Alpine A110
| Alpine | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Alpine A110 Berlinette
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|
| A110 | |
| Production period: | 1961-1977 |
| Class : | Sports car |
| Body versions : | Coupe |
| Engines: |
Gasoline engines : 1.0–1.8 liters (35–129 kW) |
| Length: | 3850 mm |
| Width: | 1450-1600 mm |
| Height: | 1120-1130 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 2100 mm |
| Empty weight : | approx. 710-750 kg |
| Previous model | Alpine A108 |
| successor | Alpine A310 |
The Alpine A110 is a sports car from the French automaker Alpine , which was produced from 1962 to 1977. It was developed as a further development of the A108 Berlinette and has been used successfully for many years in international racing and rallying. The most famous successes are victories in the Monte Carlo Rally , winning the European Championship in rallying and winning the World Rally Championship (1971 and 1973).
Models
The Alpine A110 was offered in three different body versions. The most frequently produced model was the hatchback version called "Berlinette". In addition, a two-seater Alpine A110 convertible and the Alpine A110 GT4, a 2 + 2-seater sports coupé with its own body, were also offered at times.
Alpine A110 Berlinette
The Alpine A110 Berlinette is the most famous model. It was presented to the public in Paris in 1962 with the additional designation "Tour de France". At that time, the car was still marketed exclusively as Alpine, without the addition of "Renault", as Renault only bought the independent car manufacturer in several stages in the 1970s. When the brand was 100% taken over in 1978, production of the Alpine A110 Berlinette had already ceased.
The shape of the vehicle essentially corresponds to that of the A108 Berlinette from 1960, which was developed from the A108 Cabrio. However, among other things, the air inlets on the sides were closed and the tank nozzle relocated. The body of the A110 Berlinette was revised several times between 1962 and 1977. The technology was also continuously developed and revised. The early versions of the Alpine A110 Berlinette (1962–1967) did not yet have the typical twin headlights; these were only standard equipment from 1967 onwards. Very early A110s also had the dashboard of the A108. The transitions between the models were fluid. In 1967/1968 there were new double headlights and other details of the body were slightly revised (air intakes, moldings, headlights, etc.). In 1970 other indicators were introduced, which were moved upwards and changed again in 1971. A widened racing version of the A110 Berlinette was also available ex works from 1970. In 1973 the first models with 4-hole wheels were tested. The Alpine A110 also got the rear suspension of the Alpine A310 4-cylinder. In 1974 the door handles were revised and in 1977 the last Alpine A110 Berlinette got different taillights.
The Alpine A110 Berlinette was offered with different four-cylinder engines. The first vehicles received the engine of the Renault 8, which was later optimized by Gordini . At the same time as the model changeover at Renault, engines from Renault 12 followed. Versions that corresponded to the works vehicles used in racing were also available as road versions. Since the vehicles were manufactured by hand according to customer requirements, there are individual differences between the vehicles ex works.
The Alpine A110 Berlinette was manufactured in Dieppe, France from 1962 to 1977. In addition, there were licensed buildings in Mexico (1965–1974) at Diesel National (DINA) as Dinalpin , in Spain (1963–1977) at FASA and in Bulgaria from 1967 as Bulgaralpine. The licensed buildings from FASA can be recognized by the modified Alpine emblem or the slightly rounded A from Alpine. The A110s, which were built as Bulgaralpine in Bulgaria from 1967 to 1973, consisted predominantly of original French parts supplied. The plastic bodies of the sports cars, however, came from Bulgarian production. A total of around 150 vehicles were produced.
Alpine A110 Cabriolet
The Alpine A110 Cabriolet is a rarity. Only about 60 to 70 pieces were made between 1963 and 1969. It is a further development of the Alpine A108 Cabriolet Sport from 1960.
In 1960 Phillipe Charles began redesigning the body of the Alpine A108 convertible. His design was tested in the wind tunnel at Citroën on Quai de Jard and had low air resistance. The 1960 model year initially brought a decisive change for the Alpine A108. The result was the shape that became world famous in 1962 with the A110.
At Diesel National (DINA) in Mexico, the A110 Cabriolet was built under license as Dinalpin from 1965 to 1967 . There were other licensed buildings in Bulgaria.
