Alpine Reveals Deceptively Powerful Alpine A110 San Remo 73

I’ve always preferred a smaller car. I remember an occasion where I was lucky enough to get to test the then new Nissan GT-R on the track. There was only one available, so to keep everyone happy a fleet of 370Z Roadsters were available, producing results that those who had planned the event surely never anticipated: I, along with some others, much preferred the smaller car… There is certainly a breed of driver out there that isn’t interested in the larger sports car and craves something that maybe offers a bit more feeling; a connection to the road.

I was drawn to that memory when I saw the diminutive Alpine A110 San Remo 73 in a beautifully vintage shade of Caddy Blue. The fetching blue colour was also worn by the car that has inspired this new limited edition sports car; the fantastic looking Alpine A110 Berlinette, a car which achieved number one in the Sanremo Rally of that year. The same year, Alpine won the manufacturer’s title in the World Rally Championship. In fact, Alpine really dominated that year, with 4 wins after 9 rounds of the WRC from the two cars that they entered into the competition. The winning Alpine wore the now classic Caddy Blue, white, and red livery with the traditional black and white stripes. The new Alpine A110 will get a red carbon roof and feature black painted roof arches.

As you might expect, the 50th anniversary model features all mod cons compared to its 1973 sibling, and perhaps the classic seventies Alpine small sports car shape has now been sadly left a little too far behind, but this little Alpine A110 San Remo 73 still looks like a heap of fun.

This new limited-edition model will be available to order from 17 March 2023, priced at 89,000 euros. It features a microfibre cockpit with racing one-piece bucket seats which are embroidered with the nostalgic words, ‘World Champion 73’ and are 6-point racing harness ready. There will only be 200 units produced across the globe, and each will get a uniquely numbered plaque denoting the car’s place in the production queue from 1 to 200.

This Alpine sports car will be fully kitted out with a plethora of nice things, like a high-performance braking system, retractable electric door mirrors, active sports exhaust and an auto-dimming rear view mirror. It will also arrive with rear and front parking assistance plus a reverse camera. That’s quite a lot packed into what is a very small car.

Power comes from a 300bhp centrally mounted 1.8-litre 4-cylinder engine, so expect this car to be pretty nippy. And with so few Alpine A110 San Remo 73 models being produced for sale around the world, you’d better get your order in in just as nippy a fashion. While nothing quite beats the beauty of the original Berlinette, this new limited edition anniversary Alpine model isn’t far off.

Images: alpinecars.com