1968 Alpine Renault A110 Coupe

To be welcome, even invited, to drive flat out over an alpine pass in a raging blizzard at night—that’s priceless

by Thor Thorson

This ex-Works car, fitted with a Mignotet-built and -tuned engine, started its racing career in the 1968 Tour de Corse driven by Jean-Francois Piot. The rally was won by Jean-Claude Andruet in a sister car. Next year “our car” won the Rallye des Routes du Nord with Jean Vinatier and Marcel Callewaert on snow-covered roads—one of only twelve finishers out of 65 starters.

Two weeks later, Vinatier was second at the Neige et Glace rally on dry and sunny roads behind the powerful Larousse Porsche 911R. If the Porsche had been uncatchable on the fastest stages, Vinatier was supreme on the snow-covered climbing road of the Revard. In good form since the beginning of the season, Vinatier won the Lyon-Charbonniéres rally with the same car in front of Chassault (911T) and Andruet (Alpine 1440). With the introduction of the new 1600S models, the 1440s were retired and stored away.

In the late 1970s, Alain Bernardet, future editor of Sport Auto magazine,...