Alpine A310 1800

The Alpine A310 is a sports car built by French manufacturer Alpine from 1971 to 1984. It was the last Alpine model conceived by founder Jean Rédélé.
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History

Dieppe-based Alpine, was an independent company founded in 1955, that specialised in competition cars and sporting road cars employing largely Renault components. They established a fine competition history with the Alpine A110 winning the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally and World Rally Championship. The A110 was recognised as being too focused to sell in volume as a grand tourer. Rédélé sought a second model with wider appeal that could compete with the Porsche 911. Although Gordini and Renault were working on V8 and V6 engines the Alpine A310, was initially powered by a rear mounted tuned 17TS/Gordini four-cylinder engine. The maximum power was , thanks to the use of two twin-barrel 45 DCOE Weber carburetors.

The first model of the A310, built 1971-1976, was a car with a four-cylinder engine and six headlights. Being larger, heavier, and no more powerful than its predecessor, the early A310 was considered underpowered in comparison to the potential of the chassis. The car was first shown at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. The prototype A310 had louvres across the rear windscreen; these were not carried over to the production model. Early models had a NACA duct mounted near the window atop the left front fender, later four-cylinder cars received two, mounted closer to the front of the car. In 1976, to help flagging sales, the lower-cost A310 SX was presented. This model has a version of the Renault 16/17's 1647 cc inline-four and simplified equipment.

The basis of the A310 was a hefty tubular steel backbone chassis, clothed in a fiberglass shell. As for the previous A110 the entire body was molded in a single piece. Barbaza (''L'usine''), p. 88 Like the ill-fated DeLorean, which used the same PRV powertrain, the engine was mounted longitudinally in the rear, driving forward to the wheels through a manual five-speed gearbox. The driving position was low and sporty, although the front wheelwells encroached on the occupants' feet, pointing them towards the centre of the car. The A310 was labor-intensive, having been developed for small-scale artisanal production - a car took 130 hours to build from start to finish. The front axle also came in for some criticism, although in 1974 the balljoint mountings were replaced by rubber/steel bushings (silent-blocs) which somewhat improved durability. While many components of the A310 came from the Renault parts shelf as expected, others are more surprising - the steering rack is from the Peugeot 504, while the turn signals are Simca 1301 units. Barbaza (''Antimémoires''), p. 95

A310 V6

In 1976 the A310 was restyled by Robert Opron and fitted with the more powerful and newly developed 90-degree 2664 cc V6 PRV engine, as used in some Renaults, Volvos and Peugeots. The later V6 received a black plastic rear spoiler as well, useful for keeping the tail planted but somewhat marring the purity of the original's lines. With on tap, the A310 PRV V6 was Renault's performance flagship capable of and acceptable acceleration. The tail-heavy weight distribution gave handling characteristics similar to the contemporary Porsche 911. Sales did pick up, more than doubling those of the four-cylinder predecessor, but then tapered off as production continued without any updates to make it a serious Porsche competitor in the marketplace. Sales were predominantly in France, with 781 cars sold in its home market in 1979 (its best year). By 1984 fewer than five hundred Alpines were sold in France, while Porsche sold about 1600 in spite of industrial strikes in Germany.

Beginning with model year 1981 (in late 1980), the rear suspension was shared with the mid-engined Renault 5 Turbo. Rather than the previous three-lug wheels, the A310 also received the alloys used for the 5 Turbo, albeit without the painted elements.

In the later models (1983-1984) of the A310 a "Pack GT" which was inspired from the Group 4 A310 racing cars would be developed, it gained wheel arches and larger spoilers front and rear. A few Alpine A310 V6 Pack GT Kit Boulogne were built (27 examples), here the PRV V6 was bored out to 2.9 litres and was then further modified by Alpine, fitted with triple Weber 42DCNF carburetors that pushed power to .

Competition

In 1973 the A310 was designated to replace the A110 in the World Rally Championship, where it saw mixed success. The A310 also had great success in French motorsport as a Group 4 car. In 1977 Guy Fréquelin (Alpine Renault A 310-V6) won the French Rally championship. In 1983 the car was moved to the Group B rally stage.

Production

Production models

A310 4-cylinder model variants

=1971–1976

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A310 1600 Series 1 (55 L fuel tank, 3 stud suspension, four-cylinder engine, 5-speed transmission)

A310 V6 model variants

=1977–1984

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Production numbers

References

External links

{{Renault

A310
Group 4 (racing) cars
1980s cars
Cars introduced in 1971
Automobiles with backbone chassis
Rear-engined vehicles
Cars discontinued in 1984