2) It started the Renaultsports that we know today
Alpine was founded in 1955 in the French city of Dieppe. The company was strongly supported from the beginning by Renault, who bought the firm in 1973, and in 1976 the Renaultsport brand was founded as a fusion between the Alpine and Gordini departments. When the Alpine brand was discontinued in 1995, Renault used the Dieppe facility, and all the expertise contained within, to produce its Renaultsport cars, including myriad hot Clios, Meganes, the Renault Sport Spider and the mighty Clio V6. All the racing Renaultsports are made there too, apart from the F1 car. In short, The Dieppe plant has remained a hotbed of hot French hatches that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Alpine.
