If Citroën sets the standard for whimsy in the French auto industry with its wonderfully executed return of the cheerful 2CV, then Alpine is the country’s banner carrier for chic. The outgoing A110 is everything you could want in a sports car: mid-engined, turbocharged, and with a curb weight to rival the Mazda MX-5. For a car so light, it makes our hearts heavy that Alpine doesn’t sell any on this side of the Atlantique.
Here’s another piece of dramatic French cinema that hints at what the replacement for the A110 will be like, and it could potentially join it in Alpine showrooms. Officially only a concept, it’s called the A310 Vision, and it draws on a hugely overlooked French sports car that’s celebrating a couple of anniversaries this year.
The original 1960s A110 owed much of its success in racing and rallying to a feathery curb weight. Admirable, but also slightly cramped. Looking to expand the popularity of its range with a more grand-touring-focused offering, Alpine released the A310 in 1971 as a four-cylinder model, then later a spicier V-6 version. If you’re thinking “Lotus, but French,” then you’re in the right ballpark.
The A310 Vision bakes in styling elements of both its four- and six-cylinder ancestors, then electrifies it with a jolt of cyberpunk ethos. The winged, windowless rear is not entirely a flight of fancy in an age when the Polestar 4 exists, and the front blends a 1980s flair of the later-model A310s with futuristic details. For instance, the headlights only appear when the car is powered on, using pop-down panels.
Speaking to U.K. publication Autocar at the reveal, Alpine design head Antony Villain indicated that the A310 Vision could possibly reach production as a special project. Wait, Alpine has a literal Villain working on its cars? How cool can one company be?
The A310 Vision’s underpinnings reveal just how production-ready this coupe is. It’s the same Alpine Performance Platform (APP) that’s intended to be the backbone of the upcoming, electrified A110, and it’s currently used in the gloriously riotous Renault 5 Turbo 3E.
Will any of these slickly executed French electric performance machines make it to the U.S. market? The only answer right now is a very Gallic shrug. Alpine had previously pledged to enter the U.S. market before 2030 with a lineup of EVs, but tariffs and slowing EV sales have cast doubts over those plans.
However, the lesson that the A310 Vision imparts to other automakers throughout the industry is an important one. Alpine didn’t reveal range, performance figures, or other potential metrics for this concept. Instead, it just pulled off the wraps and effectively said, “Look how cool this car is.” What could be more French than that?
