Jean Rédélé founded the marque in Dieppe in 1952. Having build some prototypes for racing, he started production in 1956 with the 4cv Renault-based Alpine A106, followed by the "Mille Miles". Two new models were presented in 1958 the A108 roadster and the "Tour de France" with a top speed of 112 mph. From 1959 the Alpine was built under license in Brazil by Interlagos. At the beginning of the 1960s Rédelé presented a new car the long-lived Alpine A 110, which began with Dauphine or Dauphine-Gordini engines, and was then R8 and R8 Gordini engined. With the latter engine, the car could reach 130 mph. The car was later equipped with Renault engines such as the 1108 cc and 1296 cc Renault-Gordini, R16 TS and R12 Gordini. Alpine had many victories in rallies, as well as in road racing, and was a regular entrant at Le Mans for many years. The R16 TS engined Alpine A 310 presented in 1971 eventually supplanted the A 110. A 2664cc A 310 V6 subsequently became available. In 1976 Alpine and Renault jointly presented the Renault 5 Alpine. |