Jean Rédélé, the founder of Alpine, was originally a Dieppe garage proprietor who began to achieve success in motorsport with one of the few French cars that were produced just after the Second World War, the Renault 4CV.

Using Renault 4CVs, Jean Rédélé gained class wins in a number of major events, including the Mille Miglia and Coupe des Alpes.

As his experience with the 4CV grew, he incorporated many modifications, including special five-speed gearboxes replacing the original three-speed unit.

To provide a lighter car, he built a number of special versions with lightweight aluminium bodies, driving them at Le Mans and Sebring with some success in the early 1950s.

Real top level success started in 1968 with outright wins in the Coupe des Alpes and other international events.

[8] During this time, production of the Alpine A110 increased and manufacturing deals were struck for A110s and A108s with factories in a number of other countries including Spain, Mexico, Brazil and Bulgaria.

From a total Alpine production of 1421 in 1972, the numbers of cars sold dropped to 957 in 1974 and the company was bailed out via a takeover by Renault.

Alpine's problems had been compounded by the need for them to develop a replacement for the A110, and launch the car alongside drastically increasing European petrol prices.

However, to compete with Alpine's success, other manufacturers developed increasingly special cars, notably the Lancia Stratos which was based closely on the A110's size and rear-engined concept, though incorporating a Ferrari engine.

Alpine's own cars, still based on the 1962 design and using a surprising number of production parts, became increasingly uncompetitive.

In 1974 Alpine built a series of factory racing Renault 17 Gordinis (one driven by Jean-Luc Thérier) that won the Press on Regardless World Rally Championship round in Michigan, US.

A number of increasingly successful sports racing cars appeared, culminating in the 1978 Le Mans win with the Renault Alpine A442B.

This was fitted with a turbo-charged engine; Alpine had been the first company to run in and win an international rally with a turbo car as far back as 1972, when Thérier took a specially modified A110 to victory on the Critérium des Cévennes.

A Renault 2.0 litre engine arrived in time for Jean-Pierre Jabouille to win the European Formula 2 Championship in 1976.

Later they would use a Five-speed manual gearbox and with the group 4 model get a higher tune with more cubic capacity and 3 twin barrel Weber carburetors.

Production was limited to 100 cars, all fitted with ABS braking, polished wheels, special leather interior and paintwork.

Otherwise mechanically identical to the V6 Turbo, the engine was fitted with a catalytic converter and power was reduced to 185 bhp (138 kW).

These were available from Renault dealers in the UK, and the country's motoring press are belatedly recognising the GTA series as the 'great unsung supercar of the 1980s'.

After production of the A610 ended, the Alpine factory in Dieppe produced the Renault Sport Spider and a new era was to begin.

The Alpine factory in Dieppe continued to expand; in the 1980s they built the special R5 Turbo cars, following the rear engine formula they had always used.

[10] Renault's marketing department stated that the car would need to be less basic and include more modern features such as electric windows and air conditioning.

In 1999, Renault partnered with Lotus to develop the Z11 Berlinette, an art-deco design study investigating the return of the Alpine brand.

[15] The new Alpine sports car was to have a version of the Premium Midship platform from the Nissan 350Z and would be classed to compete with the Mazda MX-5.

[16] In February 2009, Renault confirmed that plans to revive the Alpine brand had been frozen as a direct result of the 2008–2009 global financial crisis and recession.

The project was later cancelled, speculated to be due in part to the arrival of the Nissan GT-R, alongside the global financial crisis of 2008.

[24][25] On 10 June 2014, Renault announced it would be repurchasing the stake from Caterham Cars in SAAC, renaming it Société des Automobiles Alpine.

[29] The production version reused the A110 name and the first official pictures were revealed on 28 February 2017 prior to the unveiling at the 87th Geneva Motor show.

Discussions have been initiated with AutoNation to establish a dealership network in the country, with these new electric vehicles being developed specifically to meet the preferences of American consumers.

[34] In 1969, to cope with increasing demand, the assembly was moved to a larger facility on de Bréauté avenue, its present location.

[45] In October 2021, Alpine said it would enter two WEC prototypes built on the LMDh rules from 2024 onwards, with the running side managed again by Signatech.