Renault Alpine A110-50 – a homage to the Berlinette

It’s pretty much confirmed that Renault is set to resurrect the hallowed Alpine name as reported, given the appearance of the Alpine A110-50 concept, which the company says has been developed to celebrate 50 years of the legendary Alpine A110, or the Berlinette.

The 4.33 metre-long car, which made its public debut at Monaco, is claimed to translate the most characteristic design features of the original A110, mixed along with cues taken from the company’s new design language as first seen in the Dezir concept from Paris in 2010.

Key elements include carbon-fibre bodywork – built by Faster – that wears a new shade of blue which reinterprets the famous original ‘Alpine Blue’ hue, as well as opening panels that pays homage to the GTs of old, with scissor doors, a bonnet hinged at the front and the engine bay cover opening towards the rear.

The two-seater isn’t all about flash, of course. Developed on the same technical platform as Mégane Trophy, the Alpine A110-50 – which sits on a tubular 25CD4S steel chassis – has a wheelbase identical to the former at 2,625mm, while the track is slightly wider at 1,680mm front and 1,690mm rear.

Powering the car is a Renault V4Y 3.5 litre 24-valve V6, mounted in a mid-rear position. With 400 hp at 7,200 rpm and 422 Nm of torque at 6,200 rpm on call, the lump is plenty mule-ish, considering the car only weighs in at 880 kg.

The mill is mated to a semi-automatic six-speed sequential gearbox, replete with a LSD with adjustable pre-loading and a cerametallic 184 mm diameter twin-plate clutch. In order to improve driver feedback, driving aids like ABS and traction control are not to be found in the rear-wheel drive machine.

Other mech bits include a braking system that features 356 mm diameter steel discs and AP Racing six-pot calipers at the front and 330 mm diameter discs and four-piston calipers at the rear, as well as a suspension system with Sachs dampers mounted directly onto the lower wishbones and which can be adjusted in compression and extension. The system also offers numerous different set-up options, from castor, camber and alignment to ride height and anti-roll.

The car features 21-inch wheels, with a single central nut, specific to it, and the 8 x 21 front and 9.5 x 21 rear wheels are wrapped with road-homologated 245-35 x 21 front and 265-35 x 21 rear Michelin rubbers.

Inside the concept, black is the dominant shade, peppered with different, attractive shades of blue. Tasty bits include a driver’s seat with embroidered ‘Renault Alpine A110-50’ badging, Sabelt full harness belts and a Renault Design-created steering wheel that incorporates a colour screen and houses the same technology as a Formula Renault 3.5 single-seater to provide drivers with all the information they need.

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