You might not have noticed, but we quite like the Alpine A110 here at TG UK. We also like the A110 Cup and A110 GT4 race cars, and we’re sometimes partial to a little bit of history.

So, let’s take you back to 1973, when many well-known international rallies came together to form the World Rally Championship. The inaugural season was won by, you guessed it, the original Alpine A110.

And so, there are no prizes for guessing what our reaction was to the new A110 Rally, which is based on the lightweight chassis of the current GT4 car and looks simply fantastic. Oh yes.

(Click HERE to read about our drive of the A110 in Singapore)

The new car has been developed by Alpine in partnership with Signatech. It retains the RWD setup, but has been given an FIA homologated roll cage, Sabelt bucket seats, a 6spd sequential gearbox, Brembo brakes and a new hydraulic suspension system.

There’s also a power upgrade, bumping the total figure to over 300bhp from the turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder. Oh, and there’s that bloody great rear wing. Lovely.

Alpine says the A110 Rally is currently being homologated for the FIA R-GT class, meaning it should be available for customers to buy and run at the beginning of 2020. The cost? Around €150,000. Before tax. Without any options. Ouch.

Still, the R-GT class will also feature the Cayman GT4 and Abarth 124 Spider rally cars, so it could make for some seriously slidey action next season. That’s something we can’t wait to see.

STORY Greg Potts