You've got to give Renault credit for the possession of some major corporate balls. The company could have chosen to introduce the Alpine A110-50 in the normal arena of an air-conditioned motor show hall, or even via a slow trundle around a test track. Instead it brought its super-stylish motorsport concept to the Monaco Grand Prix and,after the Friday F1 practice session, Renault boss Carlos Tavares blasted it around the unforgiving street circuit with an impressive degree of commitment considering the number of leses focused on him and waiting for something to go expensively wrong. It didn't.
Renault needs some good news. The company's been having a tough time lately, with sales slumping across Europe and the UK model line-up having been slashed back to basics. And although the A110-50 concept is, officially, just a 50th birthday celebration of the A110 Berlinetta, it's also a broad hint that -once again-Renault is giving some serious consideration to resurrecting its famous sub-brand.
The Alpine is clearly related to another Renault one-off- the DeZir concept car that was shown at the 2010 Paris show, with the company's head of concept car design,Axel Breun, confirming that an Alpine version was always part of the plan.
But while the DeZir was a pure show concept, powered by a mid-mounted electric motor, the Alpine A110-50 is definitely a driver,being built on the same mid-engined platform as the mad Megane Trophy racer of a couple of years ago and sharing all of its major components.
That means a naturally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 tucked under the rear cover (a Renault-Nissan unit closely related to the engine in the Nissan 350Z) and here tuned to deliver a claimed 394bhp (up from the racer's 355bhp). Drive is supplied to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox.
'We wanted to put the car in today's world- not create a piece of retro design,'says Axel Breun in an exlusive interview with evo.'I think the Alpine approach is one that's very up-to-date and modern now-it was always about making intelligent cars, lightweight cars that used the latest materials.'
Visually, the 110-50 is riffing on plenty of Alpine's design themes,complete with a taut, low stance,'Alpine Blue' paintwork and - a particularly nice touch - LED headlamps that give the characteristic yellow illumination of Alpine's classic rally cars: 'a technical but nostalgic interpretation,'as the company puts it. The tubular chassis of the Megane Trophy racer has been selectively reinforced,while the concept's roll-cage is lower as it has a shorter cabin.
Of course,Alpine's models were always rear-wheel drive and had their engines mounted behind the driver -something that Breun confirms is still regarded as being a vital part of the brand's DNA:'In terms of pure performance, today's Megane RS is very fast- you could say that you don't need a mid-engined car in terms of pure speed. But l think that in terms of driving sensation it's something very special,and the Megane Trophy chassis gave us the perfect opportunity to create a modern interpretation.
lt's been 17 years since the last Alpine-badged car was produced at Renault's Dieppe factory, and although the plant is still going strong as the base for the successful Renaultsport division, previous plans to resurrect the Alpine name have never come to fruition- although one Renault insider confirms 'there's almost always one on the go'. Will it be different this time?
Well, the A110-50 itself would from the basis for a racer like the Megane Trophy it's based on.'In terms of motorsport we are in Formula 1 and we have the World Series; we have a whole range of racing cars,' says Breun. 'Will this car be produced in small numbers? l don't know at this moment-personally l think it would be great to see.'
Any plans to launch Alpine road cars are considerably further off- although Renault is clearly giving some serious consideration to dusting off the famous brand. 'l definitely think that Alpine could be relevant in the modern world,'says Breun,'l don't believe that cars have to have 500bhp. Very often when l read a test l can tell that the power is impressive but there's something to do with the weight. We have to think about that, and in the DNA of Alpine l think you see a solution.'
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