Alpine A310

A little history

The Alpine A110 was built for racing, making it rather impractical for everyday use. Its maker decided that its successor, the A310, would be a more comfortable, more ambitious car. It would also be a 2+2 while the A110 had strictly been a two-seater.

Studies started during the late Sixties. From the start the new Alpine was to be a true GT, the use of the 3.0-litre V8 developed by Gordini for the A220 sportscar being considered for a while. Of these initial plans only the striking design remained, the A310 finally having to settle for a more plebeian Renault four as an engine.

The A310 prototype was finally introduced to the public during the Geneva motor show in March 1971. Alas, some heavy investments made by Alpine, which had just opened two new plants, combined with a disastrous strike that slowed production put the small company in dire straights. The management therefore decided to hasten the release of the new car, which hit the market before the end of the year, while still insufficiently tested. The flaws of the early cars gained the A310 a bad reputation that couldn’t be totally erased during its long career. Furthermore the first buyers deplored the tame character of their cars, when compared to the spirited A110. Though the wheelbases ofthe two cars were identical, the longer overhangs of the A310 made for a heavier car, which 1.6-litre four, though the most powerful block the A110 had to share, proved insufficient.

The chaotic launch of the car didn’t improve Alpine’s fortune and, in order to save the little company, Renault took it over from Jean Rédélé, a decision its founder would regret for the rest of his life. The A310’s premature introduction having proved disastrous, Renault opted for a thorough upgrading, which was ready by 1976. The car’s style was revised by Robert Opron, who removed the characteristic full-width headlights of the early A310s, while the 1.6-litre four gave way to the new PRV 2.7-litre V6, developed by Renault in cooperation with Peugeot and Volvo. The Swedish manufacturer had been the first to fit one of its road cars with this engine in 1974, and Renault had followed suit with its 1975 R30. The PRV greatly improved performance, but unfortunately also made the car even more tail-heavy, though its handling remained far from tricky. Worst yet, it pushed the car up into the same league as the Porsche 911. The A310 hadn’t been designed with this kind of competition in mind, and the German GT clearly proved one notch above its rival in all respects. The car’s production was therefore condemned to remain low, only 11,400 copies being built until replaced in November 1984 by the V6 GT, better yet even less successful.

About the models

Model: Alpine A310 V8 Gordini
Year: 1968
Maker: Eligor
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Hachette as no.9 of its Alpine & Renault Sportives press series
Acquired: brand new, in December 2007, in Souillac, France

A rather unusual die-cast for me, as I don’t generally collect prototypes or show cars. This model isn’t even one of those, but a reproduction of an early clay model. Even the wheels are fixed disks rather than the real thing, while the passenger compartment is totally empty beneath the tinted canopy. Any comparison with an existing model being impossible, I won’t give a rating, and only mention that Eligor’s die-cast is certainly well made, but isn’t indispensable except to die-hard Alpine fans.

Model: Alpine A310
Year: 1972
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.54 of its Nos Chères Voitures d’Antan press series
Acquired: brand new, in May 2006, in Souillac, France

Somehow I find Ixo’s model bulky, and devoid of the peculiar elegance of the early A310s. My rating is 9/20.

Model: Alpine A310
Year: 1972
Maker: Solido
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Solido, “Yesterday” series
Acquired: brand new, in January 2004, in Brive, France

Much older, Solido’s model lacks the details of a later die-cast, but its proportions are good. Furthermore it enjoys a rear hatch and underneath it an engine cover which can both be opened, revealing a small silver-painted engine. I give 11/20 to this ancient but still pleasant scale model.

Model: Alpine A310 V6
Year: 1981
Maker: Eligor
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Hachette as no.12 of its Alpine & Renault Sportives press series
Acquired: brand new, in December 2011, in Souillac, France

Universal Hobbies offers this nice and accurate model of the V6 version of the A310. I’m not so fond of the caches in front of the headlights, but the wheels are splendid: 13/20.

Model: Renault Alpine A310 V6 Pack GT
Year: c.1983
Maker: Universal Hobbies
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: M6 as no.18 of its Renault Collection press series
Acquired: second hand with neither stand nor box, in July 2006, in Brive, France

A good model from Universal Hobbies. It may appear white on pictures but is actually painted in a magnificent pearl shade. My rating is 13/20.

Model: Alpine A310 V6 Pack GT
Year: 1983
Maker: see lower
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Hachette as no.2 of its Alpine & Renault Sportives press series
Acquired: brand new, in October 2007, in Souillac, France

I’ll check this one as soon as I find it, as I have doubts about its maker. If I remember well it is indisputably identical to the previous Universal Hobbies, which indeed collaborated to this Hachette series, but I think is curiously branded as a Norev. Nonetheless my rating is identical: 13/20.