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.
Reviews:
What better way to mark Alpine’s 70th than a sumptuous book? Surprisingly, it has taken an English publisher to produce a definitive history of the Gallic legend. Over 496 pages with 400 images, Alpine French Speed & Spirit, this stylish title charts the ups and downs of the Dieppe marque, from Jean Rédél’s beginnings with 4CVs to the A110 rebirth. Author Russell Hayes’ research includes interviews with many key figures, which from stylist Peter Stevens’ nostalgic foreword bring the story to life. Being fluent in French, Hayes’ visits to Dieppe were rewarded with memories, unpublished photographs and styling sketches. Welcome driving impressions from contemporary road tests include Paul Frère who took a new A310 on his skiing holiday. Alpine’s colourful motorsport history is also covered, including Jean-Claude Andruet’s comeback charge after a puncture on the 1973 Rallye Monte-Carlo and aero testing an A442 prototype on a closed autoroute. As well as chapters on all the models and prototypes, the final appendix covers Alpine single-seaters from 1963274. Just 500 of the standard edition will be offered, so dig deep before it sells out – Mick Walsh C&SC, March 2025
In all the hoo-hah since the revitalisation of the Alpine marque with the new A110 in 2017, it’s been largely forgotten that it was originally a joint project with British sports car maker Caterham. The idea was that each company would offer its own version of the car: Alpine’s was codenamed AS1 and Caterham’s was C120, the latter intended to make inroads into the profitable Asian market and built as a hatchback rather than as a booted coupé like the Alpine. A further British connection was the use of nine Lotus Exige-based test mules for the early Alpine prototypes. As we now know, despite getting quite far along the development track, Caterham’s involvement ceased well before the A110 was launched. It’s a fascinating story, told in detail in this massive, near-S00-page tome – but it’s just a tiny fraction of the entire history of Alpine recounted here. While there have been numerous French-language books published about Alpine, this is the first properly comprehensive work in English. Palawan Press has done its usual immaculate job, with the aid of uber-cool designer (and Octane contributor) Julian Balme. Only 500 of the standard slipcased edition will be printed, plus 50 of the leather-bound version. The first 25 people to buy the latter will pay £1000; late-comers for the remaining 25 will have to stump up £1500. Aside from its exceptional design, this is a conventionally laid-out volume. It starts with a brief introduction to Alpine founder Jean Rédélé before taking you on a chronological tour through the marque’s road and racing models, from the very first hotted-up Renault 4CVs through to the latest A290 electric city car. It’s a remarkably long list and author Russell Hayes valiantly attempts to include every possible Alpine-related model – you will read about the stillborn mid-engined W71 coupé of the early 1990s, which got as far as a running prototype that covered 20,000km of testing before Renault canned it – but you will still be left wanting more. For example, it would be interesting to know whether any of the late- 1960s Bulgarian-built A110s, which get a brief mention, survive today. This is far from a stuffy history, however, and includes some great personal anecdotes – such as car designer Peter Stevens recalling how he found the ideal tail-lights for his M100 Lotus Elan: ‘There was a TV show called Howard’s Way and this fellow had a GTA. I was watching this one evening and I thought “Cor, I think those lights might work in the back of the Elan.” The rest, as they say, is history. Peppered with a fabulous collection of period images, many of them in colour – no padding with modern-day ‘happy snaps here – this book is sure to become a treasured possession for its lucky purchasers, long after the price is forgotten – Mark Dixon Octane, March 2025
In our house, new books arrive regularly around Christmas and my January birthday, so it has taken me a few weeks to digest Russell Hayes’ 500-page masterwork for Palawan Press on the design, production and racing history of Alpine. This volume has at least 1000 photographs, most of which I’ve never seen before. So rich is Alpine’s 70-year history, and so compelling the story of its founder, Jean Rédélé, that my old strawberry tart swelled at the thought of my own A110, ready in the garage. The book also made it clear in my mind that Alpine’s owners must guard its future carefully. Hayes’ book costs a solid £400, or you can pay £1000-plus for a leather-bound copy, but the superb writing and research make it literally the best means of getting close to a wonderful marque – Steve Cropley Autocar, January 2025