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On March 9th, we hiked around Lake Alpine and up to Cataract Falls in Marin County. It was good to see so much water after such a dry winter.
Soft, very pastel and very widespread alpenglow across a campsite of mine in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, WA.
I had planned a very specific shooting regiment for this particular location based on where I thought the best light would be at sunset. After finding there really wasn't anything terribly interesting at the first destination, I started heading back to my second spot, right at my camp. However just as I started negotiating a 200 foot climb down a boulder field, the sky literally exploded and I ended up on the completely wrong side of the mountain to get any good pictures of the best of the color. This is basically the only one that turned out worth keeping. I'd give almost anything to have that sunset back.
Dieppe-based Alpine, once an independent company specialising in faster Renaults, later a Renault subsidiary, established a fine competition history with the Alpine A110 winning the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally and World Rally Championship. The successor was the Alpine A310, initially powered by tuned 17TS/Gordini four-cylinder engine, still rear-mounted. The maximum power reaches 127 PS (93 kW; 125 hp), thanks to the use of two twin-barrel 45 DCOE Weber carburetors.
The first model of the A310, built 1971-1976, was a car with a four-cylinder engine and six frontlights. In 1976 the A310 was restyled by Robert Opron and fitted with the more powerful and newly developed 90-degree 2,664 cc V6 PRV engine, as used in some Renaults, Volvos and Peugeots. The car was first shown at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. The prototype A310 had louvres across the rear windscreen; these were not carried over to the production model. Early models had a NACA duct mounted near the window atop the left front fender, later four-cylinder cars received two, mounted closer to the front of the car. The A310 was labor-intensive, having been developed for small-scale artisanal production - a car took 130 hours to build from start to finish. The front axle also came in for some criticism, although in 1974 the balljoint mountings were replaced by rubber/steel bushings (silent-blocs) which somewhat improved the longevity. While many bits of the A310 came from the Renault parts shelf as expected, others are more surprising - the steering rack is from the Peugeot 504, while the turn signals are Simca 1301 units.
The basis of the A310 was a hefty tubular steel backbone chassis, clothed in a fiberglass shell. As for the previous A110 the entire body was molded in a single piece. Like the ill-fated De Lorean DMC-12, which used the same PRV powertrain, the engine was mounted longitudinally in the rear, driving forward to the wheels through a manual five-speed gearbox. The driving position was low and sporty, although the front wheelwells encroached on the occupants' feet, pointing them towards the centre of the car. The later V6 received a black plastic rear spoiler as well, useful for keeping the tail planted but somewhat marring to purity of the original's lines. With 150 PS (110 kW) on tap, the A310 PRV V6 was Renault's performance flagship capable of 220 km/h (137 mph) and acceptable acceleration. The tail-heavy weight distribution gave handling characteristics similar to the contemporary Porsche 911. Beginning with model year 1981 (in late 1980), the rear suspension was shared with the mid-engined Renault 5 Turbo. Rather than the previous three-lug wheels, the A310 also received the alloys used for the 5 Turbo, albeit without the painted elements.
In the later models (1983-1984) of the A310 a "Pack GT" which was inspired from the Group 4 A310 racing cars would be developed, it gained wheel arches and larger spoilers front and rear. A few Alpine A310 V6 Pack GT Kit Boulogne were built (27 examples), here the PRV V6 was bored out to 2.9 litres and was then further modified by Alpine, fitted with triple Weber 42DCNF carburetors that pushed power to 193 PS (142 kW).
Ah the Sunbeam Alpine, a good, fun car from when British open-top sports cars were the envy of the world. MG, Austin-Healey, Jensen and Sunbeam all fought valiantly for the convertible sports car market, but the most lucrative market of all was America.
The original Alpine series of car dates back to 1953, and was derived from the Sunbeam-Talbot 90 Saloon, thereby giving these early cars the name Talbot Alpine. It was a two-seater sports roadster initially developed by Sunbeam-Talbot dealer George Hartwell in Bournemouth, as a one-off rally car. It had its beginnings as a 1952 Sunbeam-Talbot drophead coupé, and was supposedly named by Norman Garrad of the works Competition Department, who was heavily involved in Sunbeam-Talbot's successes in the Alpine Rally during the early 1950s using the saloon models.
The car has a four-cylinder 2267cc engine from the saloon, but with a raised compression ratio. However, since it was developed from the saloon platform, it suffered from rigidity compromises despite extra side members in the chassis. The gearbox ratios were changed, and from 1954 an overdrive unit became standard. The gearchange lever was column-mounted.
