Advice please - Father left me an Alpine

Hello,

I am looking for some advice please. My father recently passed away and has left a Renault Alpine. It has not moved in at least 30 years. It has been kept in storage but definitely needs work. The car is in the Lake District and I now live in Canada. I don't even know what exact year/model it is.
I will upload an old picture of it - can anybody help me out with any info about it?
My next question would be if I am to sell it should I ship it to Canada and sell here or sell from the UK? Is there anybody near the Lake District who does appraisals?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Hi! I'm sure others will chime in, but thanks for sharing!

These cars are pretty sought after in my opinion. If you can find someone in the UK who can sell it for you, I'd do it that way. I don't think there will be much demand for it in the US/Canada, although it would be a very, very rare car out there, so I may be wrong.

Are you interested in keeping it for your own enjoyment? Recommissioned, it would be a great car to own.

I can think of one or two people who would probably look at it for you, but I will wait for them to contribute to this thread.

Andrew

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. I would possibly be interested in keeping it for myself (It is a left-hand drive so would work here in Canada). I guess it would just depend on how much it would cost to restore (I work at a Zoo so have no idea about cars!). Are they hard to drive though? I currently drive a Hyundai Tuscon! I would like to keep it as a memory of my dad, but may be able to afford to do so!
Thanks,

I understand how you feel about the inheritance thing. I inherited my grandfather's car and still have it today, some 25 years later. It's currently off the road but I cannot bear to get rid, so it just stays in storage for when I'm ready to get it roadworthy again.

There are so many questions you'll have to ask yourself. Apologies if some of them are personal. Don't feel like you have to answer them in a public forum, but they are the questions I'd be asking myself if I were in your position:

An A110 in good condition is worth serious money these days. Do you need the money? Although I usually think that if I'm not desperate for the money, the actual item has much more sentimental value to me than the money itself. And I get pretty sentimental about cars.

If you don't know much about cars, are you willing to learn? You can get others to work on it for you, but there will always be things that need fettling. Much better that you learn and appreciate and understand the foibles so you can properly assess what needs doing and how the car is performing.

Can you afford to recommission it? Maybe there's some inheritance money left that your father would have loved for you to spend on restoring/recommissioning the car? It's difficult to assess the costs of restoration, but a starting point would be: has it been dry stored? Did the engine run before it was stored? At a bare minimum you'll need a full service, probably need to replace all the brakes and many steering components, the tyres, etc., etc..

Would you want to get it restored in the UK by a specialist that knows what they are doing and entrust it to them, then have it shipped over as an unknown quantity, or would you prefer to have it restored by someone in Canada that might not know what they are doing, but at least you can view it during the work? In my experience there are always issues during and after the restoration that need attending to in order to produce the desired end result, although must admit to being a bit picky!

Easy to drive? I've never driven one, but if you can drive a manual car, it shouldn't be too difficult. It won't be as comfortable or quiet as a modern car, but it will be a lot, lot more fun!

Can you fit in it? It's a small car. If you're tall, or ...ahem... well built you may struggle.

Andrew

[BIG_MVS]

If that's got any race or rally history it could be a nice top up to the pension.

Rereading your reply... Do not underestimate the costs of restoration. They can be very high. But at the end you will have a very valuable car.

A respray, without major bodywork repair is $5K US. An engine rebuild 2-3K (I imagine); cost up new tyres, many hours' recommissioning work, etc., etc.

Hello,

Thank you for your messages, I am only 5 foot 2 so I think I will fit in it, I might not be able to reach the pedals though!
I think I would like to get someone who knows what they are doing to look at it and take it from there. I can then get an estimate on the cost of refurbishing it, or an appraisal for sale.
Realistically I have no time to learn about how to work on cars etc. I have a 2 year old, and to be honest no real interest in mechanics/body work etc. If I keep it, it would be as a memory of my Dad.

Does anyone know anyone in the Lake District who could do this for me?

Thanks,

Nia

Hi Nia,

Fair enough! I have 2 kids aged 12 and 8 and another on its way, so time's going to be pretty tight for me... I do have the interest though.

There are several specialists on this forum, who I'm sure will jump in as soon as they spot these posts. It's a small community and most people know each other. Off the top of my head, I know of Lee of Renault Alpine Tuning Services; John Law of JL Engineering and Paul Sage of Alpine Renault Restoration.

Lee is most likely to be closest to the Lake District - another club member might be even closer and willing to assist. Unfortunately it's the other end of the country from me!

Andrew

Okay, thank you

Not my area of expertise but it's a far simpler era and better supported for parts than the later models + will command a far greater value.
Paul Sage is probably the most experienced with this model here on the forum but he couldn't be much further away from Cumbria if he tried.
I know 2 or 3 local A110 owners and am sure RATS could do the work if required but sight unseen any 'estimate' would be foolish
Member Johnb is relatively nextdoor in Canadian terms

Thanks Clee!

Just to give you some idea of others out there in the market Nia (and respective values) - what you have is an A110.

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/classic_ ... lpine+A110

They varied a lot over time in terms of engine configuration and even country of origin (most are French but some are Spanish and even Mexican). Engine specifications, age, country of origin and history / provenance will massively alter the price. If you can find out any more info, or post up any extra pictures it might be possible to determine what variant you have.

Having said that, all are now very desirable and very valuable. Even a project car will be worth money in France, but the more you can find out in advance the better. They're like a little French Porsche 911 - and tiny. Perfect size for you, just ask Michelle Mouton.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_A110

Thanks DarrenBiggs. I am going to try and find out more information and then I will post some more. I wonder if I can get the VIN number and if that will help me! I remember my Dad telling me only a few were ever made of his model - but that doesn't tell us much!

Hi Nia,

This car sounds familiar. Is it the same one that David Page talked about on this forum in September? See the following thread.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8889

If so, I did send a private message to David at the time offering some opinions regarding valuation and general information about the car. He responded and said he'd be in touch again when he had more information about the car and had some photos. Unfortunately I haven't heard from him since.

I did send two further messages but they're unopened, still in my outbox. These messages offered my thoughts on how to approach a valuation plus provided some general information about the car.

If my assumption is correct about it being the same car, and with David's agreement, I could send you the messages and see what you think.

By the way I have an A110 that I've owned for 27 years and am currently in the the middle of a major restoration on the car.

Just looking at your last post I did include, in one of the messages, information about the format and location of the 'VIN' number.

Regards,
John

Hi John,

Yes! I asked my step dad to look into things for me a few months ago when my dad first passed away. Things have been hectic since then, and we didn't think I would be getting the car. Turns out I am. Sorry, he didn't check the messages! But yes it is indeed that car. I didn't know he had also found this site! If you could send me anything you sent to him I will take it from here!

Thank you