BACK TO THE FUTURE
Updated: Oct 3
1973 A110 1800 Gr. IV meets 2026 Alpine A110 GTS
Quite a few film and photo shoots revolving around Alpine have found their way onto the idyllic roads of the Swabian Forest. Whether for Petrolicious, Classic Driver, or simply for our own projects, these roads have provided the backdrop for countless memorable images.
Naturally, the standards have always been high – for the film and photography crews as much as for everyone involved behind the scenes. Yet there has been one constant throughout almost all of them: the location.
By now, one particular stretch of road in the Welzheimer Forest has become almost legendary. Countless Alpine films and photo shoots have taken place here. The combination of sweeping corners, scenery and tarmac seems almost tailor-made for the Berlinette – whether it has just arrived from a showroom or carries half a century of motorsport history on its shoulders.
This time, those two worlds came together.
Two Alpine A110`s. More than half a century between them. And yet, they share far more than you might expect at first glance. Some encounters can be arranged. Others simply have to happen. This was one of them.
On one side: an Alpine A110 GTS – brand new, thoroughly modern, supplied by Renault Deutschland, and one of the final representatives of its generation.
On the other: an Alpine A110 1800 Gr. IV from the 1973 World Rally Championship season.
A former works car. One of those uncompromising Berlinettes with which Alpine wrote its name into motorsport history.
In between: Elias Holdenried, aka Moteurflottant and Jürgen Clauss of alpineLAB – two enthusiasts from the Swabian region, brought together by a shared passion for French automobiles.
And behind the camera: Daniel Nikodem, known on Instagram as BMWjogge. A man with the rare ability not simply to photograph cars, but to capture their character. A meeting that, in hindsight, was long overdue.
1,8 Liter. Two Generations.
At first glance, it would be hard to imagine two cars that could be more different.
One comes from an era when rally drivers relied on stopwatches, pace notes and mechanical feel.
The driver was the sensor, the rulebook and the electronic driving aid all rolled into one.
The other belongs to a world where sensors, control units and sophisticated electronics determine in milliseconds exactly how much performance is being delivered. Its seven-speed dual-clutch transmission shifts faster than any conventional manual gearbox ever could, while its 1.8-litre engine produces 300 hp.
And yet, they share one crucial detail: 1,800 cubic centimetres of displacement.
Coincidence? Perhaps.
More interesting, however, is what has remained beyond the numbers.
Because the real connection between these two A110s is not found in individual technical specifications.
It lies in a philosophy: to put as little car as possible between the driver and the road.
Light. Compact. Agile. Focused on the driving experience rather than sheer size or mass.
That very idea shaped the Berlinette of the 1960s and ’70s – and remains at the heart of the modern A110 to this day.
Two Worlds. One DNA.
Of course, the two cars could hardly be further apart.
The A110 1800 Gr. IV is a product of the rallying world. Its universe is made up of steel, polyester resin, fibreglass, bolts, welds – and a driver who has to read every single metre of road. Its behaviour is immediate, sometimes demanding and always honest. It forgives little, but rewards you all the more when you learn how to master it.
The A110 GTS, by contrast, is the result of more than five decades of automotive evolution. Its aluminium chassis is engineered and manufactured to the highest precision, while its 1.8-litre turbocharged engine produces 300 hp and 340 Nm. Modern suspension technology, electronics and a dual-clutch transmission make its performance more accessible, controllable and repeatable.
And yet, place the two side by side – and suddenly, there it is again. That familiar silhouette.
The low nose. The big eyes. The sculpted wheel arches. The short body. The purposeful stance.
And above all, that incredible visual lightness that has always defined the A110.
You don't have to be an Alpine expert to see the family resemblance.
The modern A110 doesn't copy the old Berlinette. It translates its idea into a different era.
The uncompromising rally car has become a modern sports car. The mechanical tool has evolved into a highly sophisticated driving machine. The small four-cylinder of the 1970s has become a turbocharged engine
producing 300 hp. But the fundamental idea has remained remarkably consistent.