Alpine A110 GT4
The GT4 presented in 1962 was a 2 + 2-seater version of the A110. As “Alpine familiale”, it was intended to address a different group of customers who wanted more comfort and suitability for everyday use. Alpine thus took up a concept that had already been implemented for a short time in the previous model.
The body of the GT4 was independent. Instead of the hatchback, the car had a notchback with a trapezoidal roof line. Alpine used numerous attachments from the Renault Floride ; this included the door handles, the headlights and some parts of the interior. The drive technology was still taken over from the Renault 8. However, the chassis has been lengthened to meet the model's comfort requirements. The wheelbase was now 2,270 mm. At the same time, the GT4 was 30 mm higher than the Berlinette.
The plastic body of the GT4 was made by Chappe et Gessalin , a body building company based in Brie-Comte-Robert . Chappe et Gessalin also assembled the cars, painted them and installed the interior. Finally, the vehicles were transported to Dieppe, where Alpine mechanics installed the engine, chassis and transmission.
The A110 GT4 was built in France from 1962 to 1969 in a number of 263 vehicles. From 1965 to 1974 Diesel National (DINA) manufactured a license version of the A110 GT4 called Dinalpin in Mexico . Another 118 copies were made here.
Alpine A110 (2017)
At the 87th Geneva Motor Show in March 2017, the première edition of the A110 was presented as the first model of the re-launched Alpine brand . The 2017 model corresponds to the old A110, both in terms of its exterior and its technical concept. The double headlights, the compact dimensions, the lightweight construction and the mid-engine with rear-wheel drive are based on the concept of the old A110.
Manufacturer, Marketing
The developer and manufacturer of the Alpine A110 Berlinette is the sports car manufacturer Alpine. In the vehicle documents, therefore, only Alpine is specified as the manufacturer.
The connection between the two brand names Alpine and Renault came about as a result of a collaboration in racing. The name "Alpine Renault" first appeared in 1967 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on an Alpine vehicle and was then used in racing when Renault was financially involved. Such a combination of two brand names is still common in racing today. It was only after 1967 that the name "Alpine Renault" was also used on the Alpine A110 Berlinette.
In the first few years, Alpine vehicles were marketed exclusively through the Alpine branch in Paris, including the Alpine A110. From 1965 onwards, authorized Renault dealerships also sold Alpine vehicles. The collaboration between Renault and Alpine or Jean Rédélé (founder and owner of the Alpine brand at the time) came about by chance. Jean Rédélé's father was a Renault dealer, so Jean Rédélé took over the father's Renault workshop and wanted to use this contact with Renault for himself. At first Renault was not interested in selling the Alpine vehicles and declined to work with them. It was not until 1965, after Alpine was able to demonstrate many successes in racing, that Renault agreed to a collaboration. Jean Rédélé was able to offer his vehicles to a larger group of customers. At that time it was nothing more than a collaboration between two automobile manufacturers, which only ended in the 1970s with a gradual takeover of the Alpine brand and the complete sale of the brand to Renault.
Jean Rédélé worked not only with Renault, but also with Citroën , with Willys-Overland , with ETO-Bullet, with Chappe et Gessalin , with FASA, with Diesel National, with Gillet d'Herstal and with Giovanni Michelotti . Alpine worked with OSI (Officine Stampaggi Industriali) on plastic molded floor assemblies for Ferrari .
The licensed buildings of the Alpine A110 were sold as Bulgaralpine , Dinalpin and FASA Alpine . The licensed buildings from Willys Overland corresponded to the Alpine A108. No models of the A110 were built there.
Motorsport
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The Alpine A110 was used at the factory in motorsport from 1963 and achieved numerous successes. The focus was on rallies and stage races. Initially, Alpine concentrated its works operations on French events such as the Monte Carlo Rally , the Lyon-Charbonnières Rally or the Tour de France for automobiles . The small cars with their 1.1-liter engines had a hard time asserting themselves against the more powerfully motorized competitors. Nonetheless, Alpines works drivers achieved several class wins at these events. From 1966 onwards, alpine cars became more competitive. Alpine has received financial support from Renault since then. The A110 Berlinette 1300 appeared in 1966. The works team started with Jean Vinatier , Mauro and Lucien Bianchi and Gérard Larrousse . Larrousse became French runner-up rally champion in 1967 and Jean-Claude Andruet won the French rally championship on Alpine in 1968. In the following year, Alpines Piloten won three French rally titles. After this success, the plant expanded its use to European rallies and from 1973 to the World Rally Championship . Here it competed with the A110 1800, which was homologated for Group 4 (special Grand Tourisme cars with an annual production of 500 vehicles). In 1973, the first year of the WRC, Alpine drivers won six overall victories in the races of the World Rally Championship. Individual A110s were upgraded to Group 5 vehicles for circuit races and also achieved class wins .
