Renault has bought back the rights to the legendary Alpine name, as used on its V6 GT and GTA high-performance sports cars of the mid 1980s and early 1990s, and the name is expected to be used for a new Clio-based coupe. A Renault insider told 4Car this week that "if Renaultsport were to produce a high-performance coupe, it could well wear the Alpine badge".

This coupe, to be made by Renault's Renaultsport division (which has its headquarters in the former Alpine factory in Dieppe), will be a stand-alone model, probably with design elements first seen in the Fluence and Wind concept cars. It will be in place of a new-generation Clio V6, once that model is discontinued later this year, though it is unlikely to go into production before 2007, as the Dieppe factory's spare capacity is being utilised to make 1.2-litre versions of the outgoing Clio, which will continue on sale as entry-level models after the launch of the new-generation range at least until the all-new Twingo goes on sale next year.


Renault Fluence concept
Alpine was started by Renault dealer and rally driver Jean Redele in 1954, to make his independently-designed and produced coupes. The first Alpine was based on the Renault 4CV, but the company really made its name with the rear-engined, backbone-chassis A110, launched in 1962, and took off when Redele organised a deal with Renault to market his cars through their dealerships. The A110 proved successful in rallying well into the early 1970s, and Alpine prototypes also competed at Le Mans, but Alpine had fallen into financial difficulties, and it was wholly-bought by Renault in 1975. Renault funded further development of the larger, wedge-shaped A310, fitting it with a 150bhp 2.7 V6, and this model remained in production till 1984; Alpine also worked on the company's race cars, including the Le Mans-winning Renault-Alpine A442, and Redele headed-up Renault's competition division for many years. The GTA of 1985 had a similar cult following to the A310, selling in small numbers to a dedicated number of enthusiasts, but the A610-series model of 1990, although acclaimed, could not compete with the increasingly strong and high-quality competition in the sector and it was phased out, along with the Alpine name, in 1994.

Although there will be no new-generation Clio V6, there will be a Mk3 Renaultsport Clio; this time, giving around 190 bhp from a normally-aspirated 2.0-litre engine. A show car

drugmirko je napisal/-a::P he, dobek... me pa prehitiš, ker ne rabiš ofspringa po hiši lovit...

Biskvitek je napisal/-a:Sosed je lastnik rdeče Alpine, tisti k ste iz groupla ste jo zihr že vidl men zmer poskoči srce k vidim ta avto..... sej je cajt da reno obudi legendo

pugi405 je napisal/-a:Že od vedno so mi bile všeč obujene legende...

dobek je napisal/-a:

pugi405 je napisal/-a:Že od vedno so mi bile všeč obujene legende...

problem pri takih legendah je, da nikdar ne dosezejo slave svojih originalov in povecini na hitro in dokoncno pokopljejo dobro ime