Harry’s Garage

[Mark_bt52]

Not keen on the retro styling at all, would have preferred it to look more like the two cars that followed the original A110.

But that weight with that gearbox would tempt me away from a Lotus.

[PaulJ]

I'm starting to warm to this more and more, and would swallow the price if they had offered a manual 'box. I also don't mind the 4-cylinders on it as I had no expectations of anything else. I suspect the depreciation may be a little savage though, and will stick with my 981 GTS for the time being, but I am a sucker for light and small...

[Coaster1]

Not keen on the retro styling at all, would have preferred it to look more like the two cars that followed the original A110.

But that weight with that gearbox would tempt me away from a Lotus.

I’d have mine in white to hide its slightly awkward headlights.

I’m still a fan, but seeing how shallow the front boot is and the ‘warm’ rear boot have dented its everyday usefulness somewhat.

[speedingfine]

Dang, that Alpine review is convincing, where do I sign

[unzippy]

I guess he's just there to supervise really; next step will be for him to sit at the corner of 4 fields, with a self-driving tractor in each. We're basically there in terms of technology already.

Then unemployment.

[Jimmy Choo]

I saw that Alpine on the A40 last week. It looks even better in the metal.

[Jobbo]

I have pangs for the Alpine - if I hadn't ended up meeting my wife, I'd have one by now. And what have I got to show for it? Oh yes, a wedding ring and a second house, but ignoring that...

Having said that, the way the engine is so enclosed, the fans required to cool the turbo down and the very public fire make me a little concerned about the Alpine's longevity.

[mik]

Somebody buy one ffs.

[GG.]

Having said that, the way the engine is so enclosed, the fans required to cool the turbo down and the very public fire make me a little concerned about the Alpine's longevity.

Although wasn't that fire caused by a fuel leak rather than overheating (though obviously I would equally be concerned about the turbo/fan point).

[Rich B]

I have zero desire for one. However, I haven’t seen Harry’s vid yet - I’ll watch it and report back if I have changed.

[GG.]

If I had £50k burning a hole in my pocket and I wanted an Alpine I'd rather have this (and a Golf R as a daily hack), I think:

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1027000

ETA: Jobson you have lots of space on your drive and this one is only £30k...

[JLv3.0]

A610 for me, always loved them. Although for the sake of a set of different, less cancerous, rims, this is also pretty awesome - https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C942652

[GG.]

Also available within the £50 budget (as near as makes no difference) but in RHD:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds ... es/8329449

[JLv3.0]

I was just looking at that one but on an ad where it had been sold - wonder if they made anything like the asking for it!

PS it's a 50k budget - bloody lawyers, always shit at numbers

[NotoriousREV]

Having said that, the way the engine is so enclosed, the fans required to cool the turbo down and the very public fire make me a little concerned about the Alpine's longevity.

You really can't use a one-off event with a pre-production mule to determine production car reliability. Even Chris Harris said "There’s probably no project in the history of automotive manufacturing that’s not had a fire – it happens. It was a pre-production car and it’s just one of those things that you tolerate. If manufacturers are going to be brave enough to let us into stuff early, then sometimes things go wrong. And it’ll happen to me again."

[GG.]

Having said that, the way the engine is so enclosed, the fans required to cool the turbo down and the very public fire make me a little concerned about the Alpine's longevity.

You really can't use a one-off event with a pre-production mule to determine production car reliability. Even Chris Harris said "There’s probably no project in the history of automotive manufacturing that’s not had a fire – it happens. It was a pre-production car and it’s just one of those things that you tolerate. If manufacturers are going to be brave enough to let us into stuff early, then sometimes things go wrong. And it’ll happen to me again."

All of this is true but nonetheless, it wasn't a small fire was it





The R8 V10 did something similar round the nurburgring though didn't it.

[NotoriousREV]

Having said that, the way the engine is so enclosed, the fans required to cool the turbo down and the very public fire make me a little concerned about the Alpine's longevity.

You really can't use a one-off event with a pre-production mule to determine production car reliability. Even Chris Harris said "There’s probably no project in the history of automotive manufacturing that’s not had a fire – it happens. It was a pre-production car and it’s just one of those things that you tolerate. If manufacturers are going to be brave enough to let us into stuff early, then sometimes things go wrong. And it’ll happen to me again."

All of this is true but nonetheless, it wasn't a small fire was it





The R8 V10 did something similar round the nurburgring though didn't it.

Production GT3 RSs and Ferrari 458s (IIRC) production cars went on fire a lot, and I don't see their popularity waning any.

[Jobbo]

While I don't think a fuel leak is a genuine concern, Harry mentioned:
- the rear boot getting rather warm
- the engine being encapsulated pretty thoroughly
- those two fans which run constantly to cool the turbo

It doesn't seem particularly elegant engineering to me. I'd still love one.

[Jobbo]

I wonder how much the fans to cool the turbo affect the pressure at the bottom of the rear screen?

[JLv3.0]

Depends on the wipers.