Alpine has unveiled the A310 Vision at the Paris motor show, reinterpreting its 1970s sports coupe as an unusually low, wide two-seat design study. Only one concept has been made. The company is explicit that it is not announcing an A310 production revival: this is an exploration of what the marque's historic shapes might look like using its latest sports-car architecture.
The timing reflects two anniversaries. The original four-cylinder A310 arrived in 1971, while the more muscular V6 followed five years later. Alpine's designers kept an original A310 in their studio during development, drawing on the early car's clean, angular silhouette and the later version's broader shoulders rather than attempting a period-perfect replica.
A familiar shape with unfamiliar details
The Vision measures 4.55 metres long, reaches 2.03 metres across its widest rear section and stands just 1.18 metres high. Its wheelbase is 2.45 metres. Aluminium bodywork sits above a dark lower structure whose sculpted aerodynamic surfaces borrow ideas from Formula 1. The three-spoke wheels carry an A-shaped motif that ties them back to Alpine's identity.
The front lights are particularly inventive. Instead of the conventional pop-up arrangement, they are designed to reveal themselves with a downward movement on start-up. A pronounced S-duct channels air through the bonnet, while a split rear wing incorporates a transparent section. The semi-transparent canopy offers a glimpse of sculptural seats, bold blocks of colour and physical controls influenced by high-end hi-fi equipment.
Built around a flexible architecture
The concept illustrates the design possibilities of Alpine Performance Platform, or APP, an architecture being developed for the marque's next generation of sports cars. It allows engineers and designers to experiment with packaging, wheelbase and component layouts. Alpine has not provided a production powertrain specification or certified performance figures for the A310 Vision, so the show car should not be read as a finished road-going proposition.
There is a small opening for enthusiasts hoping to see something similar on the road. Design chief Antony Villain told Autocar that the platform could support future special projects, but Alpine's formal position is narrower: the A310 Vision is an independent design exercise, not confirmation of a new production model.