The first examples of the reborn Alpine sports car range will be members of a limited edition run.
Alpine, which has been relaunched by Renault, is opening order books for the ‘Première Edition’ versions of its forthcoming, yet to be named production car.
Only 1955 versions of the Premiere Edition will be made, the number recalling the year when Alpine founder Jean Rédélé established the company.
The cars will be priced in France at between €55,000 and €60,000, including taxes, and the only way to reserve an example is through a bespoke app downloadable from the Alpine website at alpinecars.com. The top price would equate to around £51,000 in the UK.
Reserving the Alpine Première Edition using the app and making an initial payment of €2,000 will allow customers to select their preferred number – from 1 to 1,955 – depending on availability.
This number will appear on a plaque fixed to the centre console and customers will also be able to specify the colour of their car from either ‘Bleu Alpine’ (Blue), ‘Noir Profond’ (Black) or ‘Blanc Solaire’ (White).
“The Première Edition versions of the new model will be the first to come off the line and we wanted to allow Alpine fans to choose the number of their car,” says Alpine managing director Michael van der Sande.
“The interest that the announcement of Alpine’s return has generated across the globe inspired us to give sports car enthusiasts and Alpine fans early opportunity to reserve the new car.”
Few technical details of the car have been made available so far. Alpine says these will be released in the first quarter of 2017, and adds that the car will be capable of a 0-62mph time of 4.5 seconds. Industry sources suggest it will use a 1.8-litre version of the 1.6 turbo engine in the Renault Clio RS, with about 250hp available.
Alpine deliveries are expected to begin in late 2017.