One of the all-time classic fan-favorite Gran Turismo cars is making its way back to the series after 25 years of absence, with the ridiculous Renault Espace F1 now confirmed to be part of the Gran Turismo 7 Spec III update.
It’s one of the four cars that hadn’t yet been revealed in the bumper eight-car update, but made a very, very brief appearance in a teaser video for the new Yas Marina Circuit aired during the Manufacturers Cup at the GT World Series Los Angeles event. From 0:31 to 0:35 is the most exciting four seconds of our year so far!
The Espace F1 itself is the stuff of legend, created during a pretty madcap era in the automotive and motorsports world, and an idea that’s unlikely to get signed off today. Created by Matra to mark the tenth anniversary of the Espace people carrier, it leveraged Renault’s Formula One exploits by literally installing an F1 car’s engine.
It’s not something that the front-engined Espace would normally accommodate, but then the F1 only really looked like an Espace. The 800hp V10 — and gearbox, both from the Williams FW15C — instead slotted into the middle of a custom carbon fiber chassis, with a carbon fiber, second-generation Espace body fitted over the top.
That made the car pretty lightweight even compared to its GFRP-bodied sibling, and the now mid-engined, rear-wheel drive Espace F1 could hit 60mph in under three seconds, twice that in less than seven, and storm on to almost 200mph. It also happened to have F1-grade brakes, so stopping power was equally impressive.
Matra actually made two of these things, although one wasn’t functional and served only as a static demonstration model. The other frequently ran exhibition laps and could — with the fitment of additional sports seats — take three passengers for what must have been a very alarming ride, usually at the hands of an F1 driver like Alain Prost.
It endeared itself to Gran Turismo fans with its appearance in 1999’s Gran Turismo 2, but it has been missing from the series ever since. Rumors of its return have been swirling for over a year now, with the Matra Museum even making some suggestions on social media that the car — the working one, as the other is in Renault’s possession — had been scanned.
As we speculated earlier today, we’re also getting an all-new brand making its series debut in the Spec III update: Polestar.
Originally formed as a race team, specialising in Volvos and turning its talents to tuning Volvo road cars, Polestar became part of Volvo in 2015 before being formed into its own company in 2017. Since then it’s focused on electric cars, with its 2, 3, and 4 models operating in the executive and upscale crossover and SUV categories.
The car we’re actually getting though is one that has only really just been announced and won’t be in customers’ hands for a few months yet, with the Polestar 5 being the marque’s first sedan. In top-grade Dual Motor Performance specification this is an 871hp monster, and it’ll be the subject of a Time Trial once the update drops — with a very special prize.
There’s still some mysteries left in Spec III’s locker though, with two cars left to be revealed. Well, two and a half.
If you’ve missed the previous announcement on the first four cars, the headline act was the Ferrari 296 GT3 we mentioned above, while there are also returns for the R34-generation Mine’s Skyline GT-R and the Mitsubishi FTO in GP Version R Aero form. The fourth is a new fictional F1 car, that we’ve now learned will go by the name F3500-B, although its precise inspiration remains unclear for now.
With the Polestar 5 and now the Espace F1 filling two of the other four spots, there’s still two left to find out. We’re going to wager one of them is the FIAT Panda seen in the PD studio tour with Giorgetto Giugiaro, but that last one is keeping its secrets…
Watch this space for all the latest on the Gran Turismo 7 “Spec III” update as we learn about it!
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