Alpine: what’s it all about ?

Renault will relaunch Alpine later this year with a brand new coupe targeting Cayman and 4C, timed to coincide with the marque’s 60th anniversary. Here’s why you should care

The original: Alpine A106 1955-1960
The first car to wear the Alpine badge was like a French Porsche 356. This glassfibre coupe, based on the rearengined Renault 4CV, was designed for competition, despite just 44kW. Innovative features included rear suspension with four shocks and a five-speed ’box that was such a novelty it was 35% of the price of a standard 4CV

The icon: Alpine A110 Berlinette 1961-1978
The A110’s aggressive looks, backbone chassis with rear-engine layout and Renault R8 oily bits took Alpine to international acclaim. Especially in rallying, where it achieved a 1-2-3 finish in Monte Carlo twice, won the inaugural World Rally Championship, and essentially set the blueprint for the Lancia Stratos. Thousands were sold, but with the Suez Crisis it wasn’t enough to save Alpine financially, leading Renault to step in and buy the company in 1973

The innovator: Alpine M65 1965
Purpose-built for endurance racing’s new Index of Performance class, the M65’s supreme aero and 669kg kerb weight meant it achieved over 257kph from just 1 300cc and 97kW. Best result was victory in the Nürburgring 500km

The Le Mans winner: Alpine A442B 1978
Fruit of newly formed Renault Sport, a conglomeration of Alpine and Gordini, the A442B was built to win Le Mans, and did so in 1978. Powered by a 2.1-litre V6 turbo, it hit 359kph on the Mulsanne straight.

The previous one: Alpine GTA/A610 1991-1995
Follow up to the A310 and GTA, the A610 was widely praised for its 290kph rear-engined performance, but slow sales saw Renault shutter the brand in 1995

The future: Alpine Celebration 2015
We’ll finally see a new Alpine road car in 2015, though sales are unlikely before 2017. It won’t look like the mad Vision Gran Turismo Concept – designed for the PlayStation – but this Alpine Celebration seen running at Le Mans and Goodwood holds plenty of clues. Expect power to come from a turbo four, making it more of a rival to the Alfa 4C than the Porsche 911