Renault Rolls Out 1000th Clio Gordini RS

The Renault Alpine plant in Dieppe produced the 1,000th Clio Gordini RS model this month, less than a year after its introduction. Built since May 2010, the Clio Gordini RS is sold in 18 countries, most of them in Europe.

Renault revived the Gordini name at the end of 2009, when it presented the Twingo Gordini RS. Other members of the Gordini family include the Twingo Gordini and more recently, the Wind Gordini, which premiered at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.

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Design Study for a Modern Day Renault Alpine Sports Coupe

An affordable, rear-wheel drive sports coupe from Renault bearing the historic Alpine moniker has been in the cards for years but the French carmaker has yet to launch a modern day successor to the last model to carry the Alpine name, the A610 from the mid 1990s.

After production of the A610 ended, Renault used the Alpine factory in Dieppe to manufacture the street-legal RenaultSport Spider, a lightweight two-seater model with a rear mid-engine layout built from 1995 to 1997, which was the French firm’s last bespoke sports car.

Over the years, we have seen many independent designers creating concept studies for a new Alpine coupe, the most recent being the one you see pictured above, which is the work of David Cardoso.

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Alpine to replace RS as Renault’s performance label

Despite the millions spent by Renault on its F1 team and its past success in the competition, translating these efforts to its production cars is largely a moot point because Renault’s lineup is seriously lacking in the sports car department. Renault currently uses the RS for its performance models but according to latest reports the RS badge is expected to be replaced by the revived Alpine label.

Renault bosses have confirmed in the past that there are plans to bring back the Alpine name but until now it was thought Renault would use the storied badge for a new dedicated sports car. According to AutoWeek, Renault’s next-generation Megane hatch, due towards the end of the year, will feature a high-performance ‘Alpine’ model.

The motivation behind the decision to rejuvenate the Alpine badge was the success Fiat is having with its Abarth label. Like Abarth, Alpine was an independent manufacturer of racing and sport cars that eventually merged with a major carmaker, in this case Renault.

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