Berlinette Tour de France 1500

From this year the Alpine's nose is decorated with a Renault badge. In return their cars will be sold throughout the large company's network of 135 distributors.
The range goes from the 1100 costing 17.890 francs up to the 1300 Super at 27.200 F. These however are the 'base' prices. If you want your Alpine to look like the one exhibited at the Paris show last year, an extensive list of optional equipment is available at an extra cost. They are divided into two categories: "confort" and "performances". There is a heated windscreen (385 F) , reclining seats (150 F), wood or leather steering wheel (200 or 300 F), radio (679 F) , iodine headlights built into the front part of the body (480 F), five-speed gearbox (950 F), Mille Miles suspension (295 F), special transmission (395 F), racing exhaust system (450 F), engine modification for racing (900 F), additional fuel tank (850 F), radiator in the front with air intake under the bumper (1350 F), enlarged, 5-litre oil sump (395 F), power brakes (580 F) and so-called GTH option reserved for the 1149 cc engine (2400 F).
There is also the 1500 with a Renault R16 engine. This unit is much larger than any other used by Alpine, hence it is only available with a front radiator. Strangely this version sits somewhere in the middle of the range, developing a modest 90 bhp and costing 20.690 francs. Compared to the standard R16 the Alpine engine has modified ignition, dual Solex carburettor and compression ratio increased from 8.6 to 10.5:1. The goal that engineers had in mind was not to obtain breathtaking performance but to create a vehicle that is flexible and easy to drive in city traffic but still fast enough on the motorway.

Assembly of the Tour de France was launched in Spain and in ... Bulgaria. Besides France these cars are also built in Mexico. Production at the Brazilian Kaiser factory ended last year.

The Paris Motor Show in October saw the debut of the Alpine racing car equipped with an all new V-8 3-litre engine designed by d'Amédée Gordini.

Od tego roku przód Alpine zdobi romboidalny znaczek Renault. Na podstawie zawartej umowy aute te rozprowadzane są w sieci sprzedaży największego francuskiego producenta.
Tegoroczna oferta obejmuje sześć silników: począwszy od 1100, który kosztuje 17890 franków aż do 1300 Super, za który trzeba zapłacić 27200 franków. Są to jednak ceny modeli standardowych. Jeśli nabywca chce żeby jego auto wyglądało tak jak to wystawione na ubiegłorocznym salonie w Paryżu, musi sięgnąć do listy wyposażenia dodatkowego. Jest ona podzielona na dwie kategorie: "komfort" i "osiągi". Dostępne jest ogrzewanie przedniej szyby (385 F), rozkładane fotele (150 F), drewniane lub skórzane koło kierownicy (200 lub 300 F), radio (679 F), jodowe reflektory wbudowane w maskę (480 F), pięciobiegowa skrzynka przekładniowa (950 F), zawieszenie typu Mille Miles (295 F), specjalna przekładnia główna (395 F), rajdowy układ wydechowy (450 F), modyfikacja silnika do wyścigów (900 F), dodatkowy zbiornik paliwa (850 F), chłodnica umieszczona z przodu z wlotem powietrza pod zderzakiem (1350 F), powiększona miska olejowa (395 F), wspomaganie hamulców (580 F) oraz tzw przeróbka GTH z silnikem 1149 cm³ (2400 F).
Ponadto pojawiła się wersja 1500 z silnikiem Renault R16. Jednostka ta jest większa niż pozostałe silniki używane przez Alpine, dlatego dostępna jest jest wyłącznie z chłodnicą umieszczoną z przodu pojazdu. Mimo największej pojemności model ten znajduje się pośrodku oferty ze skromą mocą 90 KM i ceną 20690 franków. W porównaniu z wersją wyjściową R16 w silniku zmieniono układ zapłonowy, zastosowano dwugardzielowy gaźnik Solex oraz podwyższono stopień sprężania z 8,6 do 10,5:1. Celem konstuktorów nie było "wyciśnięcie" maksymalnej mocy lecz zapewniene większej elastyczności w ruchu miejskim przy zachowaniu wysokich osiągów na autostradzie.

Montaż Alpine rozpoczęto w Hiszpanii i w... Bułgarii. Poza Francją samochody te powstają jeszcze w Meksyku. Produkcja w brazylijskich zakładach Kaisera zakończyła się w ubiegłym roku.

Alpine Cabriolet

Alpine Coupé 2+2

Jean Rédélé applied for a government loan of six million francs to built France's first Formula 1 car, but it was granted to Matra, whose F2 and F3 cars are doing much better on the racing tracks.
Although Alpine cars are very successful in local rallies, thy didn't appear in the most important international Rallye Monte Carlo in January.

Alpine at London Racing Car Show in January.

In July the new V8 engine turned over for the first time.

The new 3-litre 90° V-8 cyl. engine by d'Amédée Gordini is designed to be used in competition cars and ultimately in Formula 1. In its principles this unit is made of two already known 4-cylinder Gordini engines with a common crankshaft. Very compact, it has four camshafts driven by a system of sprockets and two chains but has only two valves per cylinder. It still uses conventional ignition and carburettors. At this early stage of development this 2986 cc unit gives 310 bhp at 7500 rpm having a compression ratio 10.5:1. The potential competitors in Formula 1 has the power of 405-415 bhp.

Alpine 3000 at Paris Motor Show in October.

Just two weeks after being assembled on 15th of October the Alpine 3000 made its tack debut at the 1000 Kilomètres de Paris race in Montlhéry. The tubular frame came from the A-210 and has been modified to accommodate the much larger V8 engine. Despite some trouble with the gearbox the new A-211 managed to finish the race in 7th place, behind two Fords, three Ferraris and a Porsche.

On 8th of April six Alpines arrived at Le Mans for traditional test days. Five prototypes were equipped with the new 4-cylinder 1470 cc 2-ohc Gordini engines developing nearly 150 bhp. Mauro Bianchi lapped the track in record breaking time of just under 4 minutes - 3'58.6'' exactly, with the average speed of 203.1 km/h. He was followed closely by Vinatier in 4'9'' with an average speed of 194.617 km/h. The race looks promising for Alpine.

Above and right: Vinatier (#49) and Bianchi (#30) at Le Mans during test days on 8th and 9th of April.

No victory at Le Mans for Alpine this year. It is however a great achievement for such a young company to have four cars out of sixteen finishing this extremely demanding event. Jean Rédélé built his first car just twelve years ago and now his company is here among such famuos makers as Ford, Ferrari and Porsche.

Alpine A 210, chassis #1725, engine: Renault 1296 cm³ (Henri Grandsire / José Rosinski) by Ecurie Savin Calberson at 24h Le Mans.

Alpine A 210, chassis #1721, engine: Renault 1296 cm³ (Roger de Lageneste / Jacques Cheinisse) by Ecurie Savin Calberson at 24h Le Mans.

Alpine A 210, chassis #1723, engine: Renault 1296 cm³ (André de Cortanze / André le Guellec) by Ecurie Savin Calberson at 24h Le Mans.

A-110 Delageneste / Rosinski at Targa Florio.

Targa Florio. A-110 Jean-François Piot / Gérard Larrousse (Société des Automobiles Alpine).

Targa Florio. A-210 Mauro Benches / Jean Vinatier (Société des Automobiles Alpine).