Ecco la storia dei SUV Alpine mai nati
1979: the SUV VVA: Véhicule Vert Alpine (Green Alpine Vehicle)
While the Matra Simca Rancho, born in 1977, had not yet celebrated its second birthday, Renault stylists came up with an Alpine-badged leisure vehicle in 1979. This was the VVA: Véhicule Vert Alpine. Michel Jardin and Marcello Gandini were responsible for the styling of the first proposals. Jardin opted for a design that provided plenty of light on board. More than just a direct counterweight to Matra, the VVA project aimed to find a business for the Alpine factory in Dieppe, as the numerous development projects for the range had all met with setbacks. “We chose Alpine because, with their light and inexpensive industrial resources, it would have been possible to test the market without too heavy an investment. This Alpine was to have four-wheel drive, unlike its Matra Simca rival. In 1980, the project changed direction…
1980: the VGR: Alpine pulls out of the project
This new approach, which aimed for a more international vehicle with a more distinctive design, was led by some fine Italian names, not least Marcello Gandini. He proposed two variants of the VVA project, which lost its “Alpine” name to become the VGR (Véhicule de grande randonnée). Mario Bellini studied a plush interior for Gandini’s second proposal, which had a very Range Rover feel to it. But AMC entered the fray when it became part of Renault, and Bernard Hanon, the boss, had other plans for the Jeep range. The VVA and VGR will remain prototypes.
2005: the W16 project, a compact Renault-Sport “Alpine” SUV
Alpine, which Louis Schweitzer killed off in 1995, is still very much alive in the minds of many designers at the brand new Technocentre in Guyancourt, where the Renault group’s design offices are based. Although the Renault-Sport label has replaced the Alpine brand, it goes without saying that many people live and breathe Alpine every day! The small 2+2 seater mid-engined SUV designed in 2005 under the code name W16 single-handedly invented the idea of a compact crossover. It was designed for Renault-Sport by designers who imagined an Alpine. One that would have revived the legend.
This crossover project opens up new horizons. It should be remembered that the Berlinette Z11 (the potential return of the Alpine name to the Renault group) had been close to production. And this sports coupé from the 2000s, which should have been presented in 2001, already had a look that was very different from the idea people had at the time of Alpine’s return to mass production (see below). It was already a sort of ‘mix of genres’. A crossover, then… Unfortunately, this Z11 project, like the W16, never came to fruition. But Alpine lovers have not said their last word.
2011: the “ZH-25” was to become Alpine’s first crossover
Codenamed ZH-25, the second concept car from the Laurens van den Acker era in 2011 (after the DeZir coupé, which also featured the Alpine logo for a time), hides the Renault Captur concept car. As you can see from the project drawing below, the concept car team is once again attempting to apply the Alpine logo. This design for a dynamic coupé crossover, with its round headlamps set between two sharp headlights, could well have been part of the Alpine range.
But the Alpine range will no longer exist in 2011, even if there is no shortage of projects in-house. The feud between the enthusiasts of the arrowed A and those of the Renault-Sport label is not making things any easier. In this internal duel, Laurens van den Acker decided that it was too early to brand one of the concept cars with the Alpine logo. The ZH-25 will therefore become the Renault Captur in 2011, with an SUV derivative of the Clio that will borrow its name from the concept, but not its dynamism. The 2011 Captur already hides the genes of a potential Alpine crossover… But that’s just a postponement!
2018: the A110 SUV
EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENT
Seven years later, as the Alpine project finally moves towards the production of a descendant of the Berlinette, ambitions are being stepped up a notch. Behind the scenes, people knew that the sports coupé alone would not allow the brand to survive. However, the boss at the time – Carlos Ghosn – had no intention of creating an Alpine ‘range’. Still less did he imagine the name becoming a brand in its own right alongside Renault and Dacia…
So in 2017, the next-generation Alpine A110 was unveiled after a first attempt at a front-engined Nissan ZX-based Berlinetta had failed. It was the W19 project dated 2007 already published on our site (below).
With the new draft A110 of 2017, the design is accurately projected in a future where the theme of “SUV” will please and, associated with the name of Alpine, imagines a “dynamic SUV”. This crossover version, of which here is an exclusive model, cannot be precisely dated, but the rear quarter panel, which is close to that of the production A110, seems to attest to the fact that it was produced almost at the same time as the A110 revival project.
The silhouette of the A110 is recognisable, with a bow (in 1) featuring two additional headlamps, while the bonnet is almost flat, no doubt to accommodate the powertrain (was there already talk of 100% EV? Probably not by now…), a very long wheelbase and four doors (in 3). The body height has been raised and the aerodynamics have been applied to the rocker panels (in 2). The stature is high, while at the rear we find the characteristic design of the A110 (in 4), notably on the pillar above the wheel and the inclination of the rear window. In 5, the design appears to be very similar to that of the A110 coupé, with only the lights also being raised. For the time being, the Alpine crossover will go no further than this mock-up…
All we have to date this A110 crossover model is the distinctive sign on the ‘C’ pillar, which places it at the same time as the genesis of the current A110.
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