Technical specifications
| Alpine A110: | 1300 S (1969) | 1600 (1970) | 1600 S (1970) | 1800 Group 4 (1978) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine: | 4-cylinder in-line engine in the rear (Renault) | |||
| Displacement: | 1296 cc | 1565 cc | 1796 cc | |
| Bore × stroke: | 75.7 × 72 mm | 77 × 84 mm | 82.5 × 84 mm | |
| Power: | 85 kW (115 PS) at 7200 |
68 kW (92 hp) at 5500 |
101 kW (138 hp) at 7200 |
129 kW (175 hp) at 7200 |
| Max. Torque at 1 / min: | 122 Nm at 4500 | 137 Nm at 4000 | 144 Nm at 5000 | - |
| Compression: | 12.0: 1 | 8.6: 1 | 10.2: 1 | - |
| Valve control: | side camshaft, overhead valves operated by bumpers and rocker arms | |||
| Cooling: | Water cooling with pump and thermostat | |||
| Transmission: | fully synchronized 5-speed gearbox with center shift, drive on the rear wheels |
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| Body: | Central tubular frame, plastic body | |||
| Front suspension: | Wishbone with stabilizer | |||
| Rear suspension: | Pendulum axle with longitudinal thrust struts and stabilizer | Wishbone with stabilizer | ||
| Suspension: | Coil springs, four rear shock absorbers | |||
| Track width front / rear: | 1296/1275 mm | 1358/1337 mm | ||
| Wheelbase: | 2100 mm | |||
| Tires rim: | 165 HR 13 | 145 HR 15 | 16 × 53 × 13 front / 18 × 53 × 13 rear | |
| Dimensions L × W × H: | 3850 × 1450 × 1130 mm | 3845 × 1600 × 1120 mm | ||
| Empty weight: | 740 kg | 750 kg | 710 kg | |
| Top speed: | 215 km / h | 195 km / h | 215 km / h | 215 km / h |
Sources:
auto, motor und sport , issue 16/1969, p. 37
automodelle , catalog 1970/71, Vereinigte Motorverlage
racing and sports car catalog 1979 , Vereinigte Motorverlage
literature
- Ulrich Bethscheider-Kieser: Cars made history . Renault Alpine. Ed .: Mike Riedner. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 978-3-613-01407-7 , p. 156 .
- Dieter Günther: Enfant Terrible . Presentation of the Renault Alpine A110 in: Oldtimer Markt, issue 1/1997, p. 10 ff.
- Bernard Sara, Gilles Labrouche: Alpine. La passion bleue . ETAI (Antony) 2011, ISBN 978-2-7268-9549-8 .
- Bernard Vermeylen: Cars from the Eastern Bloc. All models since 1945. Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld 2010, ISBN 978-3-7688-3149-9 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ During the production period, the vehicle was referred to as the Renault Alpine in German-speaking countries , cf. z. B. Auto Motor und Sport, Issue 16/1969, p. 35 ff. Even more recent German-language publications assign the male gender to the car, cf. z. B. Kevin Brazendale: Encyclopedia Automobile - from Alfa Romeo to Zagato . Bechtermünz Verlag (Augsburg) 2000. ISBN 3-8289-5384-0 . There p. 24. At times the feminine form is also used, e.g. B. Motor Klassik: Purchase advice for the Alpine A110 in issue 5/2012.
- ↑ Sara, Labrouche, Vaillard, p. 19
- ↑ Bernard Vermeylen: Cars from the Eastern Bloc. All models since 1945. Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld 2010, ISBN 978-3-7688-3149-9 .
- ↑ Detailed history of the Alpine A110 GT4 on the website www.alpine-gt4.pagesperso-orange.fr/histoire.html
- ^ Website of the car newspaper . Retrieved March 14, 2017.
- ↑ See Appendix J 1971 to the International Automobile Sports Act of the FIA ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 504 kB).
