Alpine A610: Spotted
Sure, it's done 127,000 miles. But this is one old Alpine you might actually drive
Some of you may remember the near brand new Alpine A610 we picked out of the classifieds a couple of years ago. Well, it's back for sale for £56,565, some £16,750 more, and with less than a thousand extra miles on its odometer. There's an even lower mileage A610 on the classifieds up for a similar fee at the same dealer but, today, we're drawn to the third and final car listed. And not just because it's close to half the price.
But before we get to that, first let's look back at the A610. Because where today's A110 is the first of a new breed of Alpines, the A610 was the last of the old. It was the last one from the Dieppe car maker you could get with a manual gearbox, so that makes it very special, plus it used a turbocharged V6 engine, so it sounded lovely and made the four-cylinder Porsche 944 look comparably unexotic.
As the final iteration of a lineage that included the Alpine A310 and then Renault Alpine GTA, which was the first car to be produced under the former brand's ownership, the following A610 was essentially the culmination of Alpine's rear-mid-engined, rear-wheel drive 2+2 formula. It stuck with a V6 like earlier variants, but the addition of modern - by 1990s standards - turbocharging pushed power up to 253hp from the 3.0-litre motor.
If you were effective with the car's five-speed manual gearbox, the A610 could sprint from 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds and on to a 165mph top speed. This was all helped by the car's extensive use of fibreglass and its slippery shape, which made it faster than the equivalent steel-bodied 944. This, added to the A610's rarity, has ensured the model ranks as desirably as 911s from the same era and remains a popular choice for collectors.
Of the 68 right-hand drive cars made between 1991 and 1995, only three exist on our classifieds, with the two the aforementioned sub-3,000-mile minters likely to draw the most attention. Our Spotted has lived a very different life, having accumulated 127,303 miles since it was made in 1993. Kudos to the former owners who used such an excellent sports car as its maker intended.
No doubt those miles would have taken their toll on our metallic blue car, but the latest owner has spent the past five years fully restoring it with an engine rebuild and suspension overhaul. It's said to be rust free with bodywork that's "near perfect", which should quell any concerns of mileage-related skin blemishes. We also like that the owner's only reason for selling is a lack of garage space, thanks to the arrival of a new project car. Sounds like a proper PHer!
What you could be looking at, then, is the only genuinely usable A610 on the PH classifieds. The other two are stunning, museum-worthy cars, but would anyone dare to drive such immaculate examples properly? We suspect not. This high miler, on the other hand, comes in arguably as good running order, but without the prospect of guilt and paranoia should you take it out for a blast one sunny Sunday afternoon. That, some may agree, is the most valuable thing.
SPECIFICATIONS - ALPINE A610
Engine: 2,975cc, V6 turbocharged
Transmission: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 253@5,750rpm
Torque (lb ft): 258@2,900rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1993
Recorded mileage: 127,303
Price new: N/A
Price now: £29,945
See the original advert here.
Spare parts must be tricky and expensive to come by.
That price for that mileage is a joke mind. I dont mind a well used car, but with that mileage it has been used all year round and with early 90s French build & reliability, it would probably makes my 80s Lotus look reliable :-)
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