A low, wide two-seat coupe that mixes the 1971 A310 with the later V6 car, built on the platform under the next electric A110. Alpine calls it a one-off, but its design chief says there is room for a limited run.
Alpine pulled the cover off the A310 Vision on the first day of the Paris Motor Show, October 12, after leaked images surfaced the day before (The Supercar Blog). It is a low, wide two-seat coupe that reworks one of the French brand's most distinctive old cars, the 1970s A310. Alpine calls it a one-off design study, not a preview of a production car (Alpine press release). Its design chief, though, has left the door open to a limited run, and the car's internal code name points the same way.
There are no power, battery, weight or price figures. What Alpine has shown is a shape, a set of dimensions and the platform underneath it.
The car is 4,550 mm long (about 179 inches), 2,030 mm wide at the rear, just 1,180 mm tall (about 46.5 inches) and has a 2,450 mm wheelbase. Motor1 notes that stance wouldn't look out of place next to a Porsche 911 (Motor1). The body is aluminum on top with a black lower section that Alpine says takes its organic surfaces from Formula 1.
The details are the fun part. The headlights sit inside a fold in the nose and only appear when the car starts, a pop-down effect rather than old-style pop-up lamps. The hood has an S-duct, a racing-style channel that moves air over the car, and a central blade runs the length of the body toward the tail. The rear wing is split in two with a small see-through section in the middle so the driver can see out, and the blade-shaped taillights are designed to add downforce. The wheels use a triangular A-shaped design that echoes the solid metal wheels on early A310s.
Alpine says the project is mainly about the outside, but the semi-transparent cabin shows organically shaped seats, bold color blocking and physical controls inspired by high-end hi-fi equipment. Autocar adds that it uses 1970s-style orange glass and that the lower part of the driver's door is clear (Autocar).
The original A310 arrived in 1971 as a more comfortable, four-seat partner to the small A110, with angular bodywork that set it apart from the rest of Alpine's range. A V6 version followed later, with wider bodywork and more muscle. Alpine built the original A310 from 1971 to 1984, and in 1976 it was restyled by Robert Opron and given a 2.7-liter PRV V6 with 150 hp; that later A310 V6 is the version whose wider stance the concept borrows (Wikipedia: Alpine A310). The concept marks both anniversaries this year: 55 years for the four-cylinder car and 50 for the V6 (Alpine).
We took inspiration from both versions of the A310. The original was very pure and recognisable, and the V6 has more impact and a wider body and track. We mixed elements of both for this car.
— Antony Villain, Alpine VP of Design, to Autocar
So the clean lines come from the early car and the wide rear fenders come from the V6. One big change: the new car is a two-seater, not a four-seater. Villain told Autocar the original was very edgy and the team wanted to add some softness, and that the old car's rising tail, which he called a "weird animal," was kept on purpose.
Underneath, the A310 Vision is designed around the Alpine Performance Platform, or APP, the new architecture for Alpine's electric sports cars. It debuts next year under the next-generation electric A110, which Alpine previewed in Paris with a draped sculpture (Automotive News; Alpine). Autocar reports the platform also underpins the Renault 5 Turbo 3E, can split its battery into two sections and can take different motor layouts, and that it could even accept a gas engine, although there are no plans for one in the A110.
Villain told Autocar the team hasn't worked out any powertrain details for the concept, including whether it would be rear- or all-wheel drive. The point of the car, he said, was to show how flexible the platform is in width, wheelbase and battery position.
Officially, no. Alpine's release calls it a creative exploration of the brand's heritage rather than the announcement of a future model. But the car was shown under the code name PS1, which Alpine's own pre-show release spells out as "Projet Spécial 1" and places in the special-projects part of its lineup, alongside the everyday models and the A110 (Alpine).
There is room and I'm sure the feedback on the car will be good.
— Antony Villain, Alpine VP of Design, to Autocar, on a production version
Villain also said a production version "was not planned," and Autocar expects any limited-run special to follow the new A110 by a few years. Sources split on one point. Carscoops ties the concept to the separate four-seat A310 that Alpine announced in 2023 for its 2030 plan (Carscoops), but Villain told Autocar the planned 2+2 sports car will not take the A310 Vision's styling. We are going with Alpine's design chief on that.
evo, which saw the car in Paris, reads it the same way: less a 911 rival for Alpine's main lineup than a candidate for its ultra-limited special projects, the kind of car that followed the A110 Ultime. It adds that the electric version of the APP platform is closer to production than the hybrid one also in development, so if demand pushed Alpine to build a limited run, it would most likely be electric (evo).
Confirmed: the design, the dimensions, the APP platform and Alpine's one-off label. Not confirmed: any powertrain, any production run, any price. The PS1 code name and Villain's comments are the strongest hints yet that Alpine wants a low-volume halo car above the A110, and the A310 Vision is the most likely shape for it.
What it means for buyers: there is nothing to order. If a special series does come, Autocar expects it a few years after the new A110, and Alpine hasn't said whether it would be electric or gas, though evo expects electric. For now this is one to watch, and original A310 V6 cars remain the only way to own this look.
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