar as advertising

Those who approach the departure of the Paris-Dakar rally in 1980 had to find a picture as wonderful as amazing. As soon as you could meet four fools who intended to cross Africa with a Vespa as a modified Renault to shelter six wheels.

Because that was, exactly, the great objective for which Cristian de Léotard He took the base of one of the most iconic sportsmen of those days to turn it into a three -axis car, six wheels, two engines and, of course, two gearboxes.

Léotard was specialized in such modifications and, in fact, he had already experienced with a six -wheel cytroën C15. Did you think that the performance of the mythical van could not be improved? It would not be his only great work. In fact, the Mercedes Class G 6×6 has its origin in the workshop of this French coach.

But its most striking, rare and iconic creation is, of course, the Renault 5 Turbo 6×6. Animated by his passion for mechanics and careers OffroadLéotard was gaining experience working within Tissier, a body company specialized in all types of extravagances, such as a Citroën Cx Camperized that seemed to keep a whole city within itself.

Over the years, Léotard took his own way to found ADPL (Applicaton Defés Léotard) That, without a doubt, it seems a tribute to ADPT (Applicaton Deféés Tissier), the company in which it grew laborily and in which it sought all possible solutions to create a six -wheel range.

That must have been the germ of his craziest project: take two Renault 5, paste them, get him to work with six wheels and face the Dakar sand. And he did it with great success if we attend to the figures. The engendro did not go too much as a mother (4.21 meters that are 10 centimeters more than a RENAULT 4 Current Electric) and only added 100 kg to the whole, being below the ton, as they explain in 12 cylinders.

The image was so powerful that I couldn’t miss the opportunity. If I wanted to sell its creation to new customers, it had to show that the car was not only functional, it should also be resistant. The Dakar and its hardness were their best chance and tried to make the most of it.

Although he had to retire due to mechanical problems, the rally had generated enough advertising to make a name in the market and, of course, the reference for all those crazy people who wanted to put two extra wheels to their Renault 5.

Six wheels, two engines and two gearboxes

One of those crazy people in charge of what would be one of Léotard’s most extravagant projects. Make a Renault 5 Turbo a six -wheel car fully functional and effective.

To maintain the sports essence of the car and do it as extreme as the original, Léotard returned to “paste” two Renault 5 But this time he also took the opportunity to install a second engine on the front. The Renault 5 Turbo It is pushed by a propeller that sends all its force to the rear wheels.

So that it was also effective from the front axle it was decided to install A second engine of Alpine origin 93 hp under the front hood to send the force to the front wheels.

They explain in Motorpasion that Léotard described his invention as “a train with two locomotives.” To operate the two engines, the car had two boxes of independent changes and, therefore, with two levers in the front area that were synchronized.

The car was, without a doubt, the result of the good work with its project for the Dakar. A car that, in the words of Sixmania (Where you can check more project photographs), it got a much more effective braking than that of the original vehicle, since the drum brakes had been replaced with brake discs on all its wheels. In addition, they assured that stability had improved and offered enormous performance in irregular land.

This version Offroad Yes, it survived but the turbo version of this strange Renault 5 6×6 cannot say the same. At the beginning of the 2000s, The car suffered a fire that left it shattered almost entirely. The restoration was never achieved before Cristian de Léotard died in 2014 although in Secret Classics They ensure that a last collector did with what was left of the car to try to return it to life.

Photo | ! Koss

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