Alpine A110 (1961)

The Alpine A110 is the berlinette that made Alpine famous, a small rear-engined sports car with a fibreglass body on a steel backbone chassis, built by the French maker Alpine until 1977. It succeeded the A108 and used a succession of Renault engines, first Renault 8 parts and later, in the rally winning 1600S, the aluminium block engine of the Renault 16 TS. Power rose from about 51 horsepower in early cars to about 180 horsepower by the end of production. The A110 took 1-2-3 finishes in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1971 and 1973, and in 1973 Alpine won the first World Rally Championship for manufacturers. Versions were also built under licence, in Mexico as the Dinalpin, in Bulgaria as the Bulgaralpine and in Spain by FASA. Sources differ on when production began, giving 1961, 1962 or 1963. This entry is the original car, distinct from the Alpine A110 introduced in 2017.