The Alpine car brand is coming back. Renault and the Caterham Group have announced a new joint venture to build sports cars beginning in January 2013 at Renault’s Alpine plant in Dieppe, Normandy. The partnership between Renault and Caterham involves the latter holding a 50 percent stake in the new business called the Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham.
Building on their Formula 1 partnership, the companies hope that this venture will allow them to combine their expertise to build cars that are “distinctive, differentiated, and carry the respective DNA of Alpine and Caterham Cars.” This revival of Alpine by Renault and Caterham is particularly timely because this year is the 50th anniversary of the Alpine A110 sports car.
The next step for the companies will be a feasibility study by Renault Sport Technologies and Caterham Technology & Innovation on the joint development of a sports car. This is aimed at developing sports cars in both the large and small series with each company marketing its own vehicle within four years. This will involve a joint Engineering Department with Renault and Caterham pooling engineering resources on an equal basis.
Technical and pricing details have yet to be worked out, but the most likely model for the first revived Alpine vehicle will be the Renault Alpine A110-50 concept that Renault unveiled last May to mark the A110’s anniversary. The A110-50 is very much a racer from its carbon composite bodywork to its 3.5 liter V6 mid-rear engine punching through 200 bhp (150 kW).
The video below shows Renault and Caterham Group announcing their partnership.
Source: Renault
