"Jonee" (Jonee)
05/07/2015 at 18:37 • Filed to: Renault Alpine
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"Jonee" (Jonee)
05/07/2015 at 18:37 • Filed to: Renault Alpine | 6
| 32 |
In 1985 Renault nearly blessed us with something special. After years of selling Dauphines, Le Cars, and Alliances, they finally decided to bring over something badass and quick, the Alpine GTA. They went through all the work of federalizing the car with side markers, big bumpers, and catalytic converters when Renault chief Georges Besses was assassinated. A new timid leadership abandoned the project instead releasing a souped up Alliance with the GTA moniker. That car wasn’t bad, actually, but it sure as fuck wasn’t an Alpine. They actually built 21 U.S. spec Alpine GTA’s, but they were never sold in America although one did make its way to Florida. 12 were sold to the public with the rest going back to Alpine to be recycled into Alpine “Le Mans” cars which was an Alpine with a body kit. I’m not sure what the price of these cars was going to be, but they were planning on exporting 2500 a year. Oh, what might have been.
472CID
> Jonee
05/07/2015 at 18:49 |
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I want to live in an alternative reality where there was some sort of AMXIII/Alpine A310 joint project.
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Jonee
> 472CID
05/07/2015 at 18:55 |
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I actually think selling that Alpine as a new AMX would have been a good idea.
MultiplaOrgasms
> Jonee
05/07/2015 at 19:03 |
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Hmm. Who knows, maybe if the GTA had made it to american dealerships the Alpine brand could have survived and turned into a maker of sporty-ish family sedans and crossovers just like Porsche.
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Jonee
> MultiplaOrgasms
05/07/2015 at 19:23 |
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Well, that puts a different perspective on it. Thanks.
RallyWrench
> 472CID
05/07/2015 at 19:42 |
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Looks like the one I saw, it looks so good. If only they’d followed through with a US version.
Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/08/2015 at 03:43 |
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NEVER KNEW THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A US-SPEC GTA / V6 TURBO! Doesn’t look as good as the real thing but it’s not that different, is it?
12 were sold to the public
But not in the US? So where did they end up?
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Jonee
> Jobjoris
05/09/2015 at 02:34 |
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Amazing, huh? I kind of like the looks. Not as good as the original, but it’s so 80’s. It was the same car just with emissions equipment and that crazy body. Those 12 were sold in Europe to Renault buyers. I don’t know how they decided who got them, but it looks like most of them still exist.
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Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/09/2015 at 05:18 |
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I’m certain all of them know it’s a 1 of 12 so they at least should try to keep it running. I’ve never seen one for sale or anything. Now that would be something to research!
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Jonee
> Jobjoris
05/11/2015 at 00:52 |
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Yeah, I’d like to know more of the story. One thing I read implied that they actually shipped them here and then sent them back to France, which seems silly if they were already U.S. approved. There are current pictures of a few different ones on the internet, so they’re somewhere.
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Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/11/2015 at 02:55 |
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I can inform Ton Roks of Dutch (licensed) car magazine ‘Octane’ about these. Maybe he’ll find it usefull for an article. Let him do the research!
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Jonee
> Jobjoris
05/11/2015 at 23:57 |
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Good idea. I’d love to read a test drive of one with a side-by-side comparison of the original. Actually, I’d like to write that myself, if they need someone to do it. You could be the photographer and translator.
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Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/12/2015 at 02:44 |
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There’s an English ‘Octane’ as well, maybe we should just sell our article to both!
Where in the world are we gonna find one of those 12...
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Jonee
> Jobjoris
05/13/2015 at 00:59 |
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They’re significant enough that I’m sure they’re easy to track down.
Here’s a registry that lists two of them. One’s in Sweden. I’ve never been to Sweden.
http://www.registregtaa610.net/registry
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Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/13/2015 at 01:40 |
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We should go to Sweden. Lund should be epic!
