Rondeau M579 Turbo. Jean Rondeau’s dream race car.

I learned about this one last week or so.

Late F1 driver Jean Rondeau designed a six-wheeled car he wanted to drive for the 1979 season, inspired by the Tyrell P34's victory at the Switzerland Grand Prix early on. He proposed a weight of around 700kg, a Ford Cosworth DFX turbo V8 engine producing 630 HP, and all sorts of bits and bots to make it compillant with the Group 6 regulations.

At that time, Rondeau's sponsorship with a French wallpaper manufacturer Ináltera has ended, and thus he was passing through a difficult finnancial situation. As form the M579, it never went beyon the concept stage due to monetary costs and regulations. Unfortunately, Rondeau died in Champagne in 1985, when his car was hit by a train.