Yeah! Let’s bring back Dinalpin and Bulgaralpine. Best brand names ever.

I have no idea where you got your figures but they’re not the ones that Porsche gives.

Opel will keep making them for GM under PSA ownership.

I must say I would have expected a better analysis of the situation from you guys. Opel/Vauxhalls may not be the most exciting of cars but they still have significant market share in Europe, which surely attests to the quality of their products, not to mention that the only Buicks you could call decent are Opels. And…

They are very much back in good health.

They weren’t really about that at all in my opinion. The A310 looks futuristic but it was far from being the only wedge-shaped car around in the 70's. All previous Alpine models (A106, 108, 110) were beautifully but classically styled, and the GTA and A610 didn’t look particularly outlandish for the 80's and 90's.

True, nowadays Lancia is barely more than a name.

I don’t think the plan was 3 models per range. I certainly don’t see how they could make a bigger Discovery unless they move into aircraft carrier production. As it stands it’s perfectly easy to understand despite everyone pretending not to.

They stopped making cars after the failure of the Avantime, unfortunately. I think they have merged with Airbus now.

There is also sleeping with the receptionist.

Might be a bit tough to fit in there...

Fiat should sell Lancia. Should have a long time ago. Lancia and Alfa are way too similar to coexist under the same roof. Classy image, gorgeous styling, soulful engines, sporty cars (in a word, Italianness), and motorsport pedigree. It makes no sense to own them both.

I get what you mean. And I would never presume to doubt your knowledge of Alpine!

Er, this car is very much on its own bespoke platform. It’s MR, but it could just as easily have been RR.

Ah ah! That’s quite true, yes.

Because it doesn’t have any. Alpine is a brand, not a model. It existed in its own right before being bought by Renault, and even after that the cars were never sold under the Renault name only (except in the UK), but under Alpine-Renault.

Behind the seats, it’s a 4-cylinder.

Renault Sport was born out of the ashes of Alpine, and this new one will be built at the Renault Sport factory in Dieppe, which to this day still says “ALPINE” in giant blue letters on the outside. So the answer to your question is yes, it has!

All Alpines since the very beginning of the brand, save for the M63, M64, M65 and GTA, have had names in A###. It’s a tradition that lasted decades, they’re not going to bin it just because some premium brands have started doing it too.

The goal with the TT was to make a front-engined car look as if it were mid-engined, of course mid-engined cars are going to have some ressemblance to it.