50 years ago, French manufacturer Alpine released the A 110 Berlinette — A gorgeous little machine that was powered initially by a variety of Renault engines. To celebrate the car’s Golden Jubilee, Renault has done the honourable thing built a concept car that pays whatever the French is for “homage”.
The Renault Alpine A 110-50 concept car ressurrects a number of the most iconic design features of the original A 110, but also bears a striking resemblance to the Renault DeZir concept unveiled in 2010.
It’s not quite as pretty as the Dezir, though. Renault has incorporated a set of ‘nostrils’ (they’re actually half-domed LED lights designed to mimic the fog lamps on the A110) but these make the design a little too fussy for our tastes. That said, the rest of the car, with its flowing bodywork and muscular haunches is extremely lust-worthy.
Under the Alpine Blue paintwork, the A 110-50 uses the same platform as the Renault Megane Trophy. Its engine is a mid-mounted 3.5-litre V6 that is fed air via a carbon air intake mounted on the roof. This broadens the engine’s power band, giving it a mighty 400hp.
More to the point, the car weighs a paltry 880kg, which means it should go like stink off a shovel that’s had poo on it. It should be quite handy around corners, too, thanks to a near-ideal weight distribution with 47.8 per cent over its bulk over the front wheels.
Obviously, there’s very little chance the Alpine A 110-50 will ever go into production, but we can take solace in the fact Renault actually went ahead and built the mental-looking Twizy electric car. Surely, if the company’s bold enough to build that oddity, it’ll see it in its corporate heart of hearts to give the public one of these.
Have a look at the pictures below and let us know whether you love it or loathe it either here or on Facebook.
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