The History of Alpine A-110
Author: admin
In 1961, the Alpine A110 made its introduction, as an improved and updated A108. Most of the Alpines of the time made use of Renault parts that are mass-produced. The A-110′s predecessor the A-108 was designed for Dauphine components, while the A-110 was the updated version made to use the R8 parts. The A-110 was first available with “Berlinetta” body works then with Cabriolet.
The A-110′s fiberglass body sat on a chassis with a backbone of steel, the Lotus Elan influenced this design. The Alpine designers used Colin Chapman as a primary origin for their inspiration. The A-110 was outfitted with a 1.1 l R8 Major or with R8 Gordini engines, which had 95 hp SAE at 6500 rpm.
The engine is why, early in the 1970s, it achieved the majority of its renown as a winning rally car. This was after the 1960s when the A-110 won a number of French rallies using the iron cast R8 Gordini engines. This car was then outfitted with the Renault 16 TS engine, aluminium block. With two dual-chamber Weber 45 carburetor, this engine was capable of 125 hp DIN at 6000 rpm, which is why it reached 130 mph in speed.
In the course of the 1970 through 1972 racing seasons, the car gained international fame when it attended the new International Championship for Manufacturers and won a number of events throughout Europe. Among the most noteworthy was the car’s victory in the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally driven by the Swedish Ove Andersson.
In 1973, Alpine was bought out by Renault and the International Championship, at this time, was replaced with the World Rally Championship. Renault competed with the A-110, the team consisted of Jean-Pierre Nicolas, Bernard Darniche, and Jean-Luc Therier as the permanent drivers. Once in a while, there would be “guest stars” drivers such as Jean-Claude Andruet who had won the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally. This made the Alpine the first of the World Rally champions. Around the world, there were other manufacturers of the Alpine, using various other names. Like in Brazil, it was Interlagos, which was driven by Emerson Fittipaldi in a few races. In Mexico, from 1965 through 1974, it was the Dinalpin, produced by Diesel Nacional that, by the way, also manufactured the Renault cars. In Bulgaria, from 1967 through 1969, the Alpine A-110 was produced and called the Bulgaralpine. This car was produced through the partnership of ETO Bulet and SPC Metalhim, this partnership also produced the Bulgarrenault.
By 1974, the Alpine A-110 had reached its end of being developed any further. At first A-110 was outfitted with fuel injection but it didn’t produce any further performance improvements, then the DOHC 16-valve head was tried but that was unreliable. Next was a chassis modification using an A310 double wishbone rear suspension along with A-110 1600SC but that was no better.
Related Posts
Tags: Alpine A 110, Alpine A110, Aluminium Block, Classics, Colin Chapman, Dual Chamber, Fiberglass Body, International Fame, Jean Pierre Nicolas, Lotus Elan, Monte Carlo Rally, R8 Major, Rally Car, Rally Championship, Renault 16, Weber 45, World Rally Championship