Background
The Alpine company name and history both derive from the win that a 24-year-old Jean Rédélé achieved on the Alpine Rally of 1954.
In 1962 Jean launched the A110, which used the running gear from the Renault 8 and despite the engine still having a capacity of less than 1000cc. The car continued to evolve and saw the engine capacities of Renault rising from 850cc to 1600cc. The 1600cc variant being homologated into Group 4 on the 1st of January 1970 becoming eligible to compete in the inaugural International Rally Championship for Manufacturers.
It was only a matter of time before success came though and with wins on the San Remo, Acropolis and Corsica rallies plus other consistent finishes ensured that Alpine finished the year 2nd in the championship only 2 points behind the mighty Porsche factory team.
1971 saw the introduction of 1800cc engines, first used in works prototype development variants of the A110 on the Coupe des Alpes and the TAP Rally, unfortunately this uplift in power was not matched by an increase in strength to the gearbox and DNFs were a regular occurrence.
1973 saw Renault take a majority stake in Alpine and the International Rally Championship for Manufacturers give way to the World Rally Championship and with the reliability problems solved, the little A110 took the inaugural World Rally Championship with wins on the Monte Carlo, Portugal, Morocco, Greece, San Remo and Corsica rallies.
This Car
The car was originally purchased from the factory on 25 July 1972 by Peter Smith as used separate body/ chassis and engine gearbox units. The body/chassis unit was identified as the ‘TAP’ car, that is the car that won the TAP rally in 1971, and the original chassis number was removed at the factory.
The car was re-built by Peter and re-registered in the UK on 29 September 1972 with the original chassis no.17497 and engine no. 2214. After registration in the UK the car was badly damaged by fire during an event in 1974 when driven by John Ingram and remained untouched for many years.
In 2005, using a lightweight bodyshell by Dominique Frossard it was rebuilt by Nigel Hollier (ex-works driver) to historic rally spec and with the approval of Jacques Cheinisse, the Alpine Works Competition manager revised to cope with the rigours of the RAC.
Technical Specification
Engine: 1.8 Litre, OHV, 8V
Aspiration: Naturally Aspirated
Carburetion: Twin Weber 45 DCOE Carburettors
Drive: Rear wheel drive
Transmission: 5 Speed
BHP: 175