Alpine Motor Cars

Monsieur Alpine, Jean Rédélé, born in 1922 in Dieppe, France, was a life long car enthusiast and mechanic. He studied in Paris as a young man before establishing a car dealership in his home town, selling Renaults. A keen and competitive rally driver, Rédélé entered his Renault 4 CV in various motorsport events throughout the early Fifties, upgrading his car with each passing year.

Rédélé achieved a series of class wins in famous motorsport events such as the Mille Miglia road race and the Coupe des Alpes Rally. Having identified a gap in the market, and encouraged by his motorsport successes, Rédélé established his sports car company in 1955. He chose the name Alpine in tribute to the Critérium des Alpes rally which was staged in the Alps mountain range in the south of France each year.

Monsieur Alpine Jean Rédélé with an Alpine A110

The tight, twisty Alpine roads gave Rédélé not only his company's name; they also determined the fundamental set of technical principles that would define every Alpine car. Rédélé recognised that it wasn't outright power or brute force that made a car quick on a twisty rally stage, but light weight, compact dimensions and agility.

His first car was the Alpine A106, which was based on the Renault 4 CV chassis. In 1958 his second car, the A108, arrived with a chassis all of its own, but it wasn't until the A110 Berlinette debuted in 1962 that his fledgling company really began to find its feet. By now Alpine and Renault were close collaborators, Alpine cars being sold and serviced by Renault dealerships.

Alpine A110 participating in the Coupe des Alpes Rally

By the early Seventies, Alpine was a major force in top-flight rally competition. In 1971 Alpine won the world famous Monte Carlo Rally for the first time, then again in 1973. The company went on to win the FIA World Rally Championship Manufacturers' title later that year, its finest achievement to date.

Proving the performance, agility and durability of his cars in the crucible of motorsport was of utmost importance to Jean Rédélé. Although Alpine is perhaps best known for its rallying exploits in the Sixties and Seventies and for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978, the company has competed right across the motorsport spectrum.

Alpine A110 Production

Alpine has built no fewer than 70 single seater racing cars, including two Formula One racers, and some 37 sports prototypes for endurance racing. The company also counts several rallycross championships to its credit, while amateur competitors have recorded in excess of 1000 individual victories in hill climbs and club racing events.

Due to all these racing successes, Alpine's road car sales were growing and Rédélé built a dedicated factory in Dieppe in 1969 to keep up with demand. In 1971 the replacement for A110, the A310, entered production. Two years later, Alpine was acquired by Groupe Renault. The factory continued to release new and innovative road cars throughout the Seventies and Eighties, including the A310 V6 and the GTA.

Renault Alpine A310

Alpine production would eventually cease in 1995. More than 30,000 Alpine road cars had been built across 40 years, along with more than 100 single-seater and prototype racing cars. Today, passionate Alpine owners keep the brand alive across the globe by forming owners' clubs and campaigning various Alpine models in historic motorsport events.

Alpine founder Jean Rédélé once commented: 'I chose the name Alpine for my company because for me, this is an adjectie that epitomises the pleasure of driving on mountain roads. The most fun I ever had behind the wheel was driving through the Alps in my five-speed 4 CV, and it was essential for me that my customers should experience this same level of enjoyment in the car I wanted to build.

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