A110 is still A110. Only the times have changed.
1973 – when Alpine Conquered the Rally World.
The bright blue Berlinette from alpineLAB is no ordinary A110.
It is a piece of motorsport history. A car from an era when rallies were not yet perfectly choreographed high-speed spectacles, but ruthless tests of man and machine.
In 1973, a new era began. The World Rally Championship was established, and Alpine was ready.
With just 17 factory-prepared Berlinettes built for the new championship, Alpine went up against the established giants of international rallying.
The philosophy behind it was as simple as it was uncompromising:
As little car as possible. Lightweight construction instead of displacement. Mechanics instead of electronics.
Feel instead of computers.
The A110 1800 Gr. IV was the ultimate expression of this philosophy. Small, light, agile and brutally fast. No luxury, no boot, no electronic aids. Between driver and road there was essentially nothing but tyres, suspension, a steering wheel – and the courage to find out just how far both car and driver could be pushed.
Its life did not begin on a Sunday drive to a café. It began where tarmac, gravel, snow and mud decide the fate of a car.
In 1973, the works Alpines faced, among others, the legendary Rally Poland. Of the 62 cars that started, just six made it to the finish. That was the world these cars were built for.
A world where a rally car didn't merely have to be fast – it had to survive.
It had to work, night after night, corner after corner, jump after jump.
And when something mechanical failed, there was no laptop, no diagnostic connector and no control unit ready with the answer. There were tools. Improvisation. Experience. And drivers who knew exactly how far they could push.
At the end of that first World Rally Championship season came something that almost sounds unbelievable today:
Alpine Renault won the inaugural World Rally Championship for Manufacturers in 1973.
The small French Berlinette had taken on the giants of rallying – and prevailed.
With an idea entirely its own: Light. Fast. Uncompromising.
An idea that, more than 50 years later, can still be seen in every line of an A110.
2026 – The Same Idea, Reinterpreted.
More that five decades later, the A110 GTS now stands alongside it.
300 hp. 340 Nm. A seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. 0–100 km/h in 4.2 seconds.
And roughly 1.1 tonnes of weight.
Numbers that are still impressive today.
But numbers alone don't explain why a modern A110 feels so immediate, so emotional.
The secret, just as it was in 1973, is not about maximum power. It is about weight.
Alpine has built the GTS around the sportier chassis concept of the A110 S, combining it with the 300-hp engine.
The result is a modern A110 that blends sporting ambition with the everyday usability expected from a contemporary sports car. And this is where the connection to the old Berlinette becomes truly fascinating.
Because while the two cars may be separated by entire worlds, the modern A110 still follows the fundamental principle that made Jean Rédélé's Alpine famous: Light is Right.
Sisters in Crime.
The real comparison only begins once the cars hit the road.
Of course, it would be easy to park them side by side and compare the technical specifications.
But that would almost be missing the point.
Because the real question isn't: Which A110 is faster?
It is: Which A110 makes the driver feel more?
And there is no objective answer to that.
The 1800 Gr. IV tells the story of an era when motorsport was raw, direct and uncompromising.
Its history is visible in every detail – from its bodywork to the traces left behind by a life lived at full speed.
The GTS, by contrast, represents an era in which engineers are challenged to create that same emotional connection using the tools of the 21st century. And the result is remarkable. Because when the road narrows, the corners come faster and faster, and the Swabian Forest trades its long straights for a sequence of rapid changes of direction, one thing becomes clear: The A110 hasn't lost its character.
Moteurflottant meets alpineLAB
Perhaps that is the most beautiful story behind this shoot. It isn't about deciding who owns the “better” car.
It is about two people who speak the same automotive language in very different ways.
Elias Holdenried - Moteurflottant – represents the present / Jürgen Clauss - alpineLAB brings the history.
And somewhere in between, 1973 meets 2026.
That this encounter takes place in the Swabian Forest almost seems inevitable.
French automotive heritage and Swabian automotive tradition may appear to be worlds apart at first glance.
But passion knows no borders.
