Porsche has always said that they build all models aside from the 911 to help their iconic sports car remain at the cutting edge. They say that they have to sell cars like the Cayenne and Panamera in order to help fund the ongoing improvement of their rear-engined halo car.
Now comes a brand that has just had almost two decades-worth of dust blown off its name with a relatively recent concept looking to adopt the same tactic in order to prevail. Of course, I am talking about Alpine.
Being a dead French sports car brand, it was obvious that it would get European enthusiasts’ hearts racing, so the A110-50 concept had to be very good to impress. Thankfully, it was, but as cool as it may look, it does not ensure the success of the reborn Alpine brand. They need to follow the pleasant impression of the concept with an equally impressive automobile that has to stay true to its heritage, or risk severe bashing from the scene.
Returning to the point made in the first paragraph, and tying it in with the Alpine story, the French don’t have their halo model. This, along with the fact that it will be going up predictably talented cars like the Alfa Rome 4C and even the slow Porsche Cayman, in 2016 when it is supposed to go on sale. This means the joint effort between Renault and Caterham to develop and build the car needs to function perfectly, so that they can deliver what the fans (and potential buyers) of the model are expecting.
We can go into even more detail on this matter now, thanks to a report on PistonHeads that completes the story nicely. They recently spoke with Renault boss Carlos Tavares who revealed that “the layout of platform, engine and gearbox are all decided,” but without actually giving away any numbers. It is believed that the car will be powered by a reworked version of the Clio RS’ 1.6-liter turbo which will send all power to the rear via a “reworked” dual clutch gearbox.
Also, it seems that the finished car is intended to be “light and fun,” while also more closely resembling its illustrious predecessor from the 1970s, the original A110 1600S, which is pictured alongside the modern concept, and clearly the one they want to invoke through this new car. A hike in price is expected over what was previously speculated, and it could end up costing closer to €59,000 / £50,000 / $77,000. They are also re-entering racing, in order to make the name heard again – read about it here.
By Andrei Nedelea
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