Manufacturer of racing and sports cars Alpine little known among "mere mortals". The fact is that the cars of this brand all belong to the class of sports and racing, they are purchased only by true connoisseurs of speed. They are most common in Western Europe, especially in France, where there is a developed network of fan clubs.Alpin". It is not surprising, because the brand is French.
The history of the automaker began in 1954 in the town of Dieppe, France (Dieppe, France). The company was founded by French racing driver Jean Redele. Having recently won a beautiful victory at the Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Cup), Jean decided to call his brainchild Alpine (“Alpine”). But the race had an impact not only in this - the victory was won by the car Renault 4CV. It was this model that formed the basis - cars were created on its basis. Alpine. Yes, and all subsequent ones were based on models Renault.
However, the name was given unsuccessfully. Jean did not know that just a year before, the car company Rootes Group from the UK, which owned such well-known brands at the time as Talbot и Sunbeam, introduced a new product - Sunbeam Alpine. These sports cars were to become very successful and for this reason there was often confusion in the names for a long time.
Alpine A106 Mille Milles |
The first model was the A106 Mille Milles. A car with a fiberglass body was very favorably received by the public, which provided him with a fairly high popularity. The new brand helped a lot and the fact that almost immediately she enlisted help Renault. Model A106 was produced until 1960. About one and a half thousand cars were produced per year, which is quite good for a company of this level. Few people managed to rise at all, because Europe was still recovering from the Second World War.
The A106 was followed by other models that were very successful both in sales and on the tracks. So, in 1973 in the Monte Carlo race Alpine took first, second and third places, ahead of the cars of such legendary brands as Lancia и Porsche. However, the same year brought with it the oil crisis, due to which the company began to have serious problems. But it was possible not only to resist, but also to present a new model - A110. True, in order to survive, I had to sacrifice freedom - since 1974 Alpine belongs Renault.
The subsequent development of the brand did not differ in bright moments. Although there were victories and quite successful models. The last car of the brand was the Alpine A610, introduced in 1991. In 1995 the brand Alpine ceased to exist Renault switched to the production of sports cars under his own brand.