2017 Alpine Sports Car Price Teased by Renault Australia Managing Director

The Alpine Vision Concept revealed earlier in 2016 is, from a design standpoint, approximately 80 percent of what the future holds. Now, however, more info on the production-ready Alpine sports car has made the headlines. Speaking to Motoring, Renault Australia managing director Justin Hocevar is teasing us with a price: “between AUD 75,000 and AUD 90,000.”

Converted at current exchange rates, that’ll be €51,000 / $57,000 to €61,200 / $68,400. So yes, the Alpine-branded rear-wheel-drive sports car will be right in the ballpark of four-wheeled thrillers such as the Porsche 718 Cayman and Alfa Romeo 4C Coupe. The peeps at Motoring have also reiterated that the upcoming model “is understood to be packaged similarly and powered by an engine that closely approximates the Alfa’s.” No surprises here, to be honest.

There’s been a lot of talk about a force-fed 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine with more than 250 horsepower on tap, but Renault has yet to come clean about what’s propelling the first Alpine sports car in a long while. Based on the concept vehicle’s interior and the way Renault is talking about it, the Vision-based RWD sports car will boast an EDC dual-clutch automatic transmission with flappy paddles, whether we like it or not. And that's not such a bad idea.

Based on how well the 4C is hanging on to the sports car genre and how many 718 Cayman owners have opted for the PDK, my opinion is that the EDC isn’t a deal-breaker for the mid-engined Alpine model. What’s more, keener drivers will be treated to an RS-specification iteration of the Alpine after the regular one starts rolling out next year, with even more oomph.

In related news, the resurrected Alpine brand also plans to hack the roof off the Vision-based model depending on critical reception. Besides that, it also appears that an SUV could be on the way if Alpine can make a case for it.