A story of an enchanting classic. This red Renault A310 Alpine Coupé from Marcel has the status of a work of art, a car with character that exudes speed.
By: Dirk de Jong
This sports car had almost fallen into disrepair. He stood for a long time with a dealer who got the car from Germany himself, but hadn't done anything with it yet and had therefore not yet put it on a Dutch registration. The car had only had two German owners, but the last one had done little good to it. On the outside, the Renault A310 Alpine Coupé was covered with stickers, an engine compartment where the air filter had been taken care of with the red brush and several parts were missing. In addition, a new interior had been fitted and that had become a hodgepodge. Blue faux leather over the dashboard and door panels, combined with white/brown fabric, a totally discolored center tunnel. All finished with a kitsch mat set with red trims and as many alpine logos as possible. And so the Alpine clearly didn't stand there in its hum between the American cars and excavators. Not the place where you would expect such an exclusive car as this Renault A310 Alpine Coupé. That turned out to be the case, because the car went unnoticed for a long time by other enthusiasts.
little interest
But Marcel knew for a long time that the real beauty does not perish, because the car remained in his sights. If you could see through the stickers there was just a very nice and early A310 V6. A solid chassis with an untouched phase 1 body in the beautiful original color Carmin Rouge. Original details such as chrome strips and the short delivered split spoiler were still there and… a few beautiful options were added. The actually quite nice original 13-inch rims have been replaced by highly sought-after 15-inch Gotti's and the original manifolds and exhaust replaced by a devil competition exhaust system. The technique was of course a question mark, but Marcel would gladly take that risk.
Unfortunately… because for a long time all this was beyond Marcel's financial capacity. But, as mentioned, the Alpine was not up to its potential here, which led to little interest from potential buyers. So it was that the asking price kept falling and suddenly it was within reach. So Marcel bought the car. Of course the car has now been completely overhauled, all non-original items have been removed and the car has been put on a Dutch registration. And… finished with beautiful luxury blue plates, because the Renault A310 Alpine Coupé comes from 1977.
Attached to Renault
The Renault brand gives Marcel a positive and intense feeling and he shows that deep meaning in his garage. It all started with a yellow Renault 5 in a special 'Aerobic' version, which at the time was used for wonderful holidays with a friend (now his wife for a long time). Later, a Renault 5 Alpine, a Renault 11 turbo followed and then the fence was over. Many other Renaults followed. The list of cars that were in or once owned is long. Renault 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 16, 19 Relays and of course many newer types for daily transport. Now, in addition to the A310, there are also a Renault 5 Alpine Turbo, a Renault 16 TX, two Renault Relays, one in a camper version and one pickup that is occasionally used as a food truck. (Before you know it, you'll have a whole collection.)
Renault 'creators'
That passion is contagious is apparent from his enthusiastic group of Renault friends, who also all show positive emotions about their property and who regularly visit events and meetings. In addition, projects are regularly purchased with friend Ernst and refurbished on the regular key evening. Not everything can stay, many cars are passed on to other Renault enthusiasts after refurbishment, who can enjoy them just as much as Marcel does.
La douce France
The holiday destination is France every year, of course also because of the nice temperatures, the terraces with a glass of wine and a piece of cheese, but especially the search in the countryside for past automobile history. Not always to buy, but to enjoy. In this way Marcel's motorists' heart remains active and commitment, enthusiasm and dedication for Renault does the rest.
Marcel: “My Alpine is sporty in every fiber, it is pure driving pleasure. Sporty Renaults have always attracted me and the Alpine brand is the pinnacle of this. The model A310 is a real childhood dream for me. That seventies model, the clean lines, really beautiful! The driving experience is very special. You are kind of in the car and the road holding is super direct. You feel that this is a driver's car where no concessions have been made to the driving pleasure. Due to its low weight, the power of the 6 cc 2700 hp V150 engine is more than enough for fast acceleration. On to the next bend.
Also read:
- Alpine A310, with 4 and 6 cylinders
- Alpine V6 Purchase Advice (1985-1991)
- Renault Dauphine Gordinic
- R5 GT Turbo Phase Deux: The car behind a certificate
- The Renault Fuego: Renault's competitor for Mantas and Capris
1977 is an almost magical year in oldtimer/youngtimer circles. If the car is imported and from this year or before, it will have a license plate that fits the zeitgeist of those cars: 99-XX-99. Is it older than 99-99-XX, even older than XX-99-99. The fact that it is a number/letter combination that does not indicate the year of manufacture does not matter, in terms of chronology it is correct. Is the car from 1978 or after then it is a mess. You will always receive a modern license plate, in line with what is supplied with new cars at the time of import. XX-99-XX, XX-XX-99, 99-XX-XX, 99-XXX-9, 9-XXX-99, XX-999-X, X-999-XX, everything is possible on cars from 1978 onwards up to now. I really hate that. There are plenty of free initials in the older sidecodes that have never been used, in all series that have been in use since 1978. I once had an imported Civic CRX from 1992, I was lucky because the year of import was 1996 and the sidecode was still a bit in line with the zeitgeist. But not the '78 Civic I had for years afterwards. A 1978 car simply belongs XX-99-XX, not XX-XX-99!
Great cars driving A310!!
And indeed at that time they were not inferior to those Porsches. In fact: Jan Lammers also had an A310 at the time and was in a bit of a hurry, police Pors after him, but they couldn't keep up with him, at top speed Jan just drove away from them. Further on they blocked the road and then he had to stop.
You look a bit strange against the blue plates, the car seems much more modern, but it is still just fine. Always think of Rijk de Gooier who often came with Alpine to Giethoorn where he had a house. Nice car!
Fun! Porsche is really not the only sports car manufacturer that can build a practical sports car.
Magnificent! a 44-year-old beautiful Frenchwoman.