Alpine unveils A424_β hypercar at Le Mans

09th June 2023

Ethan Jupp

Following the reveal of its A110 R Le Mans special edition and 60 years on from Alpine’s first go at Le Mans, Alpine has now revealed our first look at what will become its LMDh hypercar WEC challenger for 2024 and beyond. This is the A424_β. The last bit stands for Beta, which as we’ve seen with the A290 (Renault 5) basically means concept. As the production version of the A290 hits the road in 2024, the race-ready A424 will also begin turning its wheels in anger.

As it follows LMDh rules, the A424 will use one of the outsourced chassis options, in this case Oreca, which is also used by Acura for the ARX-06. This is a continuation of the relationship between Alpine and Oreca, following the A480 LMP1 car that has raced in the WEC over the last couple of years.

Powering the car will be a 3.4-litre turbocharged Mecachrome V6 – a layout that will be unique to the A424 on the grid – working in conjunction with a prescribed hybrid system. Like Porsche, Alpine also says it’s open to the idea of selling customer cars to privateer teams.

Design-wise, the A424 is intended to wear language set to be seen on Alpine’s road cars in the near future. Key elements include the lighting signatures at the front and rear, with the latter featuring Alpine ‘A’-shaped lights. There’s a bit of the Alpenglow concept (unsurprisingly) and obviously, nods to the recent machinery it succeeds. Even as a race car all of its own, Alpine wanted the A424 to have the look and allure of a road-going supercar.

In terms of the timeline for the race-ready A424, development is already well along. The first sketches were completed in November 2021, with engine design beginning in January 2022. By the end the year, the engine was running and the car was in the wind tunnel.

The car’s first shakedown is due in July 2023, with proper testing beginning in August. From then, it’s an intensive schedule of testing and homologation, before its first race at the 6 Hours of Qatar in March 2024. Are you excited to see another challenger join the fray at the current top echelon of endurance racing?