Stunning Renault Alpine concept set for Monaco reveal

Renault is set to revive its most hallowed nameplate with a modern-day interpretation of its venerated Alpine A110, which notched up multiple rally wins in the 1960s and early ’70s.

The jaw-dropping coupe pictured here is dubbed the A110-50 Concept, and its moniker denotes the fact that it marks the 50-year anniversary of the original Alpine.

It will be revealed at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, which seems fitting given that the Alpine A110 won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1971 in the hands of Ove Andersson (who in his latter years was best known for heading up Toyota’s motorsport division).

Based on information at hand, the new-age Alpine is underpinned by a tube-framed chassis purloined from the Megane Trophy Racer, with propulsion coming from a mid-mounted 3.5-litre V6 with 295kW and 420Nm.

As evident from the accompanying images, the Alpine Concept is heavily influenced by the DeZir concept revealed at the 2010 Paris motor show.

The DeZir was the first indicator of the look Renault design director Laurens van der Acker had visualised for the French brand, breaking free of the relatively staid styling that has distinguished the marque in recent years.

The Alpine 110-50 isn’t just a pie-in-the-sky exercise as Renault marketing boss Stephen Norman was quoted by Autocar as saying the company would “do everything we can to make it work” for production. “If we could make the sums work, which we are desperately trying to do, we could do it in 30 months.”

According to Norman, if the Alpine does get the green light, its development would be undertaken by the brand’s Renaultsport go-faster division, which has given us cracking offerings such as the Megane RS 250.

However, Norman stressed that the biggest challenge would be in terms of how to position the new-age Alpine as it stands clearly apart from the company’s other offerings.

“Where would it slot in?” he asks. “It would be a lightweight, high-performance sports car, but you cannot produce cars with rubber mats and manual window winders anymore. They don’t sell. Similarly, with Alpine, you don’t just lift parts off the Renault components shelf.

“We wouldn’t make an Alpine to lose money. It probably means a) that the car has to have worldwide appeal and b) you wouldn’t want to do it on your own. It probably needs more than the Renault-Nissan alliance on its own – probably,” he added.

The modern-day Alpine has big wheel tracks to fill as the original, lightweight A110 was an enduring model that debuted in 1961 and lasted through the 1977 model year, with engines ranging from a 50kW 1108cc unit to a 1605cc four-pot with 105kW.

The A110 was succeeded by the sharp-edged Alpine A310, built from 1971 to ’84, but the latter didn’t earn the quite the same cult following as the original.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...