Tailored. That fits best. And that fits, that's where it is in him. AMK Reader Jan E. was for years, and not in silence, in love with the overwhelmingly elegant lines of the Alpine A 110.
Blind passion is beautiful, but it does not always touch reality. Jan is a realist. He had read in for years. He had saved, because the Alpine does not cost anything.
And just go and see everything without having money in your pocket? That is also frustrating for the selling party. Remember the obvious old Dutch saying "You shouldn't go to the whores without money" When the time came with the savings, Jan went to the almost world-famous Wieringerwaard, to Kout Automobiles. André Kout is the Alpine specialist. The welcome was pleasant. And Kout had some nice Alpines.
After the preparatory talks, coffee and cakes, it was time to take a look at the cars. And then Jan's dream fell apart. As a full sized Holander (with a back that is not 100%) he did not fit in his dream car. Not even with good will and patience. André Kout looked at it and said: “If you're in it, you have to buy it. Because then you will never get out ”. That was the end of a dream.
And whether the new Alpine, no matter how beautiful it is, is an alternative to Jan? Due to a lack of vision for the future, the designers once again resorted to past successes. You can call that a weakness bid, but they have dealt with the legacy fairly respectfully. The new Alpine is clearly family, is of course highly modern and seriously perfect. But the biggest difference is that the designers of the new Alpine have taken into account that Northern Europeans today are about an 20 centimeter longer than Southern Europeans of that time. But Jan is not as enthusiastic about this piece of tribute to the original as he was about his dream car
But oh well: even if dreams are cheating, it is nice to dream away
