For only the third time in Alpine’s 71-year history, the brand’s icon is about to be renewed. As with each of its generations, the future A110 must be an expression of its time. It will be built on the all-new APP (Alpine Performance Platform), unveiled this spring during Renault Group’s FutuREady plan presentation. In July, a development mule named Alpine A110 FUTURE ran in front of the public at the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed, under bodywork based on the current model, simply stretched to accommodate the new dimensions of the APP platform. As for the design of the future Alpine A110, the third of its name, it is now being evoked through a sculpture: a true artistic vision of Alpine designers’ interpretation of tomorrow’s A110.
It is through the reading of a phantom volume, covered by a veil, that the essence of the future Alpine A110’s style begins to emerge. A sculpture seemingly in levitation which, beyond its artistic approach, is also a tool commonly used by designers in their formal research exercises. Draping a veil over a body — rather than hiding it — makes it possible to read its proportions and intentions. It is a tool for exploring themes and proportions: the car then reveals the essence of its style. Through this encounter between art and engineering, the ingredients that will shape the exterior bodywork of the third generation of the brand’s icon can be perceived beneath a discreet veil.
THE FROZEN MOMENT OF BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER
The blue veil used in this sculpture, like a point of tension at the very moment it is caught by the wind, also suggests lightness and aerodynamics — key elements of a sports car in which form follows function. One of the strong inspirations comes from the Concorde epic, a symbol of French technological excellence, with a unique style forged by the exceptional performance of a civil aircraft capable of breaking the sound barrier. This precise moment, marked by a powerful sonic resonance, is one of the major sources of inspiration for the sculpture: a suspended instant charged with a high concentration of energy.
These elements must be combined with the DNA that makes an Alpine A110: proportions and a stance in the lineage of the Berlinette and the current A110. The third generation will unmistakably be an Alpine A110, with its V-shaped front-end treatment, the dual light signature suggested here, the typical side modelling born from the evocation of movement — modernised and more sculptural — and the contrast between tension and curvaceous volumes, conveyors of emotion and symbols of Alpine’s technical mastery.
The pure silhouette of the future Alpine A110 is defined by a beltline running from the shark-nose front end to the lowered rear, creating incomparable presence and elegance. The smooth, teardrop-shaped cabin capsule fits seamlessly between the four particularly muscular and pronounced wheel arches, highlighted by the slender waist that can just be made out.
The result, behind a sophisticated drape, reveals a style that is at once highly dynamic, curvaceous and pure. A sculptural expression of art in motion, of energy captured in an instant, designed so that, at a single glance, it evokes the same emotions that guided Alpine’s designers in its creation.
