Renault Alpine starts A120 hype machine
February launch date confirmed on Twitter, sports car likely to be called A120, hot 225kW version comingRenault has created a new Twitter account to begin teasing the relaunch of its Alpine sports car brand.
Alpine Cars (@alpine_cars) went live on December 31 and has since begun posting teases for the February 16 date when the reborn sports car-maker will reveal its first car since sales ended of the Alpine A610 back in 1995.
Set to be called the A120 Berlinette, the new Gallic sports car is rumoured to weigh less than 1100kg and be powered by a new mid-mounted turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that will generate as much as 225kW.
Sending power to the rear wheels, reports from the French press suggest the new A120 will come with the seven-speed dual clutch transmission that was originally developed for the European-only Talisman sedan.
Originally, the Alpine sports car was to have been co-developed with British sports car-maker Caterham, but ties were severed in 2014 -- two years into the technical partnership -- for unknown reasons but thought to involve an internal dispute over development costs.
Priced at around an estimated $75,000, the born-again Alpine coupe has been created for performance car “purists” so should be a natural rival for the Porsche Cayman or Alfa Romeo 4C.
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