CarBrandLogos archive · Alpine · 1958

AlpineA108

The car that introduced the backbone chassis Alpine would use for decades.

Photo: Tennen-Gas · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Alpine history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Alpine A108, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Willys Interlagos , Paris Motor Show 2018, IMG 0471

Origins

With the A106 selling in small numbers, Redele moved to Renault's newer Dauphine mechanicals for the A108, launched in 1958 and built until 1965. The important change was structural. Instead of relying on a Renault floorpan, Alpine adopted a tubular steel backbone chassis running down the centre of the car with the glassfibre body bolted on top. It was stiffer, lighter and far easier to adapt, and the same principle carried through to the A110 and the A310.

Willys Interlagos , Paris Motor Show 2018, IMG 0471 · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

Engines were 845, 904 and 998 cc pushrod fours mounted behind the rear axle, with three, four or five speeds. Bodies came as a two-seat coupe, a 2+2 and a cabriolet, drawn by Michelotti with Philippe Charles, and the Berlinette shape introduced towards the end of the run previews the A110 closely enough that the two are easily confused.

In production

Cars were built at Dieppe and also under licence at Sao Bernardo do Campo in Brazil, where they were sold as the Willys Interlagos. The A110 that followed in 1963 took the same chassis and sharpened it into something formidable.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1958–1965

Engine

845&nbsp

Body

2-door Coupé

Technical specification

The A108, in detail.

Production: 1958–1965
Class: Sports car
Body style: 2-door Coupé; 2-door 2+2 Coupé; 2-door Cabriolet
Layout: RR layout
Engine: 845 cc Overhead valve engine; OHV Straight-four engine; I4 ; 904 cc OHV I4 ; 998 cc OHV I4
Transmission: 3-speed manual ; 4-speed manual; 5-speed manual
Designer: Giovanni Michelotti & Phillipe Charles
Assembly: Dieppe, France; São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
Manufacturer: Alpine