Alpine A110: the making of a legend

On an icy night in 1973, an electric blue Alpine A110 won the first ever round of the newly-created World Rally Championship, taking victory in the famously treacherous Monte Carlo Rally by just 26 seconds. Two more Alpines finished in second and third places – completing a dominant performance in the mountains after which they were named. Almost five decades later, that winning spirit lives on with the new A110 – built in the same factory as its champion ancestor.

Like the original A110 – which first fired into life in the early 1960s – its modern-day successor is poised, precise and playful. Thanks to aluminium construction for its chassis, frame and body – along with several ingenious engineering solutions – it’s also extremely lightweight, weighing from just 1,080kg, much less than many of its road-going rivals.

Powering the A110 is a mid-mounted, 1.8-litre turbocharged engine making 248bhp and 320NM of torque. Tuned by Alpine’s engineers for razor-sharp response and relentless power delivery throughout the rev range, the direct injection engine is always raring to go – with peak torque available from 2,000 to 5,000rpm. It even sounds like a sports car should, with a sophisticated soundtrack from the single-exit, central exhaust outlet.

The A110 sends that power to the rear wheels via a seven-speed, double-clutch gearbox with column-mounted paddles for super-quick shifts. Top speed is 155mph while 0-62mph is taken care of in only 4.5 seconds. You’ll also find switchable drive modes and torque vectoring, helping you make the most of the performance, whether you’re on a track, a twisty mountain pass or a Great British B-road.

While it’s famous for its Monte Carlo victories and other WRC performances, Alpine wasn’t just a rally star. In 1978 it took outright victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans too, beating big-name competition in the round-the-clock race. In fact, Alpine’s motorsport story doesn’t stop there – the company has built more than 70 racing cars, including two F1 machines and 37 endurance racers. Most recently, Alpine won the LMP2 class at Le Mans in 2016 and 2018, finishing an impressive fifth overall both times.

You feel the spirit of those competition cars in the A110’s race-grade engineering and weight-saving solutions. There’s double-wishbone suspension, for precise handling and magical bump-absorption, while the Brembo brakes – as well as generating impressive stopping power – also incorporate the parking brake into a rear caliper, saving 2.5kg alone.

You’ll also find some of that motorsport DNA in the on-board tech. The central screen can be set up to display live driving data, including a chronometer function to save split times on track days. The Alpine Telemetrics system also shows you all sorts of real-time technical information, such as power and torque output, turbo boost pressure and engine and tyre temperatures.

Despite the performance focus, the A110 is also an effortless car to use every day – with digital dials, seven-inch touchscreen, climate control, navigation and smartphone connectivity as standard. At the same time, the lightweight philosophy is still reflected in the cabin, with features such as the floating centre console (which creates some useful storage space beneath it).

Then there’s the way it looks. The twin headlights, those sculpted sides and bonnet spine, the single line running from front to rear, the wraparound rear screen, the low tail with wide wheel arches – it’s unmistakably Alpine. And despite the compact proportions, there’s still enough headroom to accommodate a helmet – useful if track day rules require one.

It’s a Sixties silhouette with a 21st Century twist, combining styling cues from the classic A110 Berlinette with modern design features such as X-shaped LED taillights, linking the Alpine’s heritage with its future. Led by Frenchman Antony Villain, the design team captured the spirit of Alpine while also creating a new design language to stand the test of time.

The A110 range starts with the Pure edition – the A110 in its simplest, lightest form with Sabelt sports seats as standard. Next there’s the Légend, which adds a little luxury thanks to six-way adjustable comfort seats in black or brown leather. There’s the all-new Colour Edition 2020 with its Sunflower Yellow bodywork – a reimagining of Alpine’s famous ‘Jaune Tournesol’ paintwork from those race-winning glory years.

Finally, sitting at the top of the range, there’s the A110S: an even more focussed version of the A110, with more power and a special chassis setup . Like all Alpines, it’s made for life on mountain roads, but – for those of us at slightly lower altitudes – it feels just at home on an old-fashioned country lane too.

To find out more, visit www.alpinecars.com