World Classic Autos Index > Guides Index > Alpine Renault
Alpine was founded in 1955 as a French racing and sports car manufacturer by Jean Rédélé a Dieppe based garage owner who modified Renault 4CVs. The car marque followed in 1955 and was called Alpine after his Coupe des Alpes successes, not realising that Sunbeam Alpine, had been launched in the UK the previous year. In 1955 he produced the Alpine A106 based on the chassis of the original Renault 4CV with a fibreglass body. The design of the body was contracted out to the Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti.
The next Alpine model was the Alpine A108, a 2+2 closed coupe / berlinette. This model was built from 1958 until 1963. The success of this model was followed by the A110 which was based on the Renault R8 saloon. Originally fitted with 956cc engines, these grew over to to 1800cc engines. There great co-operation between Renault and Alpine around this time and it was possible to have you Alpine serviced at your Renault dealer. The car has many successes on the rally circuit.In 1969, Alpine opened a new assembly plant to keep up with demand. In 1971, Alpines finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Monte Carlo Rally and in 1973 won the World Rally Championship, beating Porsche and Lancia. Sadly the international oil crisis badly hit car manufacturers, especially specialist manufacturers. With failing sales the company was bought out by Renault.
Although they contined to be successful on the rally scene with the A110 and its replacement the A310, Alpine faced increasingly stiffer competition from Lancia with their Ferrari powered car. With Renault in control, a effort was taken to win Le Mans and won in 1978 with the Renault Alpine A442B. At this time they also built Formula Three and Formula Two cars. Due to a lack of a competitive Formula Two engine, the F2 cars ran as Elf models with Ford-Cosworth and BMW engines. Eventually Renault developed a competitive engine and so an Alpine wone the European Formula 2 Championship in 1976. Alpine also built a car that was a test mule for the eventual entry of Renault Elf team in Formula One in 1977.
The A310 was eventually transformed into the Alpine GTA range with initially a normally aspirated V6 engine and eventually a turbo charged version. In 1990 the most desirable version of the GTA was launched with only 325 made. The Alpine A610 which was launched in 1991 was a essentially a restyled GTA. Just over 800 of these were built. The last Alpine, an A610, rolled off the production line in 1995. An Alpine called the A710 was designed but due to its cost was canceled.
The Alpine mark was relaunched in 2017 with the model call the A110 and in 2021 the Renault Formula One team was renamed Alpine F1.
Road models - A106, A108, A110, A310, GTA/A610, A110 (2017), A110S — Higher‑performance variant, (2019), Alpine A290 (2024 EV), A390 (2025 EV)
Books
Renault Alpine Gold Portfolio 1958-1994 UK | USA R M Clarke (Editor) (*Ad)Alpine Renault USA Malcolm Bobbitt (*Ad)
Alpine Renault Ultimate Portfolio 1958-1995 USA R M Clarke (*Ad)
Renault Alpine Gold Portfolio 1958-1994 USA R M Clarke (*Ad)
Alpine & Renault: The Sports Prototypes 1963 to 1969 USA Roy Smith (*Ad)
Alpine & Renault: The Sports Prototypes: Volume 2: 1973 to 1978 USA Roy C Smith (*Ad)
Alpine & Renault: The Development of the Revolutionary Turbo F1 Car 1968-1979 USA Roy Smith (*Ad)
Alpine Renault: the fabulous berlinettes UK | USA Roy P Smith (*Ad)
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