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.
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 95 hp (71 kW) 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 125 hp (93 kW) DIN at 6,000 rpm. This allowed the production 1600S to attain a top speed of 210 km/h (130 mph). 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 (who won the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally) 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 (DINA), 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 (from 1967 to 1970) with 1108 cc engines, version A110 1300 (from 1971 to 1976) with 1289 cc engines, and version A110 1400 (from 1977 to 1978) 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.
The A110 was fitted with a variety of engine over its production life-span. Engines used on production cars included the following:
Engine
Engine: Renault 1.1 L (1,108 cc) Straight-4
Power output: 73 kW (99 PS; 98 hp) SAE (gross)Compression ratio: 9.6
Chassis/Body
Overall length: 3,851 mm (151.6 in)
Overall width: 1,471 mm (57.9 in)
Height: 1,130 mm (44 in)
Turning circle: 9,246 mm (364.0 in)
Wheelbase: 2,099 mm (82.6 in)
Front track: 1,250 mm (49 in)
Rear track: 1,219 mm (48.0 in)
Dry weight: 544 kg (1,199 lb)
Performance:Top speed: 219 km/h (136 mph)
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.
Engine
Type: Renault 1.6 L (1,605 cc) Electronic fuel injected Inline-four engine
Bore x stroke: 78 mm × 84 mm (3.07 in × 3.31 in)
Power output: 103 kW (140 PS; 138 hp) SAE (gross) 93 kW (126 PS; 125 hp) DIN (net) at 6,250 rpm
Torque: 159 N⋅m (117 lb⋅ft) (gross)149 N⋅m (110 lb⋅ft) (net) at 5,450 rpm.
Gearbox
5-speed manual
Chassis/Body
Chassis: Steel backbone
Body Panels: Fiberglass
Curb weight (without a driver): 770 kg (1,700 lb)
Length: 3,850 mm (152 in)
Width: 1,550 mm (61 in)
Wheelbase: 2,100 mm (83 in)
Track (Front/Rear): 1,315 mm (51.8 in) / 1,345 mm (53.0 in)
Height: 1,130 mm (44 in)
Performance
Top speed: 210 km/h (130 mph)
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