RE: Alpine A610: Spotted

[spikyone]

BIRMA said:

Fabulous cars, I had one and at the same time had a V8 Esprit. They both shared the same gearbox although the one in the A610 always felt nicer but I guess Alpine got first dibs on the Renault gearboxes perhaps.
I even managed to get mine around the full LeMans track in 2012 getting it flat out down the Mulsanne Straight a few times thanks to the Renault 50th Anniversary Event.
Both cars had their endearing characteristics although I did use the Alpine a bit more.

What a lovely pair of cars, those photos alone have put a big silly grin on my face. All the pop-up headlights a man could ever need.

[BIRMA]

MetA said:

and were capable cars.
Tim Harvey LOVED his , Renault tried to give him a Laguna as comapny car when he signed with BTCC team.
He held out , refusing to sign until they offered him an A610.

https://youtu.be/6S64vLkogmg

The car in my photo with the Lotus (above) was an ex Tim Harvey car, I did make a copy of the original registration document. Mine was not the one he crashed by all accounts.

Excellent video by the way, good find.

Edited by BIRMA on Thursday 7th February 13:33

Edited by BIRMA on Thursday 7th February 18:59

[blade7]

Not sure why the author is comparing the A610 to a 944. The 944 turbo coupe was done and dusted 2 years earlier. Even with the fibreglass body the Renault weighed the same as the Porsche. And despite having a bigger V6 engine, it wasn't any faster.

[Gameface]

[ballans]

Gameface said:

Didn’t Ken Masters in Howard’s way have one too?

[biggbn]

There was a venturi atlantique too, if memory serves, more espirit like but similar mechanical?

[alpgta]

127K... positively fresh!

[anonymous-user]

Eagle-eyed viewers will note that the red car (above) has the laterearlier fixed headlamps rather than pop-ups (as on the yellow car)....

Earliest cars were badged "Renault" and towards the end of the run rights were obtained for use of the "Alpine " name in UK. (It had been owned by Chrysler who sold a frumpy hatchback called Alpine.)

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 7th February 16:42

[rooflover]

I had a GTA v6 Turbo in red too! Absolutely loved it. Incredibly reliable, handled really well and had 4 decent seats. I think the rear tyres were 345 section. Shame about the dash.

[rooflover]

[quote=rockin]Eagle-eyed viewers will note that the red car (above) has the later fixed headlamps rather than pop-ups (as on the yellow car)....

Other way around. The GTA and GTA V6 turbos did not have pop up headlamps that was on the next model the A610.

[RJG46]

ruprechtmonkeyboy said:

The average mileage for a car of this age would be 250k+!

So it has low mileage for the year.

Clearly a car people enjoy driving and are not scared to use. Good sign.

[anonymous-user]

rooflover said:

The GTA and GTA V6 turbos did not have pop up headlamps that was on the next model the A610.

Interesting. Opposite way round to Honda NSX! NSX started with pop-ups and dropped them later.

[JMF894]

Don't mind these but for my 30k i'd want something I can use VERY often and VERY enthusiastically without worrying about reliability/parts availability etc

[dunnoreally]

rockin said:

(It had been owned by Chrysler who sold a frumpy hatchback called Alpine.)

I'm guessing that was a throwback from the old Sunbeam Alpine name they inherited from Rootes Group?

[clee]

I rebuilt the engine on this one + a load more back in 2011. Current owner has since spent a lot more time on it more recently.
I've restored more of these than I care to think about and currently have 4 in progress.
https://www.renaultalpine.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&...

[clee]

griffdude said:

Sometimes hillclimb against one of these. Nice looking bit of kit but has taken a lot of developement to be quick-ish.

Tim J . I rebuilt his A610 engine a few years ago but he's taken the 610 as far as he wanted to and now has a GTA I supplied that has gone full track but still road legal.

[anonymous-user]

dunnoreally said:

rockin said:

It (the name Alpine) had been owned by Chrysler who sold a frumpy hatchback called Alpine.

I'm guessing that was a throwback from the old Sunbeam Alpine name they inherited from Rootes Group?

Exactly right. Who could forget the splendour of the "Talbot" brand revival from around the same era. Good grief. And then they went on to release the "Sunbeam Lotus", which at least provided an opportunity for Lotus to properly develop the engine already installed in early Lotus Esprit,

"The Chrysler Sunbeam is a small supermini three-door hatchback manufactured by Chrysler Europe at the former Rootes Group factory in Linwood, Scotland from 1977 to 1981. The Sunbeam's development was funded by a British government grant with the aim of keeping the Linwood plant running, and the small car was based on the larger Hillman Avenger, also manufactured there. After the takeover of Chrysler's European operations by PSA [Peugeot etc], the model was renamed "Talbot Sunbeam" and continued in production until 1981. A Talbot Sunbeam Lotus version was successful in rallying and won the World Rally Championship manufacturers' title for Talbot in 1981." - Wikipedia

[s m]

clee said:

griffdude said:

Sometimes hillclimb against one of these. Nice looking bit of kit but has taken a lot of developement to be quick-ish.

Tim J . I rebuilt his A610 engine a few years ago but he's taken the 610 as far as he wanted to and now has a GTA I supplied that has gone full track but still road legal.

I’ve seen one of these at our local hill climb

[Johnston]

It's funny that people say £30k is a lot for a genuinely rare exotic classic supercar (this is when people are paying £90k for an Escort or £250k for a Porsche 911, both of which in excess of 1 million cars have been produced). There were only ever 800 odd A610's made in total, so it's actually a far rarer car than a Ferrari F40 or a Lamborghini Countach (not that I am comparing the Alpine with these cars, just simply stating you are twice as likely to see a Countach on the road as an A610!).

£30k will buy you a top of the range Fiesta these days that will depreciate massively in value. The A610 will only appreciate, making it a far better buy. Sadly, parts supply in the UK is a problem but there are always options and it is the same for many 25 years old cars that manufacturers no longer support.

JMF894 said:

Don't mind these but for my 30k i'd want something I can use VERY often and VERY enthusiastically without worrying about reliability/parts availability etc

[dinkel]

One of my better drives last year: what a car!