Alpine A110 1962

The A110 is closely associated with the Renault 8, but it was not simply a Renault with a different body. Alpine retained its own backbone-chassis concept and covered it with a lightweight glassfibre-and-polyester body. That combination explains how a relatively modest engine could power a car known for lively responses on winding roads. The berlinette later became the name most closely associated with Alpine’s rally cars, extending far beyond the road-going version introduced in 1962.

French production of the A110 covered a career from 1962 to 1977, with Dieppe as its principal production centre. Alpine also licensed Berlinette production in several countries, including Spain, Mexico and Bulgaria. Alpine’s official historical material states that just under 8,000 Berlinettes were built in Dieppe, with approximately 4,000 additional cars produced under licence abroad. These figures apply to the Berlinette over its full production career and do not represent the 1962 model year alone. No separate production total is used here for the base specification because the surviving documentation does not establish a sufficiently reliable figure for that exact configuration.

The best-documented reception of the A110 is reflected in its competition record and in the reputation it built over time. Alpine presents the berlinette as the model that established its identity around low weight, compact dimensions and agility. In competition, the A110 succeeded in national and European championships before Alpine won the 1973 World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title. That achievement firmly strengthened the car’s standing among automotive writers and collectors. Detailed contemporary road tests of the specific 1962 base version are less consistently available than later historical accounts covering the A110’s complete career. Claims about launch-period press opinion should therefore be made with care.