Alpine A310
In 1971 Alpine was still fully owned and independently run
by Jean Redele when it released the A310 at the Geneva show.
It was designed as a replacement for the A110, which was
produced until 1977. As an entirely different concept, Alpine
felt the need for a more practical and luxurious 2+2 that
would appeal to a wider market. Powered by practically the
same 1.6 four cylinder Renault 12 Gordini engine (some 120
to 125hp), fuel injection was available in 1974 (140hp). The
A310 started life in 1972 on a similar basic design to the
A110 Berlinette, in using the backbone chassis construction.
The rear suspension is significantly different in that Alpine’s
own double wishbone arrangement is employed instead of using
Renault parts, which are now only used in the upper front
suspension wishbones. The R12 Gordini rack and pinion steering
gear and ventilated disc brakes were used and handling was
helped by 6½inch wide three stud alloy rims. A 5 speed
gearbox from the R12 Gordini is also used. All A310’s
were made left hand drive.
Performance is 130 mph, 0-60 in 8 seconds, fuel consumption
20-27 mpg.
Comparisons with the benchmark Porsche 911 were inevitable,
but not to Alpine’s favour until 1976 when Alpine was
fully owned by Renault, though still presided over by Redele.
The 150 bhp V6 2.7L built by Renault in conjunction with Peugeot
and Volvo at Douvrin (hence PRV), replaced the four cylinder
engine transforming the A310 into a 142 mph super car with
0-60 in about 7 seconds. The four speed gearbox was used from
a R30 as the 5 speed was unable to cope with the 150lb/ft
of torque. The six headlight arrangement was also dropped
in favour of just four to make room for the larger front mounted
radiator.
It wasn’t until 1980 that it had a facelift with a
five speed gearbox and suspension and four stud wheels as
used on the R5 turbo. There were also changes to the bodywork,
which were wider wheel arches, larger and softer wraparound
type bumpers and slight changes to the interior.
There are three different types of factory built special
A310’s. A group IV car built only in 1978 and fitted
with a 5 speed gearbox, a GT version built between 1982 and
1985 and a GT fitted with the 2849cc Volvo version of the
PRV engine, which had triple 46 IDA Weber’s. This was
about 193 bhp and built between 1983 and 1985.
There are a few different “works” competition
A310’s. Some of the first were early four cylinder type
cars powered by the V6 which had large box type arches on
the rear only, and an outrageously shaped Group V car.
Production of the A310 ended in 1985 when Renault wanted
to make a right hand drive Alpine but felt the A310 was too
dated to upgrade to compete in the marketplace, leaving the
A310 as the last true independent design by Alpine. The GTA
then took over!
Richard Kimpton
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