Alpine (automobile)

Alpine (French pronunciation: ​[alpin(ə)]) was a French manufacturer of racing and sports cars that used rear-mounted Renault engines.

Jean Rédélé, the founder of Alpine, was originally a Dieppe garage proprietor, who began to achieve considerable competition success in one of the few French cars produced just after the Second World War. The company was bought in 1973 by Renault.

History

Early days

Using Renault 4CVs, Rédélé gained class wins in a number of major events, including the Mille Miglia and Coupe des Alpes. As his experience with the little 4CV built up, he incorporated many modifications, including for example, special 5-speed gear boxes replacing the original 3-speed unit. To provide a lighter car he built a number of special versions with lightweight aluminium bodies: he drove in these at Le Mans and Sebring with some success in the early 1950s.

Encouraged by the development of these cars and consequent customer demand, he founded the Société Anonyme des Automobiles Alpine in 1954. The firm was named Alpine after his Coupe des Alpes successes. He did not realise that in England the previous year, Sunbeam had introduced a sports coupe derived from the Sunbeam Talbot and called the Sunbeam Alpine. This naming problem was to cause problems for Alpine throughout its history.

Alpine A110-50

The Alpine A110-50 is a concept racing car created by Renault to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1962 Alpine A110 It debuted at Monaco’s GP circuit, where Renault Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares raced the A110-50 for four laps of the Monaco track.

The Alpine A110-50 has all carbonfibre bodywork, a mid-engine layout, and tubular frame. It is built upon the same platform and shares its mechanicals with the Sport Mégane Trophy race car. Because the A110-50’s height is lower than that of Mégane Trophy, the roll cage and bracing in the engine bay were lowered in the workshop of Tork Engineering. The entire car weighs a mere 1940 pounds, and its weight distribution is 47.8 percent front and 52.2 percent rear. With a naturally aspirated 395-hp variation of the Mégane Trophy’s 3.5-liter V6 based on the Nissan VQ engine, it has a 456bhp/ton power-to-weight ratio. The inlet manifold is fed by a new roof-mounted air intake which broadens the engine’s power band, with additional horsepower at all engine speeds.

Alpine

The term alpine refers to the Alps, a European mountain range, or to the Alpine states associated with the mountain range.

Alpine may also refer to:

Biology

Environmental sciences

Alpine climate, climate that is typical to higher altitudes

Places

Australia

New Zealand

United States

Renault

Coordinates: 48°49′53″N 2°13′42″E / 48.831455°N 2.228273°E / 48.831455; 2.228273

Groupe Renault (French: [ɡʁup ʁəˈno]) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured trucks, tractors, tanks, buses/coaches and autorail vehicles.

According to the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles, in 2013 Renault was the eleventh biggest automaker in the world by production volume, with 50.5% of sales coming outside of Europe. The Renault–Nissan Alliance is the fourth-largest automotive group.

Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, the Renault group is made up of the namesake Renault marque and subsidiaries, Automobile Dacia from Romania, and Renault Samsung Motors from South Korea. Renault has a 43.4% controlling stake in Nissan of Japan, a 25% stake in AvtoVAZ of Russia, and a 1.55% stake in Daimler AG of Germany (since 2012, Renault manufactures engines for the Daimler's Mercedes A Class and B Class cars). Renault also owns subsidiaries RCI Banque (automotive financing), Renault Retail Group (automotive distribution) and Motrio (automotive parts). Renault has various joint ventures, including Oyak-Renault (Turkey), Renault Pars (Iran). Carlos Ghosn is the current chairman and CEO. The French government owns a 19.73% share of Renault as of April 2015.

Alpine A110

The Alpine A110, also known as the "Berlinette", was a sports car produced by the French manufacturer Alpine from 1961 to 1977. The Alpine A110 was introduced as an evolution of the A108. The A110 was powered by various Renault engines.

History

Like other road-going Alpines, the 1961 A110 used many Renault parts – including engines. But while the preceding A108 was designed around Dauphine components, the A110 was updated to use R8 parts. Unlike the A108, which was available first as a cabriolet and only later as a coupé, the A110 was delivered first with "Berlinetta" bodywork and then as a cabriolet. The main visible difference with the A108 coupé was a restyling of the rear body to fit the larger engine, which gave the car a more aggressive look. Like the A108, the A110 featured a steel backbone chassis with fiberglass body. The A110 was originally available with 1.1 L R8 Major or R8 Gordini engines. The Gordini engine delivered 95 hp (71 kW) SAE at 6,500 rpm.

The A110 achieved most of its fame in the early 1970s as a victorious rally car. After winning several rallies in France in the late 1960s with iron-cast R8 Gordini engines the car was fitted with the aluminium-block Renault 16 TS engine. With two dual-chamber Weber 45 carburetors, the TS engine delivered 125 hp (93 kW) DIN at 6,000 rpm. This allowed the production 1600S to reach a top speed of 210 km/h (130 mph). The longer wheelbase 2+2 Alpine GT4, originally considered a version of the A108, was updated with A110 engines and mechanicals, now being marketed as the "A110 GT4".