Tuesday 21st August 2012

Spotted: Alpine GTA V6 Turbo

Plastic coupe from the 80s reminds us why the Alpine marque deserves a revival

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The news that the spectacular Renault Alpine A110-50 concept may yet see the light of day with a little help from Lotus, got us thinking about some of the classic Alpine Renault road cars from yesteryear.

Oh-so '80s black leather interior

And one of the fastest was the GTA V6 Turbo. With a top speed nudging the magic 150mph barrier, it became France's quickest ever production car on its launch in 1985. What Car? magazine managed to get one from 0-60mph in 5.8 seconds, traction perhaps helped in part by the car's rear-engined layout.

It's perhaps not an all-time design classic, but it's a looker nonetheless with an undeniable charm about its tapered snout, classical fastback coupe proportions and emphatically dated square-cut details. That body is made predominantly from lightweight plastic and polyester components, with a not-to-be-sniffed at drag coefficient of 0.29.

This was once the fastest of the French

The turbo applied to its Renault 25 lump boosted power to 200hp, with the naturally aspirated car (launched the year before) pushing out 160hp.

Handling was said to be very good although, as a very much rear-engined car, with a strong whatever-you-do-don't-lift-mid-corner proviso.

There's a nice little link from the past to the present in that many of Renaultsport's current hot hatches are built at the old Alpine factory in Dieppe today. The GTA is also from an era when Renault bits were liberally sprinkled throughout various Lotus road cars, which brings us back to where we came in.

GTAs are a pretty rare sight these days, with 61 licensed cars on British roads according to howmanyleft.co.uk. There are fewer than 40 right-hand-drive cars left in the UK, and here's one of them. £4,250 buys you a slice of very plastic, very French and, we think, rather cool fastback glory.

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RENAULT ALPINE GTA V6 TURBO
Engine: 2,458cc V6
Transmission: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 200@5,750rpm
Torque (lb ft): 214@2,250rpm
MPG: 20mpg
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1989
Recorded mileage: 70,000
Price new: £23,635
Yours for: £4,250

See the original advert here.

 

[tinkertaylor]

Seriously cool car. Saw this for sale last week

I've promised myself i'll get one in a few years

[scholesy]

I would probably want some service history with that

[_Deano]

I used to love these cars when i was a kid - the looked so "futuristic" in the 80s

[PatrickOUFC]

Well - sold already!

[Motorrad]

Screw the service history. Someone got a bargain. Look forward to the updates.

[PatrickOUFC]

Certainly looks a bargain - this one is up on ebay for £7500 without leather interior and more miles...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1987-Renault-Alpine-GTA-...

[Benjaminbopper]

£4,250?! Wow - someone has netted themselve's a bargain there!

[soad]

Wouldn't mind one someday.

[Steamer]

Do love these - wanted one so badly in the late 90's.

Great price - but I see what looks like mold on the hand books and the passenger seat rails look rusty.

[sinbaddio]

Very nice - reminds me of the heady days of Eldorado (although thinking about it Marcus Tandy may have driven the later A610?)

[ST270]

Would anyone know if the V6 fitted to the Alpines was the same PRV V6 as fitted to the DeLorean?

[DaveL485]

I'd rather have a 21Turbo......

Saying that, I did fit a J7R 21 Turbo lump in the back of one of these a few years ago. Wonder what happened to it?! Much lighter, much less mid-corner death potential.

[DaveL485]

ST270 said:

Would anyone know if the V6 fitted to the Alpines was the same PRV V6 as fitted to the DeLorean?

The Delorean was 120hp after regs strangled it down, but yes I think it was the PRV V6 with a Renault transaxle.

[anything fast]

I remember nearly smashing my TV up in a rage after watching one of Jeremy Clarksons videos.

The sheep haired oaf had the nerve to slag this car off in every way possible, and then took a very tidy looking late model and smashed it in to wall at high speed. Funny? No not really. Just a fat man destroying a classic car.

What an utter fool.

This is my favourite French Car ever, although I would pay a bit more dosh and go for the later model with the pop up lights..

[Husker]

Real bargain, and a fantastic car when correctly sorted out.... Add a 1 in front of that price to get a nice one there in France.

[BIRMA]

anything fast said:

I remember nearly smashing my TV up in a rage after watching one of Jeremy Clarksons videos.

The sheep haired oaf had the nerve to slag this car off in every way possible, and then took a very tidy looking late model and smashed it in to wall at high speed. Funny? No not really. Just a fat man destroying a classic car.

What an utter fool.

This is my favourite French Car ever, although I would pay a bit more dosh and go for the later model with the pop up lights..

As an owner and fan of the A610 I found that idiot's remote controlled car crash fun at the expense of what was a very good example for just a bit of publicity daft too. I have read somewhere he gave a written apology for that rather lame bit of car vandalism.

[Disastrous]

anything fast said:

I remember nearly smashing my TV up in a rage after watching one of Jeremy Clarksons videos.

I hope you don't own a classic TV. That would be gutting to watch for a Panasonic collector, I would think.

[The Leaper]

The nicest version is the GTA Le Mans..super rare but a fab looking car.

R.

[GilesGuthrie]

sinbaddio said:

Very nice - reminds me of the heady days of Eldorado (although thinking about it Marcus Tandy may have driven the later A610?)

Pretty sure it was the later one. But in his death scene, the producers swapped it for a very ropey looking (even by its own standards) TR7, that had been hastily Duluxed to look vaguely the same colour. I think my howls of derisory laughter may have upset the mood for the other viewers in the house.

[sinbaddio]

GilesGuthrie said:

sinbaddio said:

Very nice - reminds me of the heady days of Eldorado (although thinking about it Marcus Tandy may have driven the later A610?)

Pretty sure it was the later one. But in his death scene, the producers swapped it for a very ropey looking (even by its own standards) TR7, that had been hastily Duluxed to look vaguely the same colour. I think my howls of derisory laughter may have upset the mood for the other viewers in the house.

Just for the memories......