Alpine rises again
After allowing the Alpine brand to fade into oblivion in the mid-1990s, Renault has decided to bring it back to life. In February 2017, a near-production version of the new A110 was unveiled at Rétromobile in Paris.
Drawing inspiration from the name and styling of the legendary Berlinette, the new model pays tribute to the car that became a rallying icon in the 1960s and 1970s. At its presentation, the new A110 was surrounded by examples of the brand’s most representative models, all finished in white.
Alpine was founded by Jean Rédélé in 1955. The son of the owner of a Renault dealership in Dieppe, Rédélé began competing in rallies in the early 1950s. Driving a Renault 4CV that he had prepared himself, he achieved some remarkable results. His passion for competing in the Alps inspired him to name his cars Alpine, a name that would eventually become the brand itself.
Although his cars were competitive, Rédélé believed that reducing their weight was essential to getting the most out of their small engines. He travelled to Italy, where Allemano designed an aluminium body for the 4CV. He eventually settled on a design by Michelotti, made of fibreglass and mounted on the chassis and mechanical components of the 4CV, known in Spain as the 4/4. Thus, the A106, the first Alpine model, was born.
With its fibreglass body, the car weighed just over 500 kg and proved tremendously competitive in rallies. In the photographs, its lines clearly recall those of the 4CV, particularly at the rear. The later versions could be fitted with five-speed gearboxes and developed nearly 60 bhp, more than twice the original 4CV's output. A total of 251 examples were built up to 1961, including cabriolet versions such as the one shown in the photographs.
In 1960, the A108 introduced the basic layout that would underpin Alpine's sports cars until the brand's demise in 1995. Its chassis consisted of a central backbone beam, with a rear subframe supporting the engine and transmission and a front section accommodating the steering and suspension. The A108 was also available as a cabriolet.
Naturally, the Paris exhibition would not have been complete without the original A110 Berlinette that we all know and love. Introduced in 1962 and initially powered by engines from the Renault 8 and Renault 8 Gordini, the Berlinette continued to evolve, eventually gaining fuel-injected 1.6-litre engines that delivered three times the power of the earliest versions. In 1973, it became the first car to win the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers.
Interestingly, the last A110s were built by FASA in Valladolid, Spain, in 1978, a year after production had ended in Dieppe. The Spanish-built versions, however, never went beyond 1.4-litre engines.
Today, the A110 has become a highly sought-after collector's car. Gone are the days when you could pick one up for less than the price of a second-hand runabout. I still remember a metallic green 1973 example that spent a long time parked outside a house in the early 1980s. Its owner was asking 150,000 pesetas – around €900 – but apparently nobody was willing to pay that much, even though it was roughly the going price for a Renault 5 of a similar age.
The fibreglass body was bonded to the chassis, and some scrapyards would simply set fire to the cars to recover the metal from the frame. Others, however, had the foresight to recognise the future value of a model that was widely dismissed at the time.
According to the story, in the late 1980s a mechanic from Lugo travelled around the Iberian Peninsula and France in his Citroën CX, towing a trailer and searching for unwanted Alpines. His plan was to rescue the cars, store them and wait for better times. Thanks to his efforts, more than a hundred examples were saved. Later, when they had become scarce and valuable, he began selling them, reportedly exporting several dozen.
The Paris exhibition also featured an A310, the last model conceived under Rédélé's original vision before Renault took full control of the brand. The GTA and A610 followed, but eventually Alpine disappeared from the scene.
The 2017 Alpine seeks to recapture the spirit of the A110, the model that had disappeared four decades earlier. There is hope that its arrival will once again put French sports cars on the road and restore some of the magic that made the original Alpine a legend.
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