Alpine

Retro styling done right in the automotive world can result in a car that buyers instantly feel drawn to because they remember the original from their childhood. Granted, if done wrong, it can look really hideous and out of place, but you won’t find any of those here.

When mainstream manufacturers do it, they spend a lot of time and money to get it just right, and it really shows. Many of these retro-styled cars are bought first and foremost for the way they look, but they are actually just good cars overall. I’ve assembled the ones you can buy new right now, in the list after the jump.

The Alpine A110 GT4 may be hogging the spotlight in Geneva, but the French automaker’s booth also includes a pair of special edition A110s with personalities of their own. The Alpine A110 Pure Edition is the driver-focused version of the three new special edition A110s. Meanwhile, the Alpine A110 Legende is the comfort-oriented version. Altogether, the three special edition A110s help add more variety to the A110 lineup, giving customers the opportunity to choose which of these three versions suit them best.

Although not yet available outside Europe, the brand-new Alpine A110 is slowly developing into a full-size lineup. Available in standard and Premier guise at first, it gained a race-spec Cup model after the official launch. Now, Alpine is adding three more models to the family, all of which are on display at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. The French firm is expanding the lineup with the A110 Legende, a trim that adds refinement and everyday usability, and A110 Pure, described as the most driver-focused version. More importantly, Alpine also launched a GT4-spec version of the car for international racing.

Shut down in 1995, Renault’s Alpine brand made a comeback 22 years later with a modern interpretation of its iconic A110 sports car. Developed on a bespoke platform and using a design that’s both modern and linked to the original car, the A110 is Renault’s long-awaited response to the Porsche Cayman and the Alfa Romeo 4C. But Alpine isn’t planning to stop here. Word has it that a convertible version of the A110 is also in the works, and the French firm also wants to jump on the SUV bandwagon. Why? Because everyone is doing it nowadays. But what’s this SUV going to be bring to the table?

I’m going to provide an answer to that question in the speculative review below, which includes not only the latest information and rumors but also a detailed rendering of the Alpine-badged hauler. A release date is not yet available, but given that we have yet to see any prototypes on the road, it’s safe to assume that it won’t happen sooner than late 2018. All told, this SUV won’t be available until the 2019 model year. That’s a long wait, but we already have a few juicy details about what’s coming.

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The Alpine A110 will likely go down as one of the most memorable sports cars launches in 2017. It marks a return from the ashes for the Alpine brand and it finally came after three years of being in development. Needless to say, a lot of people looked forward to the A110’s debut, and by and large, it didn’t disappoint. And if the positive reception surrounding the sports car isn’t enough, all of us can now look forward to the first special edition version of the A110. It’s called the A110 Premiere Edition, and it’s all set to be revealed at the Salon Price later this month.

As you can expect, the A110 Premiere Edition will come with exclusive features that “standard” versions of the sports car will come without. Most of these upgrades are of the cosmetic variety so don’t expect any power bumps to happen to the car’s 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. It’s still going to produce 252 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque, numbers that are actually impressive for a sports car with a four-cylinder engine. What you can expect though is that the A110 will be limited to just 1,955 units, the number that references the year Alpine was founded.

Continue after the jump to read more about the Alpine A110 Premiere Edition.

Alpine’s return from the grave may have been marked by the launch of the A110 sports car, but the returning French automaker is still in the business of making money, and there’s no better way of doing that these days by joining the hustle and bustle that is the SUV market. Turns out, that’s exactly what Alpine plans to do now that the A110 is on the market.

According to Auto Express, the French automaker’s rationale for building an SUV boils down to one simple and inevitable reason: it needs to make money. That piece of urgent business is even more important now that the A110 has reached dealerships because if the company wants to build on the sports coupe with other performance cars, it’s going to need a cash cow model to help generate the funds to do so. And as promising as the A110 is, it’s won’t be able to generate that much financial business compared to an SUV. By contrast, an SUV would be more than capable of generating the influx of money the company needs to stay relevant in the game. Plans are already underway to develop the vehicle with an expected launch date of sometime in 2019. It may seem weird at first to think of an Alpine SUV given the company’s long history as a performance and racing brand, but the sign of the times call for certain actions to be made. A lot of other companies with little to no history in the SUV game have made similar leaps of fate. If Alpine wants to stay in the business longer this time, it recognizes that it’s going to have to do the same.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

A quick look at today’s automotive offerings and you’ll notice that almost all passenger cars are front-engined, while most sports cars come with a mid-engined configuration. The Porsche 911 is the most known exception from this rule, having its engine mounted above the rear axle. The 911 isn’t the only rear-engined car on the market, the Smart ForTwo and ForFour, Renault Twingo, Tesla Model S, and Tata Nano have similar configurations, but all of them are part of the minority. However, it wasn’t always like this.

