Ressurection?

With the current trend for manufacturers having specialist brands to fit niche markets do you think they should bring back Alpine or even Gordini? Lets face it Renault sport has no ring to it and no history. I personally think Gordini for hot versions of their ordinary cars and Alpine for the likes of the V6 clio.

Na, I don't think the Clio V6 should be badged an Alpine! That should be reserved for sports cars, purpose built and styled uniquely seperate from Renault road cars. And if a road car rear engined! (I realise there have been mid-engined Alpine race cars.)

I think Alpine for the pure sports cars (eg. if they brought out a replacement for the Spyder/GTA/A610) and Gordini for the hotter versions of their standard road cars (Clio 182/Cup/V6 etc)

I agree completely with Liam, but with most makers now having 2 tiered sports line ups e.g. sri/gsi/vxr Vauxhalls, GTi and R volkswagens, ST and RS Fords, couldn't Renault use Renault Sport for the milder version and Gordini for vhp models - the cup moniker could still be used for the lightened track focused models e.g. a light weight Megane 225 would be badged Megane Gordini Cup!

Yes

Even if they brought back an Alpine badged car, UK and Irl would not get it because of owner rights of Alpine name owned by Chrysler (sorry i have to get sick now)

Isnt this why the Renault 5 had to be renamed Gordini in UK and Ireland

But in principal , yes I agree that it would be better to name the hot cars Gordini and the replacment for GTA as an Alpine

I thought I heard somewhere that Renault now have the right to use the Alpine name?

[stephendell]

Yes they have it back, I know because I had to get permission from them to use it. Look at the small print on the home page!

I stand corrected

ah, but that still doesn't mean they have the right to use it in the UK, or does it?

Steve, your authorisation was from Renault France was it not?

[stephendell]

Presumably yes because I am in the UK and wouldn't need permission from them otherwise. If you check some of the trademark sites it would seem that they hold the Europe wide trademark.

Here is the current list of Renault brands:

Renault, Nissan, Infiniti, Renault Samsung, Dacia (active) and Alpine (dormant).

They never had a problem using the name in the rest of Europe, just in the UK as peugeot/talbot/sunbeam owned the name in the UK...
That was always percieved as the cause of the low sales levels in the UK of the GTA and A610... and probably correctly so

[Alpineandy]

Gordini for hot saloons,
Renault sport for hot hatchs (many Hot Clio drivers wouldn't understand Gordini or Alpine.... )
Alpine for sports cars...