Renault Revives The Berlinette, Maybe
Alpine is back from the dead, in a way. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Alpine A110 Berlinette, Renault today unveiled the Renault Alpine A110-50. Alpine may be back, but only as a zombie: Officially, the A110-50 is a concept only.
For a concept, is has real world parameters.
- The engine is a Renault V4, a 3.5 liter 24-valve 400hp V6 mounted in mid-rear position, mated to a semi-automatic six-speed sequential gearbox. Fresh air comes through a carbon air intake borrowed from the Mégane Trophy V6. Weight distribution is 47.8 percent over the front wheels and the rest over the rear.
- To stop the car, the brakes use 356mm-diameter steel discs and six-piston calipers in the front and 330mm/four-piston in the back. The 21 inch wheels are fitted with street-legal Michelins.
- The wheelbase of the Renault Alpine A110-50 is identical to the Mégane Trophy (2,625mm), the track is slightly wider at 1,680mm front and 1,690mm rear.
- Renault proudly mentions that “driving aids like ABS, traction control, etc. are not fitted.”
Alpine is to Renault what M is to BMW. Alpine has more history and fewer cars. Alpine converted Renault cars into sports cars. 1973, the company was bought by Renault. In 1996, the Alpine brand was put in suspended animation, Renault made its few sports cars under its own brand.
Rumors of an Alpine revival had surfaced several times, only to be quashed later. Spokesfolk in Paris won’t say whether a revived Berlinette will see series production. Renault is sitting on the fence by calling the car or concept and a prototype at the same time. But then, Renault most likely did not go to all the trouble of building the prototype for purely sentimental reasons.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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No offense meant, but your description of Alpine is quite off the mark. As already pointed out by another commenter, it is especially not Renault's M division. It only ever put its name on a pedestrian Renault once: that was the Renault 5 Alpine (N/A or Turbo). It all started with an independant guy, Jean Rédélé, preparing sports cars based on Renault running gear, with specific chassis and body. A few models, then came the A110, which enjoyed such motorsport successes (rallying, mostly) that it attracted Renault enough to overtake Alpine, progressively. But it appeared rapidly that Renault did not really know how to handle the brand: they competed (and won) Le Mans, slapped the badge on a city car, created GT cars that did not enjoy a lot of success, all the while developing its own sports division, Renault Sport. A company and marketing mess that ended naturally in the end of the Alpine brand. Some stupid marketing guru recently got the Gordini "brand" out of its dusty box, all for the worse (slapped on diesel Twingos). I'm very afraid of what could happen to Alpine. They should make drivers cars, and competition, while leaving the engine department and the hot hatches to Renault Sport. But I don't think the marketing gurus could be content with only that and not messing with their new old toy.
Of only the wheels were a couple inches shorter, this thing would be gorgeous. Imagine it with 18inchers and smaller arches in the front.
That thing must be making peak power at around 9000 rpm. What a great sound!
Hi Marcelo, I have also lusted after an Interlagos. Curiously, the Alpine was made also in Mexico and Bulgaria. I would consider Alpine relationship to Renault similar to Abarth and Fiat. []'s David