Wild new Alpine A310 Vision concept will make you forget all about the A110

The daring Alpine A310 has returned as a nefarious-looking two-seater that embodies the performance brand’s ambitions to reach new levels of desirability and exclusivity on a par with Porsche and even Ferrari. 

The wedge-shaped 2+2 sports car from the seventies was set to be reborn as Alpine’s answer to the Porsche 911, but not any more. Instead, the A310 Vision concept revealed at the 2026 Paris Motor Show is a jaw-dropping demonstration of what Alpine can do with its to-die-for ‘special projects’ cars, building on the £235,000 A110 R Ultime from 2024. 

They will be designed to deliver a tailored customer experience and much greater personalisation, not to mention serious driving thrills. These low-volume, big-money creations are “the cherry on the cake, to elevate the brand”, Alpine’s head of design Antony Villain told Auto Express.

Villain believes there’s plenty of room for models above the A110, without upstaging or jeopardising the iconic sports car that rebuilt the brand. In fact, he’s keen to explore the other heroes from Alpine’s history – and with the A310 turning 55 this year, now was the perfect opportunity to turn his attention to that. 

The A310 Vision blends elements from the original four-cylinder car, which had a very pure and simple shape, with cues from the later V6 models that got bulging flanks, a wider track and generally sharper looks. Of course, the new concept dials everything up to 11, with a scalpel-sharp nose, wonderfully huge wheelarches and more drama than a night at the opera.

It screams seventies, like something out of the world of Mad Max. The A-shaped wheels are also a callback to early versions of the A310, while instead of the pop-up headlights from that era, the A310 Vision features ‘pop-down’ ultra-thin headlights that are revealed when the car starts up.

The A310 was by no means the prettiest sports car ever made, with Villain even describing it as “weird” to us, especially when talking about the bulbous derriere. The new concept has a smoother, more sloping roofline, and for extra drama, gets an unmissable ducktail spoiler plus an open cutaway design that allows us to admire the wide Michelin rubber at the rear.

19

Old-school inspiration is paired with the progressive, sculpted design approach that Alpine previewed with its outrageous Alpenglow hypercar and is now embracing as it begins to focus more on the future than the past. 

You can see this fusion in how the angular aluminium bodywork is contrasted by the black lower section around the car that features more organically shaped, flowing splitters and skirts, inspired by Formula One. Another trick pinched from motorsport is the S-duct in the bonnet, for better airflow.

Elsewhere, the line running over the top of the A310 Vision – which incidentally is lower, wider and longer than the latest Porsche 911 Turbo S – is an element borrowed from the Alpenglow, while the lower portion of the doors is made from glass, like on the McLaren Senna, to give the driver more of a connection with the road. 

The desire to reimagine the A310 has been percolating for a couple of years, but designing this new drama queen of a show car was something spontaneous, with Villain describing the process as “instinctive”. The concept was apparently created in just three months. 

That possibly explains why there’s no interior yet, other than a steering wheel and some bright orange, very seventies-inspired trim. Technical details are also fuzzy at the moment, although one thing we do know is that it’s underpinned by the same modular, extruded aluminium architecture as the next-generation A110.

The brand-new Alpine Performance Platform (APP) is what opened the door for the brand to create the A310 Vision as you see it, explained Villain, as it’s flexible enough to accommodate the concept’s over-the-top proportions, dimensions and geometry.

Even so, Alpine says there are currently no plans to make the A310 Vision a reality. Of course, that could change if the reaction is suitably positive to its Paris debut. Villain says he’d love to see this mad machine on the road, and the use of the new platform would make that viable.

19

In an interview with Auto Express last year, Alpine CEO and ex-Ferrari man Philippe Krief also expressed his desire to do more of these ‘special projects’, and use the new APP platform to “do extreme things”. We’re pretty sure this was a reference to the A310.

“It’s not a market of 100,000 cars, but it could sell more of our other models,” he said. “A halo model for Alpine is a model for the whole organisation. We want it to bring new technology, innovation, a completely new customer experience – at least for us. And also, raise all the Alpine team up in terms of execution and excellence.” 

The boss went further, telling us: “It [special projects] would be a series where we can put the A110’s platform to work to do extreme things, not just design but using the platform for something special.”

He added: “I don’t want to offer exactly the same kind of car because it would only be a design exercise. But starting from that base and pushing the boundaries with the powertrain for that lower volume model, that would be feasible, both for electric and ICE. 

“Like we did in the Ultime; we added more power, we changed the gearbox, changed the chassis completely, the aerodynamics. These could be electric cars, could be ICE, could be hybrid. There’s a huge opportunity once you get a new platform and a branch of powertrains.”

‘Special projects’ represents one of the three pillars of Alpine’s current line-up, the others being ‘Icons’ – which is anchored by the A110 and is the foundation of the brand – while ‘Everyday Extraordinary’ includes cars like the A290 hot hatch and A390 fastback. 

The aforementioned A110 R Ultime was the first of Alpine’s special projects, offering buyers unprecedented customisation while the car itself received massive mechanical, aerodynamic and powertrain upgrades compared to a normal model. 

As a result, each of the 110 made cost upwards of £250,000. We’re almost certain a new A310 would cost a lot more, depending on the amount of bespoke components and scope for customer personalisation.  

Get even more from Auto Express, follow our channels...

• Google
• Reddit 
• Whatsapp