Alpine was a French sports car company which was purchased by Renault in 1973. Established in 1955 by Jean Redele, the company utilised the rear mounted Renault engine in its cars.

The first Alpine was produced in 1955 using fibre glass and offered the market a small and curved cabriolet. The car also saw the installation of a special five speed transmission to improve the driving experience.

The A108 was released in 1962, which saw a number of modifications to the chassis and the electronics in a bid to keep up with the competition. This beautiful car was superseded by the A110 Berlinette Tour de France and saw an improved 1 litre, 51 bhp engine added.

The sizes of engines featuring in the Renault Alpine began to increase from the 1 litre, 51 bhp engine in the 1960's all the way through to the 1.8 litre, 180 bhp engine in the 1974 version. The larger engines certainly gave the Alpine a boost off the line and made it popular with sports car enthusiasts.

The Renault Alpine had a racing pedigree and featured in many iconic races, the most iconic being the Monte Carlo rally. In both 1971 and 1973 the car gave a 1-2-3 finish, followed by success in the WRC (World Rally Championships). Over 1,000 cars were produced in 1972 on the back of the racing success, though this dropped the following year to just three figures, due in part to the international petrol crisis.

After being bailed out by Renault, the Alpine brand had financial backing to take their cars further. Following the racing success seen in the early 1970's they wanted to enter a car into Le Mans and did this with the A442B. The car featured a twin turbo engine which gave it an edge over the competition.

The 1980's saw the introduction of the A310 which was powered by a 1.6 litre rear mounted engine. The design of the car was modified to give the typical 1980's straight lines and was subsequently fitted with a 2.6 litre V6 engine. The A310 paved the way for the introduction of the Alpine GTA range, culminating in the release of the fastest and most powerful alpine to date.

The last Alpine to be released happened in 1991 with the A610 and whilst its design was modified there were still elements of the GTA range included. New introductions to the car saw air conditioning and power steering as standard, whilst seeing a new interior layout.

Today the Alpine factory produces some Renault's sportier models across the Meganne and Clio ranges. The factory produced the first Alpine and remains instrumental in continuing to produce the brands sport brands for the foreseeable future.