The car was styled as a "berlinette", which in the post-WWII era refers to a small enclosed two-door berline, better-known as a coupé.

In 1973, Alpine won the inaugural manufacturer's World Rally Championship, defeating competitors such as Lancia, Porsche, and Ford.

However, by 1974, advances in rally competition led to a significant shift in the landscape of the sport, and the Alpine A110, which had become outdated, struggled to keep up with its rivals.

As a result, sales of the A110 declined, prompting Renault to step in and purchase the company outright in an effort to save it.

[4] Alpine was founded by Jean Rédélé, a Frenchman based in Dieppe, who was an enthusiastic participant in rallying during the post-WWII era.

Rédélé used Renault 4CVs and modified them for improved performance, including replacing the original three-speed gearbox with a five-speed manual transmission—a significant upgrade at the time.

He also constructed new, lighter bodies to fit over the chassis and entered his modified vehicles in endurance races, including Le Mans and Sebring.

Later, a cabriolet version was introduced, based on a stiff, tubular backbone chassis design that would become the foundation for all Alpines until the final production of the A610 in 1995.

After winning several rallies in France in the late 1960s with the cast-iron R8 Gordini Cléon-Fonte engines the car was fitted with the aluminium-block Cléon-Alu from the Renault 16 TS.

Alpine had built a Formula One testing mule by 1976, leading to Renault's full-scale entry into the prestigious global motorsport category.

With a team featuring Bernard Darniche, Jean-Pierre Nicolas and Jean-Luc Thérier as permanent drivers and "guest stars" like Jean-Claude Andruet (who won the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally) the A110 won most of the races where the works team was entered, making Alpine the first World Rally Champion.

From 1967 to 1969, the A110 was also produced in Bulgaria under the name "Bulgaralpine" by a partnership formed between SPC Metalhim and ETO Bulet, whose collaboration also resulted in the production of the Bulgarrenault.

This legacy of performance car development can be traced back to Dieppe and ultimately to the influence of Alpine and Rédélé.