New Alpine A110 R Ultime is a £276k swansong with 345bhp
A110 is bowing out due to new safety regulations it doesn't comply with...
Ferrari money and Porsche pace for the final new version of Alpine's sports coupé
Alpine has revealed an extreme new special edition of the A110 with 345bhp and a top-end price tag of nearly £300,000.
Called the A110 R Ultime, the final edition of the French brand's halo sports car is one of the most expensive four-cylinder cars of all time, far exceeding the £90,000 A110 R on which it is based with a start price of £209,000 - and the possibility to add another £70,000 in personlisation options.
The Ultime has made its debut at the Paris motor show, alongside the A290 hot hatch and A390 SUV - both due on sale in 2025 as the first of seven new Alpine EVs due by 2030.
The A390 will be built at Alpine's factory in Dieppe, France – which currently builds the A110 – from late next year, and work has already begun to adapt the line, though production of the A110 continues and the firm has yet to set an end date.
Production has already been curtailed, though, because the A110 is not compliant with the EU's new GSR2 safety standards, which means Alpine can sell no more than 1500 units in the region per year.
Limited to 110 units, the final new version of the petrol car is the most powerful yet, with its turbocharged 2.0-litre four-pot boosted by 49bhp over the previous range-topper to give straight-line performance on a par with the BMW M2.
With torque also increased to 310lb ft and a new launch control function installed, the 1120kg A110 R Ultime gets from 0-62mph in just 3.8 seconds.
It also has a new gearbox to cope with the increased torque, a bespoke turbo, an Akrapovic titanium exhaust, Öhlins adjustable dampers at all four corners and a high-performance braking system from AP racing.
The bespoke aero package, meanwhile, is said to boost downforce by 160kg at top speed compared to the standard A110 R, which – together with sticky new Michelin PS2 Cup tyres – means the Ultime is "ever more agile on corner entry, cornering and acceleration".
It is, Alpine says, a "genuine road-legal circuit car", having been tested at the Nürburgring by the firm's former F1 driver Esteban Ocon.
Included in the lofty price tag is the possibility for each of the 110 owners to highly personalise their Ultime inside and out, with a wide range of paint and upholstery colours on offer through Alpine's Atelier programme.
The car on show in Paris is a one-of-15 'La Bleue' edition, hand-painted in a combination of Vision Blue and Abysse Blue and upholstered to match, as "an exclusive illustration of the possibilities the Atelier Sur Mesure Alpine offers".
Priced at the equivalent of £276,000, it is the most expensive car yet sold by the Renault Group - and the second most expensive car currently built in France, behind the Bugatti Chiron.