Alpine isn’t so much a car manufacturer as they were a parasite of Renault, using their running gear and chassis to create capable sports cars. The A110, based upon the architecture of the Renault 8, was a handsome little berlinette that packed a rear-mounted four-cylinder. If you see hints of French-flavored Karmann-Ghia, we wouldn’t blame you one bit. The A110, on it’s own, claims a good list of rally finishes and wins, but by the mid-1970s there was a serious problem for the company: the Lancia Stratos. Compared to the Ferrari-engined wedge, the A110 and its 1.6L Renault-sourced four-cylinder (the second-largest offered in the A110’s run) weren’t a match.
Wait…”second largest”? That’s right. Five A110s were modified by Renault’s “Service Course” group to become A110 1800VAs. And this is where the trail gets murky…we can pretty much believe that a 1.8L four-cylinder engine lives in the back, but after that there isn’t much known about these five special Alpines. Four were sold to high-end rally teams that favored Alpine or Renault, but this particular car was sold to a client who promptly sent the car to Kenya to compete in the East African Safari Rally, where it won in 1975 and 1976. After being located in Africa, the car was returned to Europe and restored to perfection. It sounds angry for a French four-cylinder, and the styling has a grace to it that’s nearly Italian. It is difficult to picture this car bombing around Africa’s rough roads, but it did it and defeated all comers twice in a row.
Not only was it extremely competitive, they are drop-dead gorgeous. The French can make a pretty car when the mood strikes them (The Citroen ID19 is another example)
There was also the later, spectacularly wedge-shaped A310, which I’ve seen a couple of.