Alpine A108
| Alpine | |
|---|---|
 Alpine A108 Coupe Sport from 1960
|
|
| A108 | |
| Production period: | 1958-1965 |
| Class : | Sports car |
| Body versions : | Coupé , convertible |
| Engines: |
Petrol engines : 0.85-1.0 liters (19.5-44 kW) |
| Length: | 3850-3980 mm |
| Width: | 1460-1480 mm |
| Height: | 1130-1220 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 2100-2160 mm |
| Empty weight : | 530-600 kg |
| Previous model | Alpine A106 |
| successor | Alpine A110 |
The Alpine A108 was a sports car that was built by Alpine from 1958 to 1965 . There were six versions: Alpine A108 Cabrio (from 1958), Coupé (from 1959), Cabrio Sport (from 1960), Coupé Sport (from 1960), Coupé 2 + 2 (from 1959) and Berlinette (from 1960).
history
In 1958, Jean Rédélé presented the Alpine A108 as a convertible . Outwardly, the vehicle was still very similar to the Alpine A106 Cabrio, which had come onto the market the year before. The differences in the body were only details, so that the vehicles A106 and A108 are mainly in the equipment variants such. B. the engine. The transitions between A106 and A108 were fluid, so that it is difficult to determine which model series they belong to for individual vehicles. The Alpine A106 was built parallel to the A108. The A108 convertible was designed by Giovanni Michelotti . As with all Alpine series vehicles, the body was a plastic body. As with the A106, the A108 was also a rear-engined vehicle.
In 1959, the A108 was launched as a coupé version and presented in Paris. The vehicle had a fixed roof that was not removable. Since the basic shape of the convertible was kept unchanged and only a roof was added, it is described in some sources as a hardtop variant, which is misleading, because it was an independent model. With an edition of 12 to 15 vehicles, this model is a rarity. Only a few copies have survived to this day.
The Alpine model range has been expanded again with the A108 Coupé 2 + 2, weight: 595 kg. The body and design came from Chappe et Gessalin . The design was a completely independent design with small tail fins, but it looked a bit unfinished overall. The headlights were behind glass in the fenders of the vehicle, the roof was angular and less rounded compared to the A108 Coupé. The A108 Coupé 2 + 2 is an Alpine with four seats and should therefore be appealing to families. The car was marketed as the "Grand Tourisme".
The three models of the A108 now available could be equipped with six different engines. There came z. B. the engines of the Renault Dauphine are used.
In 1960 the design of the A108 was fundamentally changed and readjusted. Phillipe Charles had started a major overhaul of the convertible's body. His design was tested in the wind tunnel at Citroën on Quai de Jard and achieved a favorable CW value. With this revision, the design emerged that would characterize the vehicles of the Alpine brand until 1977. The new A108 convertible was given the suffix "Cabrio Sport". The coupé was also adapted to the new design and was given the addition of "Coupé Sport". For the main headlights used, lamp pots were integrated into the fenders and sealed with plexiglass. So the front was redesigned. The side ventilation slots for cooling the engine and the shape of the roof area remained unchanged. The A108 Coupé 2 + 2 remained unchanged and is not affected by the design change. However, the design studies by Phillipe Charles also produced a new Alpine model in 1960, which would play a major role in the future success of the brand. Phillipe Charles was inspired by the lines of an Alfa Romeo Coupé that belonged to a friend of Jean Rédélé . He constructed a new roof structure on an Alpine convertible and got the Alpine A108 Berlinette. The A108 Berlinette "Tour de France" was first seen at the Tour de France before it was officially presented at the 1960 Paris Motor Show. Then the name A108 Berlinette spread in the national motorsport of France. After the Alpine A106 Coach, the Alpine A108 Berlinette was the new Alpine vehicle for motorsport. The Alpine A110 Berlinette developed from a revision of this vehicle , which later became a racing legend.
With the Alpine A108, Jean Rédélé began to manufacture the bodies for his vehicles himself. To this end, he founded the company RDL (the name stands for Rédélé if you leave out all é). However, the bodies of the Alpine Coupé 2 + 2 continued to be manufactured by Chappe et Gressalin.
In 1961, Jean Rédélé began working with the automobile manufacturer Willys Overland do Brazil, which now produced Alpine vehicles under license in Sao Paulo (Brazil). The vehicles that were sold as Willys Interlagos were identical to the Alpine A108 models from 1960. Available are: Willys Interlagos Berlineta, Willys Interlagos Cupê, Willys Interlagos Conversível. The Willys Interlagos was presented to the public at the 1961 Salão de São Paulo. The Berlinetta was used in South America just like its French sister in racing.
In Spain, Jean Rédélé worked with Manuel Jiménez Alfaro, who also built Alpine vehicles under license. FASA initially manufactured vehicles that were identical in construction to the Alpine A108 models from 1960. Unlike in Brazil, however, vehicles that corresponded to the A110 model were later manufactured in Spain. The vehicles were sold as FASA-Alpine. Alpine's trademark, the A, has been optically changed on these vehicles.
In autumn 1961 the first Berlinette was built as the Berlinette A110 and announced as the successor to the A108. In 1962 the A110 Berlinette and the Alpine A110 GT4 (successor to the A108 Coupé 2 + 2) were presented to the public at the Paris Motor Show. The different versions of the A108 were built until 1964, the A108 Berlinette until 1965.
Engines
The vehicle initially had a four-cylinder engine with 845 cm³ displacement from the Renault Dauphine with 19.5 kW (26.5 DIN PS) or an engine from Marc Mignotet with 904 cm³ displacement and 32 kW (44 PS) at 5500 / min. A modified bore made it possible to achieve a displacement of 998 cm³ and 44 kW (60 hp) at 6250 rpm.
Naming
While the name of the Alpine A106 is derived from the internal Renault factory designation R1062 and R1063 from the Renault 4CV, the R1090 and R1092 designations of Renault Dauphine and Renault Floride have not been adopted for the A108. Even Jean Rédélé can no longer understand where the name of the A108 came from. Even with later models of the Alpine brand, there were no longer any parallels to the Renault models.
literature
- Ulrich Bethscheider-Kieser: Cars made history . Renault Alpine. Ed .: Mike Riedner. 1st edition. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-613-01407-6 , p. 156 .
