The Alpine A110 R represents a bigger leap for its manufacturer, and a more significant departure for the Alpine A110 sports car, than many might realise.
Track-day versions of particular sports cars do great business for some of Alpine’s rivals, of course, but the A110 isn’t just any mid-engined two-seater.
Moreover, Alpine itself plays in a domestic market that would harshly penalise it for simply dropping a bigger or more powerful engine into a special derivative, and taking the easy route to boosted performance. Nor would doing that align historically, in any case, with the company’s approach to car-making.
Springing out of founder Jean Rédélé’s successes in Alpine Rallies, the Alpine car brand of the 1960s famously favoured compact sports cars whose modest size, lean weight and particular suspension tuning made them very well suited to road driving. Big power was never really part of the equation.
When the Alpine brand was rejuvenated 50 years later, it was with a sports car similarly designed and engineered for road use. The A110’s narrow width, modest wheel sizes, easily controlled mid-engined chassis and concurrently gently rated suspension made it a refreshing change from the performance car norm.
But now, while that acclaimed base model continues, Dieppe is exploring what else the A110 can do. In 2019, it brought us the mildly tuned-up A110 S; now, the even more hardcore A110 R follows suit.
As the base car enters its autumn years, then, the A110’s derivative range is finally fully extended – and Alpine has been free to radically explore what opportunities there are to turn this car into something with the sharpest dynamic cutting edge.
