Act surprised!
Another day leading up to the Geneva Motor Show would seem somewhat empty without yet one more teaser from Renault-owned sports car purveyor Alpine, right? Alpine agrees, vehemently, so here we are looking at a car we’ve already (mostly) seen.
‘Save the date’ reads the text above the car, hidden behind a cloudy plastic screen, March 7th 2017 - the first day of the Geneva Motor Show when the press frolic about, fingers twitching at their camera shutter buttons.
But while we appreciate the refreshing lack of camouflage wrap on the car and we can appreciate the brand’s signature blue exterior finish, having that screen obscuring a car is rather pointless though we do understand its necessity.
The yet to be named car is widely suspected to carry the A120 moniker as a nod to the marque’s famous A110 of the 1960s and 70s due to its similar size and mechanical philosophies.
Truth is, the car’s look is all but confirmed to be very closely (or plainly identical) to the Alpine Vision Concept that was shown off at last year’s Geneva Motor Show (and in Monte Carlo a week prior to that). But what we are really hoping to glean was details about the car’s oily bits.
We know RenaultSport will have some input on the car and the engine itself will be lifted from either a Clio RS or Megane RS, with or without modification, but what remains mysterious is how much power it will offer relative to its light weight.
Performance is suspected to be enough to rival cars like the Audi TT S, Porsche Cayman, and Alfa Romeo 4C, hovering around the 224kW mark.
Following the launch in March, Renault boss Carlos Ghosn has previously stated his enthusiasm to have the Alpine revival model enter production as soon as possible, with deliveries pegged as early as Q2 2017. Next year, though, an Alpine SUV could also be coming down the pipe, but lets hope they ease up on the teasers.
For more on Renault vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
