Production Alpine coupe revealed via design patents?

Here are design patent images of what looks like a production version of the Alpine Celebration Concept that made its debut at Le Mans earlier this month. The design surfaced via the World Intellectual Property Organization and dates back to December 2014, although they were only recently published.

The images show a coupe that largely similar to the Alpine Celebration Concept, but with a slightly revised rear end. The concept car’s protruding wing and rear diffuser with twin pipes and F1-style fog lamp have been deleted, and in the latter’s place is a lower rear bumper with a large central exhaust pipe.

The concept features spotlights sitting high on the front bumper, inspired by the classic Alpine A110 Berlinetta, and we see the LED lighting signatures here for the first time. They look like insects when not lighted up! The rear lamps, which are slim and a little F-Type-like, have ‘X’ graphics.

The production Alpine sports car is set to debut next year as a rival to the Porsche Boxster and Audi TT. It will be the flagship and foundation of the reborn brand.

“The challenge with Alpine is to somehow fill this gap of more than 20 years and do a product that is believable. The car really needs to create the foundation of Alpine. We need to create the Porsche 911 of Alpine. If we do that properly, then we can consider cars like the Panamera,” said Renault design boss Laurens van den Acker.

What can we expect of the finished article? “A real Alpine means the DNA of Alpine, which is light, fast and fun to drive. So our proposition with Alpine Celebration is that we think a new Alpine should be – firstly, a modern car, with a modern design and modern technology. Secondly, a car which also shows the heritage,” Alpine boss Bernard Olliver told Autocar UK.

“If you see our car, you can see this car will be useable daily. The car will be elegant, with the French idea of elegance. Simple, fluid, and very uncomplicated. It will be special. So we think these topics are not in the market today. So we have our place,” he added.

By the way, Alpine is no longer a JV with Caterham after Renault bought out the British brand’s stake.

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