The Alpine A330 was an open-wheel Formula 3 race car, designed, developed and built by French racing team and constructor Renault Alpine in 1967, and competed in motor racing between 1968 and 1969.[1]
In 1968 Alpine built another Formula 3 racing car. The vehicle was considered easy to control and had a short chassis based on a simple space frame. In 1968, the Alpine A330 was the only Formula 3 car (apart from cars from Eastern Europe) not to have a Ford engine in the rear. The in-house engine developed by Alpine in Dieppe had an output of 115 hp and was 10 to 15 hp less than the competition from Ford.[2]
For Alpine, the Formula France, the French Formula 3 Championship, was an absolute priority. The further development of the cars was slowed down by a tight budget, but Patrick Depailler still achieved three second places and several places in the points, thus proving the quality of the small racing car.[3]
In 1969 the car was still used in parallel with the new Alpine A360. Depailler finished fourth in the French Championship driving the A330, one place behind teammate Jean-Pierre Jabouille, who drove the A360.[4]