Alpine A110


The Alpine A110 is a sports car produced by French automobile manufacturer Alpine from 1961 to 1977. The car was styled as a "Berlinette", which in the post-WWII era refers to a small enclosed two-door Berline, better-known as a coupé. The Alpine A110 succeeded the earlier A108. The car was powered by a succession of Renault engines. A modern iteration of the A110 was introduced in 2017 developed under Renault-Nissan partnership.

History

Launched in 1961 the A110, like previous road-going Alpines, used many Renault parts, including engines. While its predecessor the A108 was designed around Dauphine components, the A110 was updated to use R8 parts. Unlike the A108, which was available first as a cabriolet and only later as a coupé, the A110 was available first as a Berlinette and then as a cabriolet. The most obvious external difference with the A108 coupé was restyled rear bodywork. Done to accommodate the A110's larger engine, this change gave the car a more aggressive look. Like the A108, the A110 featured a steel backbone chassis and a fiberglass body. The A110 was originally offered with 1.1 L R8 Major or R8 Gordini engines. The Gordini engine has a power output of SAE at 6,500 rpm.
The A110 achieved most of its fame in the early 1970s as a successful rally car. After winning several rallies in France in the late 1960s with the cast-iron R8 Gordini Cléon-Fonte engines the car was fitted with the aluminium-block Cléon-Alu from the Renault 16 TS. With two twin-venturi Weber 45 carburetors, the TS engine has a power output of DIN at 6,000 rpm. This allowed the production 1600S to attain a top speed of. The long-wheelbase Alpine A108 2+2 Coupé was replaced with the new, restyled 2+2 Coupé based on the A110 mechanicals called the A110 GT4.
The car achieved international fame during the 1970–1972 seasons competing in the newly created International Championship for Manufacturers, winning several events around Europe, earning a reputation as one of the strongest rally cars of its time. Notable performances included a victory in the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally with Swedish driver Ove Andersson.
With the buy-out of Alpine by Renault complete, the International Championship was replaced by the World Rally Championship for 1973, at which time Renault elected to compete with the A110. With a team featuring Bernard Darniche, Jean-Pierre Nicolas and Jean-Luc Thérier as permanent drivers and "guest stars" like Jean-Claude Andruet the A110 won most of the races where the works team was entered, making Alpine the first World Rally Champion. Later competition-spec A110s received engines of up to 1.8 litres.
As well as being built at Alpine's own Dieppe factory, versions of the A110 were built under license by various other vehicle manufacturers around the world. From 1965 to 1974 the car was produced in Mexico under the name "Dinalpin" by Diesel Nacional, who also produced Renault vehicles. From 1967 to 1969, the A110 was also produced in Bulgaria under the name "Bulgaralpine" by a partnership formed between SPC Metalhim and ETO Bulet, whose collaboration also resulted in the production of the Bulgarrenault.
In Spain, Alpine A110 were produced by FASA in Valladolid between 1967 and a 1978. FASA manufactured version A110 1100 with 1108 cc engines, version A110 1300 with 1289 cc engines, and version A110 1400 with 1397 cc engines.
In 1974, the mid-engine Lancia Stratos which was the first car designed specifically for rally racing, was operational and homologated. At the same time it was obvious that the rear-engine A110 was nearing the limits of its development potential. The adoption of fuel injection brought no performance increase. On some cars, a DOHC 16-valve head was fitted to the engine, but it proved unreliable. Chassis modifications, such as the usage of the A310's double wishbone rear suspension, homologated with the A110 1600SC, also failed to increase performance. On the international stage the Stratos proved to be the "ultimate weapon", making the A110, as well as many other rally cars, soon obsolete. The A110 is still seen in events such as Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique.
In 2012, to mark the 50th anniversary of the A110, Renault produced a concept car called the A110-50. The modern version of the A110 was introduced by Renault in 2017.

Engines

The A110 was fitted with a variety of engine over its production life-span. Engines used on production cars included the following:
NameYearModelEngine descriptionTypeDisplacementPower
A110 9561963-1965R8 Cléon-Fonte689956 cc55 hp SAE
A110 1100 «70»1964-19691100 VAR8 Major Cléon-Fonte6881,108 cc66 hp SAE
A110 1100 «100»1965-19681100 VBR8 Gordini Cléon-Fonte8041,108 cc95 hp SAE
A110 1300 «Super» / S1966-19711300 VBTuned R8 Gordini Cléon-Fonte8041,296 cc120 hp SAE
A110 1300 / 1300 G1967-19711300 VAStock R8 Gordini 1300 Cléon-Fonte8121,255 cc105 hp SAE
A110 15001967-19681500 VAR16 Cléon-Alu from Lotus EuropaA1K1,470 cc82 hp SAE
A110 16001969-19701600 VAStock R16 TS Cléon-Alu807-241,565 cc102 hp SAE
A110 V85 / 13001970-19761300 VCR12 TS Cléon-Fonte810-301,289 cc81 hp SAE
A110 1600S1970-19731600 VBTuned R16 TS Cléon-Alu807-241,565 cc138 hp SAE
A110 1600S1973-19751600 VC/SCR17 TS Cléon-Alu844–321,605 cc140 hp SAE
A110 1600S SI1974-19751600 VDR17 TS Cléon-Alu with injection.844-341,605 cc140 hp SAE
A110 1600S SX1976-19771600 VH Stock R16 TX Cléon-Alu8431,647 cc92 hp

Specifications A110 Berlinette (1966)

Engine
Engine: Renault Straight-4
Power output: SAE
Compression ratio: 9.6
Chassis/Body
Overall length:
Overall width:
Height:
Turning circle:
Wheelbase:
Front track:
Rear track:
Dry weight:
Performance:
Top speed:
Unique characteristics:
Due to the rear-mounted engine there was no air-intake grille on the front of the body. Air was scooped from below the chassis and exhausted through near-horizontal openings on the rear fenders above and aft of the rear wheels for cooling.

Specifications A110 1600 Si (1973–75)

Engine

Type: Renault Electronic fuel injected Inline-four engine
Bore x stroke:
Power output: SAE DIN at 6,250 rpm
Torque:
at 5,450 rpm.
Gearbox

5-speed manual
Chassis/Body
Chassis: Steel backbone
Body Panels: Fiberglass
Curb weight :
Length:
Width:
Wheelbase:
Track : /
Height:
Performance
Top speed:

WRC Victories

No.EventSeasonDriverCo-driver
1 42ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo1973 Jean-Claude Andruet Michèle 'Biche' Petit
2 7º TAP Rallye de Portugal1973 Jean-Luc Thérier Jacques Jaubert
3 16ème Rallye du Maroc1973 Bernard Darniche Alain Mahé
4 21st Acropolis Rally1973 Jean-Luc Thérier Christian Delferrier
5 15º Rallye Sanremo1973 Jean-Luc Thérier Jacques Jaubert
6 17ème Tour de Corse1973 Jean-Pierre Nicolas Michel Vial