Farewell to the Alpine A110, one of the last great lightweight sports cars
The end of the line for one of the purest driver's cars of its era
Pour one out for the Alpine A110. As of 1 July, the current petrol-powered A110 has officially reached the end of the line at Alpine's historic Dieppe factory, and with it goes one of our favourite driver's cars of the past decade. We have always loved the A110, and we are genuinely sad to see it go, even knowing what comes next.
35,450 cars, and counting from 1969
The numbers tell a proud story. Since the Dieppe factory opened in 1969, a total of 35,450 Alpine A110s have rolled out of it, spanning the original rally hero and the modern reboot. Of those, 28,701 were the current second-generation car launched in 2017, the featherweight coupe that reminded the world Alpine still knew how to build a proper sports car. The brand itself was founded back in 1955 by Jean Redele, and Dieppe has since built up a multi-generational workforce, with whole families having worked there.
Always, always blue
If you pictured an A110 just now, it was almost certainly blue, and the data backs that up. A remarkable 58 percent of all A110s were finished in a shade of blue, with 33 percent wearing the signature Bleu Alpine. Charmingly, that colour did not come from national racing tradition at all but from an early-1960s customer request, and it went on to become one of the most recognisable signatures in motoring. The very last second-generation car stayed true to type: an A110 R 70 with 300 hp, extensive carbon fibre and a track-tuned chassis, finished in Alpine Blue with a black roof.
An electric future in the same factory
This is a goodbye, but not the end of the A110 name. Alpine is transforming the Dieppe site with fresh investment to build a third-generation A110 on its new APP, or Alpine Performance Platform, with the bold aim of creating what it calls the first true electric sports car. It joins an Alpine range that has expanded fast lately with the A290 hot hatch and the A390 sport fastback, as the brand reinvents itself for the electric age while keeping production firmly in Dieppe.
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We will miss this car badly. In an era of ever-heavier, ever-more-powerful machines, the A110 stood almost alone as a modern sports car that chased lightness and delicacy instead of raw numbers, and it was all the more special for it. That made it one of the purest, most joyful things to drive at any price. We have everything crossed that the electric third generation can bottle the same magic, because keeping an A110 light and playful on batteries will be a huge challenge. For now, though, raise a glass to a genuine modern great. Merci, A110.
The successor is already teasing us: see the electric next-generation A110 at Goodwood. Alpine is on a roll elsewhere too, from the crocodile-clad Lacoste A290. If you like small, characterful cars, CUPRA's electric Raval at Goodwood is worth a look.