The original Alpine would have two series, although numbered in the perculiar ranking of Alpine Mark I and Alpine Mark III (no Mark II). 1,582 of these cars were hand-built at Thrupp & Maberly coachbuilders from 1953 to 1955, 90 of which were Drophead Coupe's, and remained in production for only two years. 961 of these cars however were able to cross the pond to the United States, whilst 445 remained in the UK, and 175 went to other world markets. It has been estimated that perhaps as few as 200 have survived.
After the original Alpine wrapped up in 1955, Kenneth Howes and Jeff Crompton were tasked with doing a complete redesign in 1956, with the goal of producing a dedicated sports car aimed principally at the US market. Ken Howes contributed some 80% of the overall design work, which bears more than incidental resemblance to the early Ford Thunderbird, being based largely on Howes' previous employment with Ford.
The original Sunbeam Alpine made its debut in 1959 following several prototypes, of which one is still known to exist. The car made extensive use of components from other Rootes Group vehicles and was built on a modified floorpan from the Hillman Husky estate car. The car was powered by a 1,494cc engine with dual downdraft carburettors, and styling was carried out by Loewy Studios on commission from Rootes Group. The car's main party piece was that it was the first British sports car to feature roll-up side windows, whilst previous cars just did without.
Top speed of the Series I was 99.5mph, and a 0-60 of 13.6 seconds was achieved. Overall fuel consumption was 31mpg, and sales wise it cost £1,031. Production of the original Alpine ended in 1962 with 11,904 examples produced.
The Series II of 1962 featured an enlarged 1,592cc engine producing 80hp and revised rear suspension, but there were few other changes. The Series II had a top speed of 98.6mph, an acceleration from 0–60 mph in 13.6 seconds and a fuel consumption of 31.0mpg. Production ended in 1963 with 19,956 examples produced.
Next up, the Series III, which debuted in 1963. Although the car featured the same 1,592cc engine, power was downgraded slightly, and new twin fuel tanks were fitted in the rear wings for extra range. Both a hardtop and open roof version were built, the hardtop version being able to remove the top, but no soft-top was provided as the area it would have been folded into was occupied by a small rear seat. In all, 5,863 of these cars were built before production ended in 1964.
For the Series IV of 1964, the lower-output engine option was now dropped with convertible and hardtop versions sharing the 82hp engine with single Solex carburettor. A new rear styling was introduced with the fins largely removed. Automatic transmission with floor-mounted control became an option, but was unpopular. From autumn 1964 a new manual gearbox with synchromesh on first gear was adopted in line with its use in other Rootes cars.
The final version of the Alpine evolution was the Series IV of 1965, which had a new five-bearing 1,725cc engine with twin Zenith-Stromberg semi-downdraught carburettors producing 93hp. Very little had been changed for this last variant, although an automatic transmission was no longer available. In total, 19,122 were made between 1965 and 1968, upon which the Alpine was ended.
The Alpine name however did get a brief revival as the Alpine fastback, a variant of the Sunbeam Rapier/Rootes Arrow sports car. In 1969, a cheaper, slightly slower and more economical version of the Rapier (still sold as a sporty model) was badged as the new Sunbeam Alpine. All models featured the group's strong five-bearing 1,725cc engine, with the Alpine featuring a single Stromberg CD150 carburettor to the Rapier's twins, and the Rapier H120's twin 40DCOE Weber carburettors.
The Sunbeam Rapier/Alpine Fastback would prove to be the last ever products from Sunbeam, as following the failure of Hillman after the Imp and parent company Chrysler losing its grip on the region, the company instead chose to rebrand many of its products as just Chrsyler, or as companies of higher recognition such as Talbot. As such, the very last Sunbeam Rapier/Alpines of 1975 brought the curtain down on Sunbeam, the Alpine name being brought back one final time on the Simca 1307 family hatchback of 1978, being known as the Dodge Alpine/Talbot Alpine.
Today the Sunbeam Alpine and its variants are still quite popular finds, mostly the Series IV's and V's. Earlier models and Rapier/Fastbacks are a bit more obscure, as are the original Talbot Alpine's of the 1950's.
The route to Reflection Lake is along the unplowed summer road where the trees become bent under the heavy snow load.
Lillehammer, Norway - Thursday February 18, 2016: Kenza Lacheb (FRA) during the Ladies' Slalom Alpine Skiing event at the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
Laura Godenzi/IOC Young Reporters
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Three of the 4 Alpines from the 1978 squad that competed at Le Mans. N°1 A443, n°3 and 4 A442
The sister car n°2 A442B (not pictured) went on to win.
Rétromobile 2018
The water of Alpine Brook cascades over some rocks in the forest. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Merk: Alpine-Renault
Type: A110 Berlinette
Jaar: 1969
Taal: Frans
Code: M482
Bijzonderheden: grote folder, 2 perforatiegaatjes