That’s one, awesome. Now let’s see of the registrar will put us in contact with the owner!
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Jonee
> Jobjoris
05/14/2015 at 01:05 |
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Lund looks beautiful.
Hey, maybe while we’re there, we could jumpstart Saab with the Wankelmobile.
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Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/14/2015 at 02:05 |
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Lund is a university-town so lots of advantages for our company. With the exception of logistics probably but as we’re making something this epic: no problemo!
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Jonee
> Jobjoris
05/15/2015 at 01:25 |
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Maybe we could find some student engineers who will work for cheap. We never worry about logistics. No challenge is too hard for us.
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Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/15/2015 at 01:49 |
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Don’t forget the fact these students are all ‘Tabula Rasa’, they just won’t limit their solution to prior experiences. I’m just not sure if marketing our cars being Swedish is the way to go?
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Jonee
> Jobjoris
05/15/2015 at 04:09 |
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This is true. They’ll be too naive to understand how crazy our ideas are. We’ll give the car a French name to fool the customers. They’ll never know. Plus, we can contract out some of the components.
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Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/15/2015 at 04:53 |
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Do you have a suggestion for a name already? What about the ‘Jean-Claude’? Or what about the ‘Latrine’?
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Jonee
> Jobjoris
05/15/2015 at 13:29 |
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Haha. Latrine is perfect. Maybe we can spell it La Trine. Or call it Jean-Pierre after Monsieur Wimille. Is Jean-Claude inspired by Killy?
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Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/15/2015 at 13:46 |
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Jean-Claude was inspired by that awesome, kick-boxing ballet-dancer. The muscles from Bruxelles! Maybe we can even use him for our advertisement campaign!
Killy: Don’t tell me you’ve watched ‘Snow Job’!!!
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Jonee
> Jobjoris
05/15/2015 at 14:37 |
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We could probably come up with a great logo, or hood ornament based on this.
Oh man Snow Job. Now there’s a lost classic. They managed to make both skiing in the Alps and stealing a lot of money insufferably boring.
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Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/15/2015 at 16:15 |
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That hood ornament will become too wide this way. As long as his face is looking like this it’s all good with me:
Snow Job is like two decades ago for me, probably more. I can’t remind how it ended actually.
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Jonee
> Jobjoris
05/15/2015 at 18:30 |
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Haha. Yeah, that’s the hood ornament right there. The perfect personification of the car.
Come to think of it, I don’t remember the end of that movie, either. I do remember the Italian director De Sica is in it. He of Bicycle Thieves fame.
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Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/15/2015 at 18:42 |
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I know nothing about De Sica. But I know I’m going to read about him tomorrow. For now it’s: off to bed!
Have a nice weekend, I’m sure we’ll communicate one way or another!
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Jonee
> Jobjoris
05/15/2015 at 18:57 |
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Bicycle Thieves is one of the big ones of you’re a cinephile. And it’s a really beautiful movie.
You, too!
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Jobjoris
> Jonee
05/16/2015 at 03:24 |
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‘Ladri di biciclette’? Awesome. Won’t get the mrs. to see it (‘but that’s black & white?’) but loved it.
Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
> Jonee
06/08/2017 at 19:49 |
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A few years later, when AMC was bought by Chrysler and the Premier was hastily changed from a Renault to an Eagle, I wonder if this was the car that would have been called Allure. Maybe Not?
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Jonee
> Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
06/08/2017 at 20:05 |
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The Allure was sort of a Premiere coupe. It actually resembles some of the Mopar small car designs of the 90's.
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Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
> Jonee
06/08/2017 at 21:29 |
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Oh man! I’d never seen the concept. Only been waiting 30 years. Thank you for that!
MRF95
> Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
07/13/2017 at 23:05 |
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Same here. I’ve read about the proposed Eagle Premier coupe years ago in a few auto magazines but there was never a picture or sketch. They described it as looking like a 88 and up Cutlass Supreme coupe with a bit of Ford Probe.