Alpine marks 40th anniversary of Le Mans triumph at Rétromobile Paris

Four endurance racing prototypes will be on display at this year’s Rétromobile Show in Paris this week.

PARIS - February 7, 2018: Groupe Renault is pleased to announce that Alpine will be present at the 2018 Rétromobile Show which will run at the French capital’s Paris Expo Porte de Versailles complex on February 7-11.

It was almost 40 years ago, on June 10, 1978, that an entry four Renault-Alpine prototypes lined up for the start of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The #1 Renault-Alpine A443 topped the order at the 18-hour mark before being side-lined. However, its place was snapped up by the N°2 Renault-Alpine A442 B of Didier Pironi and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud who successfully defended their lead for the remaining quarter of the race to win the world’s biggest endurance race.

The squad was managed by Gérard Larrousse who fielded three different versions of the car in his bid to win the French classic, namely two A442s, an A442 B and an A443. The former had appeared competitively in previous seasons, but the other two prototypes were developed especially for the 1978 Le Mans 24 Hours.

About Alpine
Alpine was founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, a young man passionate about motorsports. The Alpine name became legendary when the Alpine A110 ‘Berlinette’ won the 1971 and 1973 Monte Carlo Rally. Today, Alpine is back with the new A110, a sports car faithful to Alpine’s timeless principles of compactness, lightness and agility, with one promise: driving pleasure.