My 3 Very Different Alpine GTAs
Discussion
Thought people might be interested in my 3 Alpine GTAs.
Silver car was restored from a very rough, barely running car and is supposedly the earliest surviving RHD naturally aspirated car in the UK and one of the original press fleet. Was pretty much fully mechanically restored and fitted with a 2.9 injected PRV to replace the carbed 2.8. Gives about 170 BHP and 40 MPG on a run. On AZEVs in the pics but now on refurbed standard wheels with R888Rs as it does the odd track day. Repainted in Ford silver as it was brighter than the original colour.
Black car is actually Audi Moonlight Blue pearl. Have owned it for nearly 27 years and was the first UK car to breach the 300 bhp mark. Fitted with a Safrane Biturbo 3.0 engine , big single turbo conversion, Adaptronic ECU and a few other mods. Car has barely seen rain since I've owned it and is very low mileage. On Spax coilovers and 17/18" AZEVs with a custom grey alcantara and black leather retrim and stealth audio installation.
3rd car is still in the project stage but should be mechanically finished in the next few weeks or so. Features a Chevy 6.2 V8 crate engine with adaptor plate and uprated UN1 gearbox. Chassis has been strengthened, LSD and 300mm brakes with 4 pots fitted all round to cope. Engine is @ 520 bhp with a projected weight of 1250-1300kgs. Will probably need traction control to be safe I would think but we'll see. Current plan is to wrap in Selenite Magno grey matt metallic as on the new AMGs with wheel choice still undecided.
Silver car was restored from a very rough, barely running car and is supposedly the earliest surviving RHD naturally aspirated car in the UK and one of the original press fleet. Was pretty much fully mechanically restored and fitted with a 2.9 injected PRV to replace the carbed 2.8. Gives about 170 BHP and 40 MPG on a run. On AZEVs in the pics but now on refurbed standard wheels with R888Rs as it does the odd track day. Repainted in Ford silver as it was brighter than the original colour.
Black car is actually Audi Moonlight Blue pearl. Have owned it for nearly 27 years and was the first UK car to breach the 300 bhp mark. Fitted with a Safrane Biturbo 3.0 engine , big single turbo conversion, Adaptronic ECU and a few other mods. Car has barely seen rain since I've owned it and is very low mileage. On Spax coilovers and 17/18" AZEVs with a custom grey alcantara and black leather retrim and stealth audio installation.
3rd car is still in the project stage but should be mechanically finished in the next few weeks or so. Features a Chevy 6.2 V8 crate engine with adaptor plate and uprated UN1 gearbox. Chassis has been strengthened, LSD and 300mm brakes with 4 pots fitted all round to cope. Engine is @ 520 bhp with a projected weight of 1250-1300kgs. Will probably need traction control to be safe I would think but we'll see. Current plan is to wrap in Selenite Magno grey matt metallic as on the new AMGs with wheel choice still undecided.
Those are cool!
Always liked the look of the Alpines and there is a garage near me that always has a few scattered around the place in various stages of restoration.
I'ts interesting to see some of the different engine conversions you have done, a 3.0 v6 turbo with around 300hp from the factory would have made the Alpine a proper supercar challenger.
Always liked the look of the Alpines and there is a garage near me that always has a few scattered around the place in various stages of restoration.
I'ts interesting to see some of the different engine conversions you have done, a 3.0 v6 turbo with around 300hp from the factory would have made the Alpine a proper supercar challenger.
samoht said:
Very cool ! These have just the balance of power, light weight and rwd to be interesting :-)
How do they handle on track?
Good as standard but understeery under power, good tyres and some small suspension tweaks make them very very good especially on tighter twistier circuits.How do they handle on track?
Very interesting to see this. In the mid 80s I was running Renault's retail operation in St Martin's Lane between Leicester Square and Covent Garden and I was one of two Renault people in the South of England selling the new to the UK Alpine GTA. The car was hampered by Renault's insistence that it carried the Renault name and logo, had it been badged as an Alpine it would have sold better against the Porsche but people were not prepared to pay Porsch money for a Renault!
In my opinion it was a better car than all it's opposition at the time, the handling was very good indeed with just a very gentle tendency to understeer when pushed in high speed corners, it was comfy and with excellent vision pretty much all round. The NA had a much sweeter exhaust note and stayed much cooler in the engine bay too. Lovely cars! I still have some unissued original brochures for a modest sum..................
In my opinion it was a better car than all it's opposition at the time, the handling was very good indeed with just a very gentle tendency to understeer when pushed in high speed corners, it was comfy and with excellent vision pretty much all round. The NA had a much sweeter exhaust note and stayed much cooler in the engine bay too. Lovely cars! I still have some unissued original brochures for a modest sum..................
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