New Alpine A110
Between the demise of the A610 in 1995 and the 17 years that
followed, the motoring press would run ocasional scoops proclaiming
the imminent arrival of a new Alpine of some sort or other. These
were often fantastic machines with exotic engines and very tempting price tags.
Always accompanied by an impressive artist's impression, they may have
impressed the average reader but Alpine experts knew better.
Then in 2012 - Renault announced a joint project with Caterham
to buld a new car. At the time, Caterham were in Formula 1
and had some money to spend as well as big ambitions. News appeared
from time to time regarding progress - unlike previous predictions
the new car would have an RS Clio 4 cylinder engine (much more
realistic) driving the rear wheels, so be mid rather than rear
engined. Then, in 2014, a body blow to the project as Caterham
pulled out. But, thankfully, Renault pressed on, even re-entering
the motorsport arena in 2013 with an Alpine badged LMP2 car.
In 2015, to celebrate 60 years of Alpine a car appeared at various
events - as it turned out the final shape was almost
complete. In 2016 the new car was opened for orders - deposits
started being taken for 2017 / 2018 delivery. The 1955
Premier Edition cars were soon all allocated.
THE NEW A110 ARRIVES
The new car arrived in 2017. The car was launched in the UK in
May 2017 at the Renault UK Head Office in Maple Cross. Club members
from all over the UK attended with their cars, eager to see this
fantastic new car. They were not disappointed. The new car was not
yet ready to drive but deliveries would start in France in September
of 2017 and the following Spring in the UK. Renault were as good as
their word as UK cars started arriving in May 2018 and by August
dealers had cars for test drives. That summer the motoring
press was again full of the Alpine name, this time glowing write-ups
of this fantastic new car from France.
THE NEW CAR
With 250 bhp the new car was not as powerful as a comparable
Porsche Cayman (its most obvious competitor) but it made up for
a lack of power with a lack of weight - 250 KGS lighter. The press
loved its agile setup - completely different to the stiffly sprung
Porsche. At the end of 2019 Alpine had sold 4,376 cars across
Europe following 1,950 cars sold in 2018.
PERFORMANCE
Weight 1098 to 1123 KGS
Engine 252 hp / 292 hp (A110S)
0-100 KPM 4.5 secs / 4.4 secs (A110S)
John Sweet
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