This episode tells the full history of Alpine, Renault's racing division — and especially the A110, with drives of both the original 1960s A110 and today's modern sports car.
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This episode of "Relevations," driven by Hagerty, tells the story of Alpine, a small French manufacturer of small sports-cars. From the original Volkswagen Beetle-inspired A106 and A108, based on small Renault sedans (the 4CV and Dauphine, respectively) to the A110, which used an Alpine-designed, Lotus-like backbone chassis — and then the later A310, GTA, and A610 versions.
The original A110 used a longitudinally mounted high-revving Renault four-cylinder engine driving the rear wheels and mounted completely behind them. It won the inaugural season of the World Rally Championship, not a tremendous surprise given that the "Alpine" name came from the many victories of its founder, Jean Rédélé, in Alpine rallies.
The original A110 was praised for its lightness (Légèreté) — one of the founding principles of Alpine. But also its speed, build quality, ride quality, and above all, handling.
The modern A110, built by Renault, possesses all of the same qualities. Weighing just 2493 lb, this highly specc'ed French-specification model undercuts the similarly sized Porsche Cayman T by an astonishing 517 lb.
In Jason's testing, it managed a very respectable 0-60 mph time of 4.3 seconds, running through the 1/4 mile in 12.9 seconds @ 109 mph. This means with just 250 hp, it's just as quick as a 300-horsepower Porsche Cayman.
For that you can thank its lightness.
Cammisa proclaims the A110 a far more interesting choice as a modern sports car, despite its lack of manual transmission (and Nissan-sourced 4-cylinder engine), drawing many similarities to a modern McLaren: its driving position, its brake feel, the sound of the engine, the feel of the transmission, and above all, its magnificent ride quality.
There must be a reason why Gordon Murray and James May both own one.
Watch the whole video for an exhilarating view of a hillclimb in both the 2021 Alpine A110 and also a race-prepped 1972 A110, with one of the most outspoken 4-cylinder screamers we've ever heard.
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