Renault will formally revive its Alpine performance brand next year with an all-new sports car closely related to this concept, the Alpine Vision.
The Alpine A110 has been revealed at the Geneva motor show
Read more: Alpine sports car could spawn convertible and high-performance models
The plan is not to relaunch Alpine as a single-model entity but as a brand with several sporting models, including an SUV that has been hotly tipped to join the new sports car in 2018.
The production version of the new sports car will be unveiled before the end of this year and go on sale in the second quarter of 2017.
The Alpine relaunch was originally planned as part of a joint venture with Caterham, but this ended in 2014 when Renault bought out Caterham’s 50% stake.
Indeed, the whole project was considered in doubt at one point, because it had been seen as a pet project of former Renault chief operating officer Carlos Tavares, who left the firm in 2013 before taking over at PSA Peugeot Citroën. However, that was not the case and the Alpine project has progressed in the background.
Renault came close to reviving Alpine in 2008 before the global financial crisis made the project a non-starter. In 2012, the 50th anniversary of Alpine was celebrated with the Mégane racer-based Alpine A110-50 concept car, and later that year the comeback proper for Alpine was announced with the Caterham deal.
Further concept cars followed last year, including a virtual one created for the Gran Turismo video game and the Alpine Celebration at Le Mans, a concept that edged the Alpine brand closer to production again and forms the basis of the new Vision.
Although officially billed as a show car, the Alpine Vision is a very close preview of the model that will go into production next year. Alpine design director Villain said “80% of the style of our forthcoming car” is reflected in the latest concept.
“This is very close – very close – to production,” Ghosn added on just how close the concept was to reality. Concept car features not set to make production include the wing mirrors and wheels, but the design is otherwise representative of what Alpine will put into production in 2017.
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Alfa!!!!
Well done Renault, that's a great looking car...
Beastie_Boy wrote: Now if
nice mention Steve - but what about a sunbeam rapier or Alpine - (interesting on the name by the way) or A Triumph Vitesse even a stag (with V8 engine) even a Lotus Cortina - these icons I have sorely missed but there you go - British Enginering destroyed by crap management
5wheels wrote: Beastie_Boy
But mostly by even crapper unions.
One of the few