Alpine Premiere Edition open for orders
Want one of the first new Alpines? Put your money where your mouth is now (but expect a wait)
And if you want one Alpine is now taking orders, the website announcing a limited run of 1,955 Premiere Edition cars offered in a choice of three colours (Bleu Alpine, Blanc Solaire and Noir Profond) and priced 'between 55,000 and 60,000 euros' in France including local taxes. In case you hadn't guessed that production number refers to the year of Alpine's founding. Lay down your initial 2,000 euros via the dedicated app and you can even specify your build number, this being included on a plaque mounted to the dash to prove your credentials as an early adopter and true fan.
There's also confirmation of a 0-62mph time of 4.5 seconds and first deliveries at the end of 2017 in Europe and early 2018 for the UK and Japan, suggesting right-hand drive production won't start until later in the cycle. We're promised a full tech spec in early 2017, the current assumption being it'll be powered by a version of the Clio Renaultsport's 1.6-litre turbo engine with over 200hp, some reports suggesting 250hp or so with a capacity bump to 1.8 litres.
Looking at French pricing for competitor products a 718 Cayman starts at 53,960 euros while the S is 66,710 euros; the former does 0-62 in 4.7 seconds with PDK and Sport Chrono, by which point it's a 59,040 euros car. If, as feared, the Alpine is a dual-clutch only it's clear the PDK 718 Cayman has been pretty thoroughly benchmarked against it. In lightweight spirit, looks and the heritage leanings you'd have to consider the Alfa Romeo 4C another very obvious rival; in France this starts at 62,300 euros, again underlining where the Alpine is being pitched. At a more mainstream level a TT S would cost you 56,490 euros in France. Pricing will obviously be different for the UK but there's some context there at least.
We're expecting to see the production car early next year; for now we've got a moody teaser vid of disguised prototypes doing arty slides amid smoke and spray on a test track. More info when we have it.
Watch the video here.
Alternatively it could be the engine which will appear in the new Megane RS which would give them a bit of leeway when it comes to weight.
Basically, then, a highly boosted four banger. One can only dream it'd be an NA V6 a la Clio V6.
"Autocar understands the engine will be a 1.8-litre unit derived from the turbocharged 1.6-litre used in the Renault Clio RS, although this is also yet to be confirmed. 250bhp is expected, but a 300bhp performance variant is also on the cards, as is a convertible. What we do know is that the car reaches 62mph from a standstill in 4.5sec."
I'm too poor for either, which is a shame as I love the old A110. Worth waiting for the fast one though?
I'm not worried
retro referencing against an idea or some details I don't think make the car as a whole unoriginal.
The TT, RCZ, Cayman, 4C, GT86 all look pretty original to me, whilst also making it obvious that they link to a common marque aesthetic.
The point you make and has ever been thus is in the generic white-goods sector... where VAG goods borrow heavily from each other in the design department, Koreans copy the Europeans who in turn copy the Koreans (that AWFUL new Insignia thing?!), that naff trend of blacking out an angular section of the C pillar...
but in the mid range coupe...and upper reaches of sports cars and supercars...I think it's still pretty good. Nothing wrong with taking a brand icon and 'using' bits of it to get it off the ground..
"Autocar understands the engine will be a 1.8-litre unit derived from the turbocharged 1.6-litre used in the Renault Clio RS, although this is also yet to be confirmed. 250bhp is expected, but a 300bhp performance variant is also on the cards, as is a convertible. What we do know is that the car reaches 62mph from a standstill in 4.5sec."
I'm too poor for either, which is a shame as I love the old A110. Worth waiting for the fast one though?
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