50 years of AUTOhebdo – 50 years of innovation thanks to motorsport

From safety to materials, from braking to transmissions, motorsport has shaped the modern automobile far beyond mere spectacle. A look back at fifty years of innovations from the paddocks.

Published 15/02/2026 à 18:00

Gautier Calmels

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50 years of AUTOhebdo – 50 years of innovation thanks to motorsport

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Engines and transmissions: the quest for efficiency

The pursuit of pure power through the use of naturally aspirated engines has gradually given way to the optimization of efficiency. The turbocharger, launched by Porsche et Renault en Endurance and only the diamond in F1 at the end of the 1970s, was the first revolution. Then, at m

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Gautier Calmels

Journalist MotoGP, Nascar, Rallye France, Endurance and Classic... Among others.

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PASCAL VAILLANT

17/02/2026 at 12:59 a.m.

Your 50th anniversary weekly magazine has made me feel young again! I eagerly await issue number 1, and I used to wait for the next issue to buy it at my newsagent, then in BL (Bibliothèque Locale), and now every Monday to download it. I lost my collection of back issues due to a water leak in a garage, but I still have the first SCRATCH editions. My best memories from the last fifty years: Ligier's first victory, the Arnoux/Villeneuve duel, Alain Prost, Pierre Gasly's first victory, Michael Masi's dreadful Abu Dhabi GP 21, Simon Pagenaud, and many others. I'm 73 years old and I hope to read you for another twenty years; I won't live to see the 100th anniversary. I'll leave you now; I'm off to read the F1 2026 guide. Pascal Vaillant

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