Renault Alpine

In the early '70's the Alpine Renault A110 berlinette was the benchmark in international rallydriving. The unofficial world championship in 1971 was won and in 1973 the A110 took the first three places in the Monte Carlo rally and also took the world championship. In that same year Renault took full ownership of the Alpine factory and as a result of that the cars were named "Renault Alpine" in stead of "Alpine Renault".
In 1972 a new Alpine was introduced, the A310. The design was agressiv, especially the front with 6 headlights, and with a lot of straight lines and sharp edgs. It was also a lot bigger than the A110, which made it much more comfortable to drive for taller persons. It was more of a GT 2+2 than the berlinettes and, equiped with the same 1.6 liter, 126 HP engine as the A110 1600, performance was not quite as expected. Top speed was about 210 km/h.
But then in 1977 the new PRV V6 engine came available. The 90° 2,7 liter V6 developed both the HP and sound that matched the looks of the car. Contrary to the 4 cilinder, the new V6 had a 4 speed gearbox. With the new engine the looks also changed. The wheel-arches became wider, a front spoiler was added and the front changed to 4 headlights. At the rear, the R12 light units were replaced with those of the R17.

The 1975 Alpine programme, the A110 1300, A110 1600 and the A310

Links to Renault Alpine sites:

*Alpine Renault Club Nederland* Site from the Dutch Renault Alpine club.
*Amateur Alpine site* Site for all the Alpine and Renault Sport Enthusiasts
*Site Avenue de Bréauté* "Avenue de Bréauté" : Le site des passionnés d'Alpine
*The Alpine A310 Fan Page *
*The History of the Alpine Berlinette*