Within five years the Alpine brand has gone from being further off the radar than a B-2 Stealth Bomber to being beamed into living rooms around the world on every grand prix weekend. Few of us saw that one coming. Sure, the road cars still aren't as prolific in public as the revitalised company would perhaps like - hence the massive investment in F1 racing - but they've been in the motoring news pretty consistently ever since the updated A110 appeared in 2017. But let's not forget the original model that was its inspiration. Here's one in the PH classifieds, which is a rare event that definitely demands a look see.
It's amazing to think of the differing fortunes between this rear-engined car and that other one from Stuttgart - I forget what it's called for a moment - bearing in mind the success of both models in motorsport and their similar beginnings. Each was the brainchild of an outstanding engineer who, after WWII, were intent on building the world's greatest sports car. While Ferry Porsche set about redefining the underpinnings of the Volkswagen Beetle into the lightweight, aluminium-bodied 356, over the border in Dieppe, France, Jean Rédélé began honing the Renault 4CV to further his passion for motorsport. He was successful, too, taking fourth place at the 1951 Rallye Monte-Carlo and the following year was rewarded with a class win in the Mille Miglia.
But the 4CV was merely a stop gap for an engineer of Rédélé's talent and ambition. Just as Porsche was finding the limitations of the 356, Rédélé realised that he needed something lighter and lower to achieve the kind of success he was after. Renault, though, wasn't interested in helping him, so he went to Italy, with Giovanni Michelotti drawing the body and Allemano making the design a reality. The glass-fibre bodied A106 was the result, which then became a 2+2 in the form of the A108, but these were still using the 4CV's ageing mechanicals. Then Renault launched the R8 saloon in 1962, so Alpine used this as the basis for the A110 that began production in 1963.
Like the A106 and A108, the A110 still used a flyweight, glass-fibre body stretched over a rigid tubular backbone chassis, but now with the R8's 55hp 956cc four-cylinder engine slung behind the back axle. By 1964 the engine had grown to 1,108cc and 66hp, with a Gordini-tuned version producing 95hp joining the range just a year later. In the following years of development, the engines grew further in capacity and power, reaching 1,605cc and 140hp. Among the keys to the A110's rallying success throughout the 60s and 70s was always its low weight. While the 911 wasn't exactly heavy at around a tonne, the A110 was in the region of 700kg when filled with fluids.
While blue has become synonymous with the A110, according to Alpine's website, "There was never really a single Alpine Blue. Back in the day, there was also a variety of yellows and reds and oranges" and "the last A110 to roll off the line at Alpine's Dieppe plant in Normandy, in 1977, was a splendid Metallic Normand Green." Whatever, I like the bright yellow paint of this particular A110 considerably more than any of the blue cars out there. To me it shows up the A110's details and curves far better.
Being a '73 model I assume the engine is the Type 810-30 that the advert states has 102hp. And it comes with a "tastefully upgraded" rally-spec interior with "period bucket seats, a fire extinguisher, thick-rimmed competition steering wheel and a cut-off switch on the dash." Bearing in mind the model's rallying credentials, I think it's very fitting and worth any diminishment of the car's originality. At £57k, it's a lot of money but bearing in mind what you'd pay for the equivalent 911 these days, it's could also be considered a bargain. Plus, if the marketing and F1 programmes prove successful, then who knows where the values will head in the next few years.
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