The A110 was a sports car built by Alpine that used Renault components. It was light and fast making it a serious competitor. In fact, the A110 dominated rallies across Europe there for a while. This particular car has some race history of its own. It was rallied by Marcel Rainville of Renault Canada from new and then saw some ice racing action in the late seventies by the hands of Bill Burch. After the fun was over, it went into storage for about 35 years. The current owner hasn’t gotten around to restoring it so they have decided to list it for sale. The car includes a bunch of spares and is listed here on kijiji for $35k Canadian. Because of its history, the seller would like the car to stay in Canada. Thanks goes to Matthew D. for the tip!
Obviously this racer is going to need some work. The chassis is rusted, the engine needs rebuilt, and just about everything else will need restored. The instruments and transmission are apparently good though…
There’s the R8 Gordini engine. The seller mentions that they have a couple of extra engines, but that they may sell those separately. I get the feeling this guy isn’t too anxious to part with this car. Can’t blame him really though.
This factory installed roll bar proves that these puppies were built for competition driving. Most saw action so finding an unrestored one in good shape today can be a challenge.
It may not look like much right now, but this could be quite the machine after a restoration. I’m not sure if the seller’s asking price is realistic, but it would be fun to bring it back to life and enter it in a couple of ice races up north!
Looking at recent sales I’d say the ask is very proud.
ESPECIALLY for a Canadian that is inevitably going to be spending money south of the border while our dollar is tanked.
For an American, if you can pressure the seller to throw in all the parts and spare engines to recoup some money, you might do okay.
This car needs everything and his 12 000 quote doesnt address the engine, tranny, suspension interior etc.
this would have been a fun car to ice race or watch being raced. i hope it gets saved but it might be to costly, when restored, to ice race again. great find.
I’ve always liked the overall shape and design of these, except for one thing—the rear engine placement. That would definitely help in ice racing in Canada, but it makes the car tail heavy. When you see these on the road the rear wheels always seem to have a lot of negative camber. But these also won major rallys in Europe where traction for the drive wheels was crucial since a lot of rallys were run during winter or on bad roads, and in France they are prized.
The price seems high, but this is a pretty rare car over here.
French Porsche. I saw these cars racing and wining rallies in Morocco as a young lad….
Here’s a 1965 fully restored and used as a daily driver in Mexico City. 295,000.00 pesos or around $18,500.00 U.S.
that ad says replica…. if I’m not mistaken
You’re correct, Don! Personally, the car does not appeal to me and I have skimmed past it many times while checking among the listings on that site. I’ll have to be more observant! Otherwise, the photo can serve as a ‘before’ shot. There is a video (that I couldn’t get to play) and it might show the engine compartment. Realizing it’s a replica, most likely the vehicle is VW powered.
Where can I find that Mexican A110? Even for a Mexican made Dinalpin with an 1100cc it is a great deal. As the writer notices, I’m not desperate to sell my A110 as there were so few of the racing versions made and very few with racing history in North America. It’s also a great vintage rally car for me because it’s easy to drive fast and 125hp is more than enough for an old fart like me plus I can blame my crap driving on the diminutive engine :-)
Hola Derek!
Here’s the site http://vehiculos.mercadolibre.com.mx/autos-antiguos/
I doubt that this car is what you are looking for. The overall ‘finish’ is impressive, however.
Mercado libre serves Central and South America.
Hello Edward, that is not an original Dinalpin, that car is a replica made from a VW chasis. An original Dinalpin in good condition would sell around 50,000 US
Dollar tanked? Just returned from Canada where my dollar was worth about $1.20
As a French-built Alpine these are more desirable than a Mexican-built Dinalpin, and this one has the correct stuff, particularly the factory hoop and Gordini engine. The race history may not mean anything to a US buyer but with real A110s bringing $75K (and much more) the seller isn’t out of line with his ask of $28,000 US. Maybe he’ll include the spares for a few thousand extra, it would be worth it.
Would appreciate the sales link for the Mexico City Dinalpin @ $18,500. The most recent examples sold in the $30K range, and neither had Gordini power.