Alpine A110: Aptly-named 'Légende' a modern classic with 248 bhp and a bespoke design
A110 Iteration The Re Alpine Of Geneva Motor A Was Name The Unveiled When Emerged The At Show New
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A110 Légende Alpine |
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★★★★★ |
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price Class="contextmenu |
Expect Region Tag Price €70,000 The Of A In |
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Class="contextmenu engine |
Sweetness Pure |
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The Beast Of Nature Given Two Thorough, Seat The |
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Emphasis">verdict Every now and then in life your heart can be filled with such joy that you are uplifted to a point where, despite all the many and varied ills of the world, it seems that there is great truth in the ancient Chinese proverb which asserts that ‘one joy scatters a hundred griefs.’ Now, I’m sorry if that sounds over-solemn and might even have come from the mouth of an uber-enthusiastic cleric giving it socks from the pulpit of a Sunday morning – and especially so as this is a mere motoring column – but there are times when the mere presence of something automotively beauteous can make your heart soar and fill you full of delight at the marvel of human invention and endeavour. Something that will do just that is with us this week and it is the Alpine A110 Légende. Now, just as something of a primer about Alpine – and no, it’s got nothing to do with the Sunbeam Alpine of yesteryear and nor has it anything to do with the German BMW tuning specialists, Alpina – the company was originally the created in the western French city of Dieppe in Normandy by local garage owner Jean Rédélé in 1954 with the aim of producing lightweight performance cars based on various standard Renault models. The connection with Renault ran deep and Alpine was eventually bought out by the Regie in 1973 and subsequently merged into the Renault Sport outfit in 1976. Huge successes in the rallying field, including winning the World Rally Championship in 1973 with the A110, was topped off with victory at Le Mans in 1978 with the A442B sports prototype. Aside from its rallying and track successes, Alpine also continued manufacturing road cars throughout and the A310 was a particular success, but production ceased in 1996 and the company name largely lay dormant for over 20 years, even though Renault itself ran successfully in Formula 1 both as a manufacturer and an engine supplier. But in 2017, the Alpine name re-emerged at the Geneva Motor Show when a new iteration of the A110 was unveiled, creating a storm of good publicity and a raft of rave reviews once the international motoring press got their hands on it. Suddenly Alpine was a ‘name in the game’ again and when Renault actually realised the depth of heritage they had on their hands, it decided to completely revitalise the brand and in doing so re-named its’ reborn F1 effort after its’ long-ignored child. As the A110 had been the jewel in the crown of Alpine’s initial efforts, the decision to make a new one was a biggie, because failure to make the new one as good as the old one had been would have been cataclysmic. Failure was not in the lexicon of the designers and engineers who came up with the new A110 and I can tell you here and now that they have absolutely nailed this one and this is a car which, have no doubt, will rapidly become a modern classic. It is a gem. The original iteration of the car was designed by Italian Giovanni Michelotti as what was then known as a ‘Berlinette’ but which would later become simply a two-seat sports coupe. It featured a steel backbone chassis with a fibreglass body and a mid-engined layout. This new one, while cleverly paying homage to the design of the original, is a beast of an entirely different colour. It is based on an entirely aluminium chassis and the coachwork is all-aluminium too. The look of the car makes it a very modern take on its predecessor and while retro-look styling is not always successful, in this case, they’ve done a smashing job. A mid-engined layout has also been adopted and this beast utilises 1.8 litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, a seven speed DCT auto ‘box with a wet clutch operation. Unequal length all-round double wishbones feature at each corner and the brakes have 320mm discs all-round with Brembo front brake calipers. With a kerb weight of just over 1,100 kgs, this means the power to weight ratio on offer here is sensational at 226 bhp per tonne and, given that the total output is 248 bhp, you can see that performance is going to be pretty damn hot. And so it is. The 0-100 km/h dash is achieved in just 4.5 seconds and the top speed is limited to 248 km/h. But that’s only half the story. Essentially this car is a competitor for such as the Alfa 4C, the Porsche 718 Cayman, the Lotus Elise, while also giving a nod to such as the Toyota GT86 and various Audi TTs. Truth is that it is better than the lot of them. Perhaps the biggest similarity of the above to what we have here is the 4C. The Alfa has a carbon tub, whereas this one is realised in aluminium, but both, on entry to the cockpit, feel like racing cars, largely because there’s no gear lever and three simple buttons to engage drive, neutral or reverse. Steering wheel mounted paddle-shifters control the gears unless you want to leave the auto transmission to its own devices. On first introduction to such a car, the natural instinct is to simply leave it in auto before trying to be too clever, but once you fire it up and hear it cackle and fizz into life you get that frisson of anticipation that signals you’re behind the wheel of something special. Floor the throttle and the active sport exhaust barks in response and the instant reaction as it revs sweetly towards the 7,000-rpm red line is to snatch another gear before you run out of talent – and another, and another. As you progress through the gears and keep that motor singing, you feel the car settle in and find its mojo. Indeed, the faster you push it, the more it seems to revel in the extremities to which you ask it to go. This is one truly sorted handler and the more questions you ask, the more answers it comes up with. It is an extraordinarily engaging machine and one which is easy to feel at one with. That it feels so good so close or at the limit is testament to the work of the chassis and suspension engineers which has endowed the car with such tingling performance and handling chops. And if you want to act the hooligan, getting it out of shape and opposite locking it to your heart’s content, you can do so without fear that it will bite you. The softly, softly approach taken to the suspension design means that it will bend easily to your will without whip-cracking its latent ferocity on you. Even the aerodynamic package has been designed with intent and the flat underbody and active rear diffuser negates the necessity for any unruly wings or spoilers upsetting the flowing lines and provides a very workable level of grip – until, that is, you decide to unstick it. At this point you realise that the balance of the chassis is just a wonderful work of engineering and the combination with the drivetrain makes this thing deliciously enticing. Sure you could cavil at some of the interior plastics used, but overall the interior is as dashing as the exterior and the ‘luxury’ leather comfort bucket seats do a great job of keeping you and your passenger from discomfort. Without doubt this is the best car I have driven this year and if – as we hope – it is an indication of what’s ahead from Alpine, then we’re in for a very joyous time indeed. | |