zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Culture
/
Alpenglow Concept Offers a Glimpse at a Forbidden Alpine Hypercar
Alpenglow Concept Offers a Glimpse at a Forbidden Alpine Hypercar-July 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:12:02

Image for article titled Alpenglow Concept Offers a Glimpse at a Forbidden Alpine Hypercar

Alpine is still quite a young brand in its current incarnation. Renault resurrected the storied name in 2015 with a concept car for Gran Turismo, and the production-spec followed two years later. The A110 has enjoyed some updates — we received the and the in recent months — but the company is still figuring out what a true range looks like. A new concept, called Alpenglow, will supposedly help guide the way.

The Alpenglow was teased Thursday morning in tandem with the Paris Motor Show kicking off next week. It appears to be a concept car in the purest sense; Alpine has released no technical information about it, aside from the fact that it incorporates a hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain, and the hydrogen itself is stored in two tanks pressurized to 700 bar. Does it run? Maybe! We don’t know yet.

Image for article titled Alpenglow Concept Offers a Glimpse at a Forbidden Alpine Hypercar

Design has clearly been the focus here, and Alpine says its forthcoming LMDh-class endurance racer will draw upon the Alpenglow’s “shape, headlamps and spirit.” The finer details, like the mix of opaque and translucent surfaces comprising the exterior, the red-to-blue LED strip bisecting the entire car lengthwise, and light trails at the fringes of the rear seem less appropriate for competition.

Image for article titled Alpenglow Concept Offers a Glimpse at a Forbidden Alpine Hypercar

The headlights themselves are worth a closer look, evoking the A110's quad setup, with a second set of beams offset just below the nose. The Alpenglow evolves this by changing their shape from something more conventional and circular to geometric shapes breaking apart at the tail, conveying a sense of movement.

If the Alpenglow turned around right now, it’d see the faces of Alpine’s upcoming A110 replacement, B-segment entry-level sports car and grand-touring crossover. Talk about a missed connection.

The reddish hue of these lights at the front of the car is what gives the concept its name. Alpenglow, if you weren’t aware (I wasn’t) is not the name of a brand of dish detergent but rather the term used to describe that occurs when the sun moves just below the horizon, painting mountains red.

The Alpenglow measures 16.4 feet long, more than 6.5 feet wide, and less than 3.2 feet tall — a “dream car’s proportions,” the brand tells us. The results speak for themselves, but, personally, I’m not seeing a whole lot of evolution from the Alpine Vision Gran Turismo that kicked off the automaker’s resurgence in the middle of the last decade. Here was the Alpine VGT, for reference:

Image for article titled Alpenglow Concept Offers a Glimpse at a Forbidden Alpine Hypercar

And here’s the Alpenglow, in profile:

Image for article titled Alpenglow Concept Offers a Glimpse at a Forbidden Alpine Hypercar

The new concept is certainly a little more dramatic, but the basic form of stubby nose, rising beltline, and long tail with sharp edges hasn’t changed much, as both cars share the same inspiration: Alpine’s A220 prototype of the late ’60s. Moreover, the Alpenglow is not preview of a particular hypercar that will be sold to the public because, as Alpine points out itself in , such a vehicle does not figure into its future lineup plans:

[Alpine’s] next generation of models – its Dream Garage – will comprise three exclusive and trailblazing all-electric models: a compact sports car (B segment), a GT crossover (C segment) and a A110 replacement.

Rather, this is how the most extreme Alpine would look, if the most extreme Alpine could exist. As much as I’d love for the brand’s eventual LMDh chassis to resemble the Alpenglow, I’m not going to hold my breath; race cars must satisfy regulations of course, and they rarely hit the track looking quite as nice as they do when we meet them in reveals for the first time. ( got with its latest Le Mans racer, though, to be fair.) Alpine’s prototype is due to debut in the World Endurance Championship in 2024.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Culture
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I have two automotive loves: The first is the Miata, the second is off-road racing. For a while I raced air-cooled Volkswagens in the deserts of California and Nevada and I was lucky enough to co-drive in a class 11 stock bug in the Baja 1000 a few years...
Jul 21, 2025
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
MotorWeek’s is some of the on the internet. The long-running automotive news magazine has a treasure trove of tests after being on the air for over 40 years. Where else can you find detailed instrumented testing of long-forgotten cars like the or a ? MotorWeek’s recent Retro Review upload is...
Jul 21, 2025
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
closed its São Bernardo Plant in November 2023, marking the end of its first overseas production facility. The closure caps off a period of continuous car production in São Paolo, , lasting over 60 years. The plant was home to a Komatsu 700-ton press that predates itself. And now...
Jul 21, 2025
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
At long last, we are about to get behind the wheel of for the first time. Sure, , and sure, , and sure , but hey — what can you do? Anyway, before we get behind the wheel of this three-row electric beast, we want to know what you...
Jul 21, 2025
Subaru Had It Right All Along
Subaru Had It Right All Along
When first came to the United States, it sold small funky cars that were decidedly un-American. As the company grew its own identity and became more established in the U.S., it became the first automaker to offer an all-wheel-drive passenger car in 1975. Subaru was also an early-adopter of...
Jul 21, 2025
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I love tiny, of . I have a that is roughly half the size of a normal cat, and she’s perfect. I own a 2013 , which is like the miniature version of a normal-sized vehicle (at least here in Texas) — but beyond that, I also own a Hot...
Jul 21, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved