1983 Renault RE40 Formula One

The Renault RE40 brought the works team close to the 1983 world title. Its composite construction and turbocharged performance make it an important historical programme; the surviving cars also show why restored driver colours must never be mistaken for an unbroken record of who originally raced a chassis.

Programme history and its place in Formula One

Renault’s historical account places the RE40 in the 1983 season, following the RE30 family. Alain Prost and Eddie Cheever drove for the team. Prost ended the championship two points behind the winner, making the programme a serious title contender rather than a championship-winning Renault. The distinction matters in a collector profile, where an attractive headline can otherwise blur the difference between victories, a runner-up finish and an actual title.

Renault: thirty years of Formula One

Engineering in its regulatory setting

The factory identifies the RE40 as its first Formula One car with a composite shell and describes water injection in the turbo engine installation. Those innovations belong to the historical design context. A surviving display car’s present engine and structural condition require separate inspection. Power figures for turbo racing cars are particularly dependent on configuration, so this profile avoids assigning one unqualified output to every race, qualifying session and later demonstration.

Competition results need a season and a chassis

Renault records four Prost victories during the 1983 campaign. That season-level achievement must be separated from a specific surviving chassis. The Renault-consigned RE40-04 catalogue, for example, identifies Cheever’s seven Grand Prix appearances and third place at Monza. A later display in Prost colours does not make that chassis the car he drove at every victory. The original logbook is a much stronger route to the individual history.

Renault: thirty years of Formula One

What makes the programme collectible

The same sale catalogue reports seven RE40 cars and explains that RE40-04 was restored for demonstrations in Prost’s colours, with later mechanical work. This is unusually useful evidence because it states both historical use and subsequent presentation. For a collection, such transparency is an asset: a documented restoration can be understood on its own terms, while an unsupported claim of untouched originality would obscure the object’s actual life.

Renault collection sale: RE40-04

Identification and provenance

Begin with the works number and logbook, then match dated entries to photographs and restoration records. Record replacement engines, repaired composite structure and changes made for demonstration use. The photograph accompanying this article is a later Goodwood appearance and is not assigned a winning chassis identity. A driver name in a modern caption describes the presentation; it cannot substitute for a continuous chain of physical provenance.

Specifications and identity reference

Rarity and production scope

Artcurial’s catalogue for the Renault-consigned RE40-04 reports seven RE40 cars. That is an attributed programme reference, not an independently audited current survivor count. This Archive profile covers the model and does not claim that the later Goodwood photograph identifies a particular winning chassis. Restored liveries, replacement engines and original race assignments remain separate facts.

This is an Archive record. Concepts, restored heritage vehicles, works cars and competition programmes are not added to customer road-production totals. A programme profile does not establish how many physical chassis were made, and repeated exhibition appearances do not create additional vehicles.

What the photograph represents

A Renault RE40 at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Later heritage presentation, without assigning an individual chassis or transferring a particular 1983 victory to the car shown.

Related Renault heritage profiles

• 2002 Renault R202 Formula One
• 2005 Renault R25 Formula One

Frequently asked questions

Did the RE40 win the 1983 world championship?

No. Prost finished two points short of the drivers’ title, despite the programme’s victories.

Can Prost colours prove that Prost originally raced a surviving car?

No. The Renault-consigned RE40-04 record explicitly describes a Cheever-raced chassis later presented in Prost colours.

What is the production-count boundary for this profile?

Artcurial’s catalogue for the Renault-consigned RE40-04 reports seven RE40 cars. That is an attributed programme reference, not an independently audited current survivor count. This Archive profile covers the model and does not claim that the later Goodwood photograph identifies a particular winning chassis. Restored liveries, replacement engines and original race assignments remain separate facts.

Sources and further reading

1. Renault: thirty years of Formula One
2. Renault collection sale: RE40-04

Research checked 17 October 2026. Linked factory announcements and heritage records support the specifically attributed claims. Photographic descriptions identify the illustrated subject. Design analysis and suggested authentication steps are editorial interpretation.