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For a while, TTAC has been following rumors that Renault may be reviving is storied Alpine brand. Renault will do it, together with another motor celebrity, Caterham.
Renault and Caterham will start a joint venture to make sports cars. Renault and Caterham will each own half of the resurrected Automobiles Alpine Renault company, which will change its name to Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham. The company will be managed by Bernard Ollivier, a Renault director.
Each company will launch its own vehicle within the next three to four years.
18 Comments on “Renault And Caterham Join Forces, Resurrect Alpine...”
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Though we’ll probably never see these cars stateside, it’s nice to see another French company making gorgeous cars. I look forward to seeing what this team-up can bring to the show.
This is only about the eighth or eleventeenth time Renault has talked about “resurrecting the Alpine” – always about two or three years away. While I still hope they follow through _this_ time, I am not holding my breath. And having driven an Alpine A310 when I spent some time in Europe in the 90’s, I can tell you it wasn’t that great. It was rare and decent looking, but didn’t drive any better than a decently sorted 911 or a Supra. Certainly not half as nice as an NSX, which in Europe was even more rare.
Sweet! Bring back the A110 with the yellow headlights…crud, I think there are regulations regarding headlight colors.
Agreed, bring them back. My ’98 Hyundai Accent had yellow driving lights from the factory. They were amazing in a snowstorm. I think I’ll try and find yellow bulbs for my current car.
You know of course that the French yellow headlights phenomenon happened prescient due to government headlight regulation ;)
It was implemented between the wars to identify French registered cars at night. Later it was pitched as a safety thing. In pitch black environments or with precipitation they are great. With any other ambient lighting around they get overwhelmed pretty quick.
The prototype new Alpine doesn’t really look that good, particularly the big fog light cut-outs in the nose.
Take that, Lotus.
Tony Fernandes is indeed one astute business man.
So Caterham will now build another old, outdated and obsolete sports car?
Sign me up. I can’t wait to see this. An Alpine with modern motors should be epic.
The strange thing is that the press releases says that “each company” will introduce a model within four years. Are there going to be two completely independent development and/or manufacturing groups within this joint venture, sharing just a brand name?
I believe it will be something in line with what Toyota and Subaru did. There will be an Alpine and a Caterham, but they will share platforms and drivetrains.
So nobody’s worried about over-capacity or a Europe already crowded with too many brands, eh?
Brands don’t affect overcapacity, manufacturers do.
Anyway, I think this will be a small niche operation with no appreciable impact on the continent’s total capacity.
Any rumors on what the car(s) will look like? The Alpine in the pic sure looks like it can’t pass European pedestrian safety standards.
The original was rear engine, so the sloping nose wouldn’t be a problem.
The Alpine in the picture is more than thirty years old; it won’t look much like that.
It’s been sounding like they are going to do a $35K-$55K sports car to capture the old Elise market.
I hope they can get it through US crash testing.
Well, some good news out of the European auto industry for once. Lancias may become badge-swapped Chryslers, but at least there will be new Alpines and newer and better Caterhams.
Didn’t Clarkson praise the Alpine highly (the 90s one) in the same review as the Venturi Atlantique (one of my favorite non-US-90s cars).