Société Anonyme des Automobiles Alpine was born in 1954, the brainchild of competition driver Jean Rédélé. It used Renault underpinnings with attractive glassfibre coupé bodies on top, leading, in 1962 to the definitive A110, which would stay in production until 1977 and turned Alpine into France’s leading sportscar maker.

Always closely tied with Renault, the mainstream maker took over Alpine in 1974. This era also saw the striking A310 model, intended to take on Porsche, which in time evolved into the GTA and A610 types. The last Alpine-badged car was built in 1994 although there are periodic hopes that the name will be revived. The Dieppe factory now builds RenaultSport models instead.