Bleu
A 1974 Renault Alpine A110 1600 VD, designed by Jean Rédélé — the rear-engined, fiberglass-bodied French sports car built on Renault mechanicals that became one of the greatest European rally cars of its decade, revered through the late 1960s and early '70s for its handling and performance. Only 7,176 were produced across the 1963–1977 run. Per the Renault certificate of production on file, this car was completed on 25 February 1974 and finished, fittingly, in Alpine Blue. It left the factory with engine number 1173, and that number still matches the tag on the engine in the car today. As a late, highly developed variant, the 1600 VD differs from ordinary A110s in numerous ways: unique lightweight fiberglass front and rear bumpers, small fender flares, large Cibié headlamps and driving lights, and the later-style Alpine badging, bodyside, and hood trim. It now lives in the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum collection in Pinellas Park.
Favorite Feature
The engine! What the Alpine register records as an 1,800 cc Works racing unit breathing through dual 45DCOE Webers, hung out behind the rear axle in a car that weighs almost nothing. Runner-up: the Alpine Blue paint, the shade the car wore the day it was finished in February 1974.
Best memory
The moment the production certificate came back from Renault and confirmed engine 1173 was still the engine in the car — matching numbers on a fifty-year-old rally machine that could easily have been rebuilt into anonymity.
Modifications
- 1,800 cc Works racing engine (per Alpine register)
- Dual Weber 45DCOE carburetors
- Devil header and exhaust
- Five-speed manual transmission
- Four-joint suspension
- R17 brake calipers and rotors
- Front-mounted radiator
- Modern fuel cell
- 13-inch Gotti modular four-bolt wheels
- Avon tires
Pinellas Park, FL