Classic & Sports Car - December 2015 UK

126 Classic&SportsCarDecember 2015

T

he securityman’s puzzledfrown

broadensas he peersinto the

‘boot’ and discoverstwo and a

half litresof turbochargedV6.

“Whatis it?” he finallyenquires,

despitehavingexaminednose

and tail for clues.The badges,it

wouldappear, are not to be trusted.I replythat

the mysterycoupéis an Alpine-R enault,but he

doesn’t look convinced.“Ah,”he repliesaftera

lengthypauseduringwhichhe attemptsto

reconcilethe information,eventuallyfilingit

underUFO,or UnidentifiedFrenchObject.

It’s a commonoccurrence,ownerAndrew

Joneslatertellsme. TheGTA was the first

Alpine-Renaultto be marketedin the UK yet,

from 1986 to ’92, a meagre582 werebuiltwith

right-handdrive,makingit arare sighton British

roads.But whilethat brief forayonto theseshores

failedto produceany meaningfulsales,acrossthe

Channelthe marqueenjoyeda long and illustri-

ous careerspanningmorethan four decades.

The Alpinestorybeginsin Dieppein the early

1950s.France’s youngestRenaultdealerJean

Rédéléhad developeda seriesof performance

modificationsfor the 4CVand, withco-driver

LouisPons,beganto notchup someimpressive

victories.Havingcomecloseto winningthe

RallyeMonte-Carloin 1950and ’51, he tooka

strongclasswin on the ’52 MilleMiglia– a feat

that he wouldrepeatin 1953and ’54.

The idea of producingasportscar uponwhich

to pinpost-war French pridebeganto germinate

in Rédélé’s fertilemindand, in ’52, havingfailed

to stimulateinterestamongdomesticcoach-

builders,he commissionedAllemanoto

constructa Michelotti-styledcoupéon the 4CV

platform.Thatcar led to the first production

Alpine,the A106,whichwouldin turn give birth

to the Dauphine-basedA108.Asleeklittle Berli-

netteversionof the latterwouldappearin 1961.

Featuringa tubularsteelbackbonechassis

designedby Rédéléand his cousinRogerPrieur,

the Berlinettegave aclearindication of the direc-

tion the marquewouldtake – bothin termsof

stylingand purpose.A knee-highfastbackwith a

glassfibreskin and a Gordini-tunedstingin its

stubbytail, the car wouldbe supersededin ’63 by

the definitivefour-cylinderAlpine,the A110.

Likeits predecessors,the A110was offered

with arangeof bodies–includingCabriolet,2+2

Coupé,and Berlinette– but, givenRédélé’s

dreamof a spiritualsuccessorto the blue racers

of yore,it’s unsurprisingthat productionwas

heavilybiasedtowardsthe latter.

Beneathits neatlyproportionedshell,the

A110ditchedDauphinerunninggear in favour

of R8 mechanicals,whichmeantdouble-wish-

bonesuspensionat the front,swingarmsat the

backand disc brakesall round.A bewildering

arrayof four-cylinderengineoptionswas

offered,rangingfromacooking55bhp956ccR8

unit,to a highlytunedtwin-Weberversionof

the 1565ccmotorfromthe 16TS– turned

through180ºand mountedbehinda five-speed

R12 Gordinigearboxin the Alpine’s pert rump.

Tippingthe scaleswitha dry weightof just

545kg(1200lb),the Berlinettehad an enviable

power-to-weightratio,ensuringexcellent

performance,but –unlikelythoughit may sound

• the car’s greatestvirtuelay in its astonishing
  corneringprowessand traction.
  A heftydoseof negativecamberplus short
  suspensiontraveland an unfeasiblylow centreof
  gravityendowedthe coupéwith unrivalledabil-
  ity on snakingasphalt.WritinginAutosport,an
  excitedJohnBolsterdescribedthe roadholding
  as beingso outstandingthat it defiedall rational
  explanation.‘Therear can be hungout to agreat
  angle,’he enthused,‘yet the suddenuncontrol-
  lablebreakawayof the typicalrear-enginedcar
  nevertakesplace.’So muchfor swing-axle
  suspensionbeinga liability, then.

Clockwise,frommain:

diminutive A110

Berlinetteis achingly

prettyin profile;car’s

corneringabilitybelies

rear-enginedset-up