John McIlroy wrote:Unveiled at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and officially called the Alpine Celebration, the car was present at La Sarthe ostensibly to support the entry of an Alpine-backed contender in the LMP2 category of the endurance classic.
However, it also serves to show how Renault, Alpine’s owner, plans to return the sports car brand to the market in 2016.
The Alpine Celebration bears strong resemblances to Alpines of old, most notably the A110 Berlinetta which has clearly influenced the new car’s scalloped bonnet and twin spotlights mounted high on the front bumper. The rear is more contemporary, although there are clear references to the A110 in the way the shoulder line tapers away beyond the back wheels, not to mention the blue and orange paint scheme.
Alpine design boss Antony Villain said, “We envisaged the Alpine Celebration show car as the crowning glory of six decades of Alpine style and motor racing. But we wanted to go even further by reaching out to a much broader audience.”
Renault has not released any mechanical information about the concept beyond confirming its mid-engined layout. However, the Celebration is understood to be the logical offspring of the work started in 2012 between Alpine and Caterham.
That project was dissolved when Renault bought back the British sports car brand’s stake in 2014. At the time, Renault said it would continue using the technology developed by the two firms. The Celebration is said to use the project’s platform and construction principles.
The most recent Alpine concept, 2012’s A110-50, featured the V6 engine from a Renault Mégane Trophy race car. However, it is understood that the production version of the Celebration – spied testing at the Nordschleife under a modified Lotus body – will adhere more closely to the A110’s tradition of modest power outputs and light weight by featuring a four-cylinder petrol engine driving the rear wheels.
An output of around 250bhp has been mooted, so the 2.0-litre unit from the Renaultsport Mégane is more likely to feature instead of the 1.6 from the Renaultsport Clio.
Controversially, a dual-clutch transmission is considered more likely than a manual gearbox.
The A110 successor is seen by senior Renault officials as a crucial way of ‘re-legitimising’ the Alpine name, and opening up the potential for a wider range of models.
Laurens van den Acker, Renault’s design boss, said, “The challenge with Alpine is to somehow fill this gap of more than 20 years and do a product that is believable. The car really needs to create the foundation of Alpine. We need to create the 911 of Alpine. If we do that properly, then we can consider cars like the Panamera.”The production Alpine will almost certainly be built in the company’s original factory in Dieppe.
The plant is still under Renault ownership but is used only for small-volume products. It currently makes the Renaultsport Clio, and recently started assembling Bluecar electric vehicles for the Bolloré company that also owns the Source London charging network.
The Alpine Celebration concept is due to make a public appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed later this month, as well as an Alpine classic reunion in Dieppe, in September.
The production version of the car is expected to sell for around £50,000 – around the same as an Alfa Romeo 4C – as Renault attempts to pitch the revived Alpine brand well beyond the level of any of its existing products.
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