Decades ago, rear-engined vehicles were significantly more popular. The first notable rear-engined car dates back to 1886, when Karl Benz launched the Patent-Motorwagen. The concept gained more traction in the 1930 and remained somewhat popular until the 1980s. Mostly found in small, affordable cars, the layout allowed for the rest of the vehicle to be used for passengers and luggage. It was also preferred by many carmakers since the drivetrain can installed easily at the factory compared to front-wheel-drive layout where the driven wheels also steer the car.

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When we got word that Renault Alpine had a new sports car in the works, we made a rendering that depicted what it could look like. When the Geneva Motor Show kicked off this year, we got to lay eyes on the Renault Alpine Vision Concept, a model that’s said to show off about 80 percent of the design cues that will be used on the French brand’s new production model. It was pretty exciting that our rendering was more or less on point compared to the Vision Concept, but now there’s even more exciting news about the future production model.

Even though Renault has an alliance with Nissan, the brand may also be able to tap into an agreement with Daimler to share platforms and drivetrains. Renault’s Executive Vice President of product and planning, Bruno Ancelin, has said, “We have to reduce the diversity of the engines we will use [across Renaultsport and Alpine], which is not against Alpine having a line-up of high-power engines.” He continued, “We have two solutions. Either we take one that is available in the Alliance and we fine tune it for more power. Or we can buy on the market. I heard in the presentation of the new DB11 from Aston Martin they are buying their V8s from AMG. That is possible, too. We have some cooperation with Daimler. We can buy engines on the market – there is no problem to share that.”

So, with any luck, we could see the Alpine A110 production model sport an engine built by none other than Mercedes-AMG. Of course, details at this point are virtually non-existent, but now we finally have an idea of what might power Alpine’s long-awaited sports car. The question now is: If Renault Alpine does tap into that relationship with Daimler, what engine will it pick? And, will Mercedes-AMG engines be used for future models as well? We’ll have to wait and see for sure, but keep reading to hear what I think about it.

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For the past 17 months or so, Gran Turismo’s Vision project has been the catalyst for some truly remarkable virtual vehicles. GT developer Polyphony Digital created Vision as a means to celebrate 15 years of video gaming awesomeness, but the major car manufacturers are getting in on the action to offer branded concepts that range from the beautiful to the outrageous. 

So far, it’s been a win-win for all involved, and that goes unchanged with Alpine’s GT Vision. First made available for download last month, this roofless single-seat slab of speed is a celebration of the French manufacturer’s founding 60 years ago, and features styling that melds old school and new school draped over a cohesive performance package that should elicit more than a few giggles from PS3 owners.

The video you see here is a bit of an amalgamation as well, mixing 3D computer renderings, cartoons, paint-on-glass animation and real-life action to highlight the stunning design work that went into the creation of the Alpine GT Vision. It’s short, artistic and even uplifting. Plus, it makes you want to drive the snot out of this concept in the game.

Continue reading to learn more about the Alpine Gran Turismo.

Even though the racing-focused Alpine brand is yet to return to production and a 2016 unveil of the troublesome project confirmed, Renault’s marketing for the sports car manufacturer soldiers on with the help of Polyphony Digital’s Vision Gran Turismo program. Gran Turismo 6 players will be happy to find out that they’ll be getting the first drive of a new Alpine sports car in March 2015. Called simply Alpine Vision Gran Turismo, the virtual model certainly looks the part of a GT concept, but with hints of classic Alpine racers here and there.

With a history that started six decades ago but sadly ended in 1995, the Alpine brand has always been connected with Renault – the French brand bought the small sports car maker back in 1973. Since then, the former Alpine headquarters in Dieppe had been home to Renault’s motorsport endeavors, including Formula One. As it happens, Alpine is preparing for a comeback in 2016, but until then, the A450 prototype has already collected European endurance racing titles in 2013 and 2014, not to mention a podium finish in the LMP2 class at the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours. Naturally, only professional racing car drivers can enjoy the A450, so Renault/Alpine got together with Sony’s Polyphony Digital back in 2013 and started working on a virtual Alpine model to feature in the Gran Turismo franchise, as part of the now-famous Vision Gran Turismo line of supercars.

The result looks pretty fantastic, and Alpine made the very wise choice of also building a full-scale mock-up of the virtual car. Unfortunately, only a select group of Frenchmen got to see the scale model in the flesh on January 27, when it was presented at a Concept Cars exhibition in Paris. I do suspect that will not be the only place the car will be shown though. Until then, Gran Turismo 6 owners are probably dying to fire up their PlayStations and check out the virtual handling of this rather gorgeous concept car.

Click past the jump to read more about the Alpine GT6 Vision GT Sports Car.