One of the most exciting stories we’ve been following over the last year or two is the revival of Alpine road cars and one of their most iconic nameplates. A few design studies and concepts have been revealed along the way, but today the Renault-owned manufacturer released the first two images of the A110 that will soon be unveiled at Geneva this March and will eventually be built and sold to select global markets (and possibly America, too).
Alpine is holding off on releasing all the technical details until Geneva or later, but these images have revealed a car that’s stayed very true to the concepts, which is rare these days. An additional picture and a bit more analysis is after the jump.
It’s been well established that the A110’s main rival will be the Porsche 718 Cayman S and Alfa Romeo 4C, so the leading theory is that turbocharged four-cylinder power and rear-wheel drive is to be expected. The original A110 was launched in 1961 and was a very successful WRC race car thanks in part to its compact dimensions, its light weight, and agility. Those timeless sports car principles will very much be reflected in the new car, Renault says. Its exact weight is yet to be confirmed but an extensive use of aluminum is expected to keep it very low by modern car standards.
I’ll bring you more details once they’re available during the Geneva show, but it’s sure to be a compelling offering in the sports coupe market. I, for one, can’t wait to learn more. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures.
[Source: Renault-Alpine via Top Gear]
The production-ready Alpine A110 is ready to steal your heart
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19 responses to “The production-ready Alpine A110 is ready to steal your heart”
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Looks pretty promising, eg the air inlets behind the side windows, even if it was never going to capture the “incredible lightness of being” of the original. Just a little too much lower body height, lowering the waistline by a couple of centimetres would help I think.
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I agree. Unfortunately most contemporary cars have a high beltline. Safer, I suppose, but makes everything look a bit like a suppository.
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If you have the chance please get side-by-side photos of this with the original A110. If that isn’t possible please get as many specs as you can. I’m very curious to see how the two compare size-wise.
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You got a valid point there, but from these two photos I got to say that they actually managed a surprisingly good balance between classic and modern design. To my eyes, it’s a stunningly beautiful and coherent design. Looks ready to jump and bite.
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Sub 1000KG, 300-ish BHP from a turbo 1.8, more expensive than a base Cayman. (circa €55000). I love it, but lets not forget the Lotus Elise still exists…
http://www.lotuscars.com/sites/default/files/Elise%20S%20Cup%20250%20Elm%20Hill%20Norwich%2013_02_16%2013_0.jpg-
To be fair, for those of us in the US the Elise is no longer available new (and spares are getting harder to find, etc). I suspect in five years, my then-17-year-old Elise will have crumbled into aluminum powder and I’ll be cross-shopping used 4Cs and A110s.
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Bummer, next one should be US compliant. Jean Marc Gales seems to be the first person running the company with any degree of sense in a long time.
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The more I look at it the more I think it’s trying too hard to modernize the original and the result is somewhat bland. I’d just as soon they go bonkers with a slight nod to the original like they did in 2012 with the A110-50.
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I think that car was going to be a much more extreme car overall, with a V6 from the Nissan GT-R, would have been awesome, but also more expensive.
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They build something close to it for a single make racing series, or at leas they planned to.
http://www.dangeruss.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Renault-Sport-RS01-by-dangeruss.jpg-
Yes the RS-01, phenomenal car.
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I love that this comment chain went from concept, to prototype, to production model
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Well they got the color right…
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Compared to the original, not bad. Compared to most other contemporary production sports cars…
http://tanshanomi.com/temp/image-macros/quiche-swoon.gif -
I like it, but I would like it more with actual windows behind the doors like the original. I really miss the open greenhouses of the older cars that disappeared with the rise of the gunslit windows and high belt lines of the 21st century. The front 3/4 view definitely feels Alpine, but the side view looks very Subaru with the big wheels and similar shade of blue.
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Was this the car they were working with Caterham on?
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Yeah, but Caterham pulled out of the project.
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I thought they were in the beginnings of the design when Caterham left, so this announcement so soon after took me by surprise. I just didn’t understand Caterham’s involvement with Renault.
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Yeah, it was an odd pairing alright.
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