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L'Alpine A110 fĂŞte ses 50 ans en 2012 !
// The Alpine A110 celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2012.
L'Alpine A110 fĂŞte ses 50 ans en 2012 !
// The Alpine A110 celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2012.
Having photographed one of the very latest Alpine models just a few weeks ago, it was nice to see one of the originals on display at this years Concours ...
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A selection of my photographs from this year's Concours Of Elegance event, held again at Hampton Court Palace.
This time I decided to book the Friday off work, and go on the 'VIP Preview' day, in the hopes that it would be a little quieter than the Saturday. That wasn't really the case - there were huge crowds of people again!
So I had to be as patient as possible in my goal of photographing as many of the cars from the cleanest people-free viewpoint. In some instances it meant waiting between 5-10 mins in front of a single car, just to have one or two seconds of a completely clear view. That seems like a lot of effort to go to, but my aim is to try and capture the beauty of this amazing car designs with as few distractions as possible.
Most of these images were taken with my Fuji X-T2 paired with the 56mm f1.2 lens shot wide open in order to give me some separation from the background. Also in order to minimise rogue heads appearing over the roofs or bonnets of some of the cars I've again generally gone for very low-angle compositions here.
But I think my efforts paid off as I have some great shots of so many truly breathtaking cars, both the original designs, and also the condition in which they've all been kept and maintained.
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.
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).
There are other pictures of this figure in my photostream, but I recently added some webgear from Marauders Spirit and some rope from Resolute Storm Shadow, and I feel that the upgrade deserves a new portrait.
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 ÂŁ1,031. 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.
Early 70s Alpine Cycles frame made for Georgetown Cycle and Sport in the Washinton, DC area. Frame may have been made in the UK by Tom Board.
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.
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".
The car reached international fame during the 1970–1972 seasons when it participated in the newly created International Championship for Manufacturers, winning several events around Europe and being considered one of the strongest rally cars of its time. Notable performances from the car included victory in the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally with Swedish driver Ove Andersson.
With the buy-out of Alpine by Renault complete, the International Championship was replaced by the World Rally Championship for 1973, at which time Renault elected to compete with the A110. With a team featuring Bernard Darniche, Jean-Pierre Nicolas and Jean-Luc Thérier as permanent drivers and "guest stars" like Jean-Claude Andruet (who won the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally) the A110 won most races where the works team was entered, making Alpine the first World Rally Champion. Later competition-spec A110s received engines of up to 1.8 litres.
As well as being built at Alpine's Dieppe factory, A110 models were constructed by various other vehicle manufacturers around the world. The Alpine A110 was produced in Mexico under the name "Dinalpin", from 1965 to 1974, by Diesel Nacional (DINA), which also produced Renault vehicles. The Alpine A110 was also produced in Bulgaria under the name "Bulgaralpine", from 1967 to 1969, by a cooperative formed between SPC Metalhim and ETO Bulet, whose collaboration also resulted in the production of the Bulgarrenault.
In 1974 the mid-engined Lancia Stratos, the first car designed from scratch for rally racing, was operational and homologated. At the same time, it was obvious that the tail-engined A110 had begun reaching the end of its development. The adoption of fuel injection brought no performance increase. On some cars, a DOHC 16-valve head was fitted to the engine, but it proved unreliable. Chassis modification, like the use of an A310 double wishbone rear suspension, homologated with the A110 1600SC, also failed to increase performance. On the international stage, the Stratos proved to be the "ultimate weapon", making the A110, as well as many other rally cars, soon obsolete. The A110 is still seen in events such as Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique.
In 2012, to mark the 50th anniversary of the A110, Renault prodded a concept car called the A110-50.
A photo taken at Schynige Platte, an alpine ridge in the Bernese Alps at an altitude of around 6500ft. Unfortunately on our visit in mid-july, we experienced freshly fallen (and falling), snow which with the thick cloud, rather spoiled the views. But there is an alpine garden there with over 650 different types of plants which made a pleasant distraction.
L'Alpine A110 fĂŞte ses 50 ans en 2012 !
// The Alpine A110 celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2012.
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.
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