If You’re a Sports Car Fan You Should Know About Alpine
Alpine, part of the Renault brand, is a big name in auto sports and has had many victories since its inception in 1955.
Written by Serena Aburahma
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Fans of
auto sports
have their pick of brands to root for. There’s Mercedes and its new F1 safety car, Arrington Performance's cars, and a host of others.One brand that has been influencing car sports for decades is Alpine. This Renault Group brand came from a salesman-turned-racer and has been racking up prizes ever since. Here is the story of its success.
The beginning of Alpine
Jean Rédélé, according to
Renault Group
, started racing cars in 1950. He was 24 years old and held degrees in economics and business.Jean Rédélé was selling cars for Renault at the time and had impressed the CEO of Renault, Pierre Dreyfus, with his innovative commercial ideas. In fact, he was the official dealer for Renault in Dieppe then.
He won races such as the Dieppe Rally and the Tour of Belgium and placed in several other races. It occurred to Rédélé that car racing is a great way to test production models and sell cars.
In 1955, he created the Alpine brand for Renault. It had its headquarters in Dieppe, and it created the Rédélé Spéciale. Jean Claude Galtier drove it to victory in the Mille Miglia.
Alpine became the brand Renault dedicated to innovative and exclusive sports cars. The brand focused on keeping all their cars lightweight, compact, and agile.
Alpine won many accolades, including the World Rally Championship in 1973 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978.
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How Alpine rolls now
Alpine's current line of cars is the A110. This line-up started in 2018. The A110 original is a light, sleek model that got its inspiration from Alpine's iconic Berlinette. This link to the brand's past means it keeps the unique silhouette of Alpine cars.
The Alpine A110 GT is a Grand Tourisme sport coupe. It is as compact and agile as the original and works well for everyday and long-distance driving.
The A110 S is the performance version of their line sporting a spoiler and is considered the top of the range.
Alpine designs cars specifically for GT4 and Rally competitions, and their own team, Signatech Alpine, won the World Endurance Championship in 2016 and 2019. Their team also won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2016, 2018, and 2019.
Naturally, they also have a Formula 1 team. Alpine created their team in 2021, and now they are one of the few full-fledged factory teams. They partnered with Signatech to create the Alpine Elf Europa Cup and Alpine Elf Matmut Endurance Team too.
They continue to participate in rally and endurance races. However, their competition in Formula 1 races is central to their motorsports strategy.
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What’s next for Alpine?
In 2021, Alpine gathered Alpine Cars, Renault Sport Cars, and Renault Sport Racing under one banner. They plan on making the Alpine branch the group dedicated to creating innovative sports cars for the future.
They are hoping to create a generation of 100% electric sports cars. Groupe Renault will contribute innovations in aerodynamics, energy management, safety, and connectivity solutions.
They will take information from their Formula 1 team data hoping it will give their teams and cars an advantage.
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