Owner and driver of these special A110 1100 "Tour de France" was André Wicky from near Lausanne (CH), which was active in motorsports from the late 1950s to the late 1970. He founded early his own racing team - the „Wicky Racing Team“ – and in the early 70s he drove powerfull sports cars like Porsche 908. With his co-pilot Claude Haldi, also a well known person in international motorsport, they participate on the rallye Lyon-Charbonnières- Stuttgart-Solitude in 1966. In mid 1965 he ordered this special Berlinette A110 1100 "tour de france" with all racing options available at that time.

The vehicle was delivered by the factory with the following features:

• extra lightweight body
• front cooling
• sports seats
• 2 fuel tanks
• heated windscreen
• rear suspension type "Mille Miles"
• plexiglas windows
• package „equippement hautes performance“

Wicky ordered the vehicle without engine, because he maintain friendly contacts with the engine tuner Bernard Collomb in Nice. We have therefore reason to believe that he promised benefits to build a powerful Gordini engine at the workshop of B. Collomb.

The rallye "Lyon-Charbonnières-Stuttgart-Solitude" achieved cult status, got the title of "Germany Rally" and belonged to the European Championship. The main feature was the special stages at the solitude circuit. In 1966 the Automobile Club of Switzerland was also engaged as a organizer of Rally Solitude Charbonnières. She counted now in France, Germany and Switzerland as a national championship run, although she was already in the drivers mind the small Monte Carlo Rally.

During snow and ice in the alps three special stages were to complete. Here the light weight Alpine factory cars get advantage and took over the lead of the field. In 1966, the Solitude Ring saw it`s first Alpine A110 berlinette in the lead - five overall victories should follow. Overall winners were Jean-Pierre Hanrioud / Jean-Claude Peray on Alpine A 110 1100 before their brand colleagues Vinatier / Hoffmann, also on A110 1100 "Tour de France". The team André Wicky / Claude Haldi reached the finish line in Stuttgart on respectable 5th place in their class.

It sounds almost like a miracle to find a former competition berlinette from 1965, which was fallen in deep sleep for almost 40 years and it`s speedo counts only 45.000km . Such stories may seem to be only possible in switzerland, where cultural heritage will be preserved carefully and this berlinette was stored well protected and never driven since 1973. Inconspicuous and unremarkable this car may seem in comparison to a brutal 1800s factory 1800ccm car – but surely it represents the most difficult to find model of the A110 production line. Maximum of a dozen of it`s kind with this special equipment features were produced for rally use by the factory - only a few have survived the long years still intact and unrestored.

This portraited particular A110 1100 "Tour de France" was the  the former rallye car of ex-Alpine Renault race director  Jaques Cheinisse, which even in the early years became a factory driver.

Although this berlinette was shut down already in 1973, only a few years of rally use nevertheless left it's marks, so that an extensive restoration was necessary. The super lightweight outer skin had been torn in many places, broken, deformed or even unprofessional repaired. The slightly modified fenders were re-adjusted to the original factory settings, the front prepared back to 2 main headlights.

The following collage gives a short overview of the restoration process.

A rich instrumentation was already in 1965 an integral part of the competition cars.

The new revised and powerfull Gordini engine has less effort to force the lightweight Coupé to splendid performance.

The additional lighting of the brand S.E.V. MARCHAL was directly orderd from factory. At that time, a useful accessory for the Rally - today, a nice looking style element.

Tight wheel arches and narrow tires on 15 "steel wheels give the early built berlinette`s a harmonious and elegant appearance.