Alpine, A Brief History
Alpine was founded by Jean Rédélé in 1955. In the 1950’s, he competed in rallies with a Renault 4CV, immediately looking at ways to improve the car’s performance and his chances of winning. He used a format that, until the introduction of the A110 (2017), was to become a characteristic of all Alpine cars: a lightweight body and a tuned rear mounted engine driving the rear wheels.
His first model, launched in 1955, was the A106. This was followed in 1958 by the A108 , the forerunner to the most famous of Rédélé’s cars the A110 ‘Berlinette’ which was introduced in 1962 and won the World Rally Championship of 1973. During its life, the Berlinette utilised a number of engines based on Renault production units varying from 956cc to 1600cc in road going form with the final Works rally cars having competition tuned 1800cc variations.
Between 1955 and 1967, Alpine’s involvement in motorsport and its success slowly won over Renault. Initially seen by some at Renault as competition for their sporting cars, attitudes changed as Alpine became more successful and Renault wanted to gain more positive publicity. In 1967, Renault passed the funding of their competition activities to Alpine, and Alpine became the de facto Renault competition department. When the fuel crisis hit the motor manufacturers in 1973, Renault stepped in and took a controlling financial interest in Alpine with the name changing from Société des Automobiles Alpine to Société des Automobiles Alpine Renault. In the 1970s, Alpine were very successful in motor sport, not only winning the 1973 World Rally Championship but also the 1978 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Initially launched in 1971 with a 1600cc 4 cylinder engine, in 1977 the A310 evolved into a more luxurious GT car utilising the V6 PRV engine. In 1984, the A310 was followed by the GTA ( Grand Tourisme Alpine). The GTA was produced in both 2.8 litre V6 carburettor and 2.5 litre turbocharged engine forms along with a special wide bodied Le Mans model, only 26 of which were imported to the UK. The 3.0 litre V6 engined A610 was then produced between 1991 and 1995, following which production of Alpines ceased. At that time the only Alpines officially sold in the UK in right hand drive form were 550 GTAs and 67 A610s. In 2017, the Dieppe factory was extended and re-fitted for production of the new A110 Premiere Edition. Launched in March 2017 at the 87th Geneva International Motor Show and powered by a 1.8 litre turbocharged inline 4 cylinder engine, the A110 is likely to be the final internal combustion engine Alpine.
Launched in 2024 and available in the UK from 2025 the A290, which shares the same platform as the Renault 5, is the first of seven “Dream Garage’ fully electric models to be produced by Alpine. The second of the series, the A390, an all-wheel drive compact crossover SUV, was launched in May 2025, coinciding with Alpine’s 70th anniversary, and will be available in the UK in 2026.
More about the individual Alpine models is available in ‘The Cars’ heading on this web site.