Description
Alpine French Speed & Spirit
This definitive limited edition Palawan Press book will be the first ever English language history of all the Alpine cars to the present day. The rise, fall and rebirth of the brand was long denied to British buyers due to legal rights over the name.
Once known as the little blue cars from Dieppe, Alpine now stands on the brink of a global era of all-electric sporting cars, bolstered by an extensive motorsport campaign. Created by Jean Rédélé in 1955, and set to mark its 70th birthday in 2025, the time is right for a new literary celebration of this very French marque.
Author Russell Hayes delves deep into the Alpine saga, with historical research brought to life by fresh interviews with key figures from its past and present. Striking new photography from photo shoots in France and England complements the evocative archival images.
Born from Jean Rédélé’s sporting exploits in Renault’s tiny but nimble 4CV, the glass fibre-bodied Alpine A106 exploited the 4CV’s powertrain to the full, evolving into the A108 coupé and convertible and the lesser known four-seaters the A108 2+2 then the GT4. All are covered before the beautiful A110 Berlinette of 1962 to 1977, always Renault-powered.
Alpine was part of the French motorsport landscape in the 1960s and 1970s, flying the flag at the Le Mans 24-hour race, from the backstreets of Dieppe, to outright victory with Renault in 1978. The reader will find the story here, which also includes the lesser-known single-seat racing cars that became a connecting line to today’s Formula 1 team.
The famous rallying A110 Berlinettes were featherweight plastic bodied-rear-engine projectiles, expertly driven by all- French teams, waging a David and Goliath battle against larger, more established factory teams such as Porsche and Lancia. The struggle paid off when Alpine won the 1973 World Rally Championship.
Returning to the road cars, the 1970s saw the realisation of Jean Rédélé’s dream of a sophisticated four-seat coupé the A310, built in a brand new factory in Dieppe. The development of the A310 then the A310 V6 is charted, as well as the Renault 5 Alpine and the Renault 5 Turbo, honed by the hands of Alpine engineers. The book also covers the GTA V6 and Turbo (the first right-hand drive Alpines), the A610, the never-produced project W71 and the Dieppe-built Renault Sport Spider.
Palawan’s Alpine history culminates in an in-depth account of the revival of Alpine and the development of the modern A110. From new interviews with the designers, engineers and managers who lived through it, the reader is taken through Renault’s experiments with concept cars, the turmoil of the Caterham joint venture and the triumph of the 2016 A110 and developments up to 2024.
Publication date 15th November 2024.