Alpine will stop production of the petrol-powered A110 next year...

Those pictures up above give you a glimpse at the new, limited-run Alpine A110 R 70 Tricolour Edition. Impressive, isn’t it? Built to celebrate Alpine’s 70th birthday, just 70 examples in Bleu Caddy, 70 in Glacier Blanc and 70 in Rouge Sismique will be sold, each getting a matching interior, a 70th-anniversary logo in visible carbon fibre on the roof and colour-coordinated 18in carbon-fibre wheels.

Those 210 Tricolour Editions will be joined by 560 ‘standard’ A110 R 70s, with the latter available in a choice of 10 colours and featuring an Akrapovic exhaust and the 70th anniversary logo on the wheel arches, the sills and the headrests. You may remember the R (not the bonkers new R Ultime) already gets 296bhp and 251lb ft of torque, plus stiffer springs, carbon fibre wheels, bucket seats, plenty of Alcantara and all of the carbon exterior trim.

And yet, these new editions aren’t the biggest bits of news here. No. Upon revealing these little specials Alpine has also admitted that the current, petrol-powered A110 is not long for this world. Uh oh.

"Alpine turns 70! 70 years of passion, excellence and innovation that we intend to build on for the next 70 years,” said Alpine CEO Philippe Krief. “We will celebrate this anniversary throughout the year with all our customers, clubs, fans ... past, present and future.

“To mark the occasion, our iconic A110 is available as an exceptional limited edition, the A110 R 70. It is part of the new A110 range, which will be available for the next 12 months before passing the baton to the future electric A110.”

There it is then. Confirmation that the little lightweight French sports car is going electric. Of course, we knew this was on the cards ever since Alpine showed us the convertible A110 ‘E-TERNITÉ’ prototype back in 2022. Still hurts, though. That prototype used the 60kWh battery from a Megane E-Tech for 261 miles of range, while a 268bhp motor allowed for a 0-62mph time of 4.5 seconds. Not bad. It also only weighed 1,378kg, so there’s certainly hope for the future yet.

If you do want a petrol-powered Alpine though, you’ll have to buy one in the next year. The range will still kick off with the standard 248bhp A110 with prices starting at £55,160 here in the UK. Want to spend a bit more? The A110 S will now be replaced with a new, 296bhp A110 GTS. We’re told that car will replace the GT and the S versions and will essentially sit in between the two, using the S's sporty chassis but with a fancy leather interior and Focal Premium audio system. There’ll be a new, optional GTS aero kit too that’s inspired by the R.

The GTS will cost from £67,311 on our shores, while the A110 R 70 is a frankly terrifying £103,345. Still, reckon that money is worth it to get one of the last A110s?