ALPINE-RENAULT A110 FASA 1300

Year of manufacture 1974 Recorded mileage 90,200km Asking price €95,000 Vendor Speedbros Collection, Zaragoza, Spain; 0034 976 465 840; www.speedbros.es WHEN IT WAS NEW Price n/a Max power 81bhp Max torque 76lb ft 0-60mph 8 secs (est) Top speed 112mph Mpg 28

I have a weakness for the Alpine A110, an affliction that has increased in severity over the past couple of years. The first thing to cement my desire was a twin test in 2018, when I spent an afternoon blasting around the countryside chasing a short-wheelbase 911. And the second came soon after that, when a close friend who had recently emigrated stumbled across an abandoned example in a neighbour’s barn. Despite a flurry of tempting photographs and a promise to track down the owner, that particular dream is on ice.

For now I’m feeding my addiction by reading books, flicking through pictures on Instagram and browsing classifieds – so you can understand my excitement when I opened the magazine to see this stunner for sale at Speedbros in Spain. Like my dilapidated dream Alpine, this car is a FASA 1300 – one of fewer than 3000 built under license in Valladolid. The 1300 was a carbon copy of the Dieppe-built V85, and as such at its heart lies the 1289cc in-line ‘four’ from the Renault 12. Though it’s not the most sporting Alpine, being the entry-level model, the performance is still not to be sniffed at with around 81bhp on tap from the Cléon-fonte engine and a kerbweight of just 700kg.

As one of the cheapest Alpines, yet sharing so much with its big brothers, the V85 is often restored in racier trim, frequently with a larger engine than that with which it left the factory. Which makes this survivor a real rarity, being factory-spec and unrestored – a car that has never been apart.

The lucky man who discovered the timewarp example was Javier Cereza of Speedbros in Zaragoza: “It’s never been raced and has been kept completely original,” says Cereza. “The previous owner kept the car in a big garage where it spent many years. People in the area knew about the Alpine and recalled seeing it a few times in the past, but no one knew exactly where it was hiding.”

A tip eventually came from the president of the local classic car association, and before he knew it Cereza was closing the deal: “When I went inside and saw it in the middle of the garage, I understood… it was as if it was smiling to me. So I asked a few questions, already knowing it was coming home with me.

“It’s not a nut-and-bolt car, but it doesn’t need it. You see the patina, the old Renault and Cepsa stickers, the original interior with space for a newspaper in the centre console. This is not a car for conversion to go racing, but a car for a true collector. It’s a survivor, and one that sounds great when you turn the key.”