1955 - 2015 - 60th Anniversary - Alpine Celebration 2015

Jun 12th 2015 at Le Mans : Alpine is to commemorate 60 years of sporting passion with the unveiling of the new Alpine Celebration show car that has been specially prepared for Le Mans.Alpine is celebrating six decades of ‘foot-to-the-floor’ heritage: the brand is set to steal the spotlight by unveiling a new show car, the Alpine Celebration. Conceived especially for Le Mans, it will take to the track at La Sarthe at 1:35pm local time on Saturday, June 13, as part of the prologue to the start of the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours. It will then go on public display in the circuit’s ‘Village’ area.

In addition to featuring the iconic colours of legendary models from the brand’s illustrious past, this show car is the very embodiment of Alpine’s sporting DNA.This weekend will be a particularly busy one for Alpine: after the new show car laps the circuit in front of some 250,000 spectator and television cameras broadcasting all around the world, the brand will return to the track with the A450b prototype which is contesting the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours in the LMP2 class, crewed by Signatech-Alpine’s all-French driver line-up.

“As we mark Alpine’s 60th anniversary,the Automobile Club de l’Ouest has generously granted us an exclusive opportunity to unveil the Alpine Celebration show car. It will complete a lap of this legendary circuit.That’s an immense honour for us and a genuinely emotional occasion.
I have no doubt that this will be just as keenly appreciated by Alpine fans and the public in general, some of whom might be discovering the brand for the first time.
They will be left with a strong impression of the style and agility of the Alpine Celebration. I am sure they will associate this image with the values that we hold dear and the sporting flame that continues to drive and inspire us.”

Bernard Ollivier,CEO, Société des Automobiles Alpine

Alpine Celebration 2015

Iconic blue to mark 60 years of passion

A unique and stylish new show car, the Alpine Celebration, has been released as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the brandthat was founded by Jean Rédélé. This surprise, emotional launch comes on the eve of the 83rd edition of the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours.The Le Mans 24 Hours regularly attracts more than 250,000 motoring and motor racing fans – sportscar aficionados drawn from every corner of the globe – and is arguably the highest-profile event on the international motorsport calendar.It is a technological, human and sporting challenge that has been organised by the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) since 1923.The race is broadcast on television to more than 800 million viewers across some 190 countries, with three million visitors to the official website and many more still on social media.

That is why Alpine’s surprise unveiling needed to be worthy of the prestige of this event.
A compact sportscar inspired by Alpine’s motor-sport heritage, the Alpine Celebration takes the form of a two-seater coupé whose sleek, flowing lines are underlined by its deep blue colour scheme. This same blue – enhanced by hints of orange – also adorns the Alpine prototypes that made a triumphant return to endurance racing in 2013. It is a livery that harkens back to the Alpine models which played such a pivotal role in the brand’s original Le Mans adventure when, from 1963 to 1969, the M63, M64, M65, A210, A220 and even the A110so valiantly upheld French honour in La Sarthe.The Alpine Celebration faithfully replicates the timeless style of Alpine of old whilst adding a modern twist. Its low profile, sloping, creased bonnet, sculpted sides, distinctive rear window and other design details are all clear echoes of models like the A110 that have featured so prominently in Alpine’s glorious history.

With no need for gimmickry to stand out from the crowd, the beauty of the Alpine Celebration resides in its simplicity. Mindful of remaining elegant whilst at the same time responding to the need for frugality and efficiency,the Alpine Celebration show car reveals much about the brand’s heritage. Carbon detailing is used to highlight the high-tech features of the car’s body, from its spoiler to the side sills, diffuser, rear air intakes and mirrors.
The positioning of the masked double head-lamps and the central round lights barred by a black cross will remind fans of the adhesive stripes that used to be found on the headlights of Alpine’s rally cars. It was formerly an ingenious means of holding the lenses together should they get broken.