Alpine’s A290 hot hatch concept – with feature from one of the coolest cars

WHAT is one of the coolest cars of all time?

McLaren F1. Check.

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What is one of its coolest features? The central driving position. Check.

The pilot sits in the middle to get the ultimate view of the road, with two passengers set back either side like a Red Arrows formation.

It hasn’t really been done in a road car since, apart from another squillion-pound supercar designed by the same bloke, and the 250mph McLaren Speedtail.

An F1 these days will cost you £20million.

But Alpine is serious about bringing a three-seat layout to road cars more of us can afford.

This A290 concept shows what it could look like in a small electric hot hatch.

The real car coming next year won’t get this.

But thanks to digital steer-by-wire technology – which has no physical connection to the front wheels – next-gen Alpine road cars almost certainly will.

Maybe a spicy, stripped-out A290 R?

Or the electric replacement for the A110 sports car?

I’ve done a bit of digging and Alpine owner Renault is working with Qualcomm to develop a high-performance “Software Defined Vehicle platform” by 2026 that would allow steer-by-wire and open up the possibility of a central driving position.

Voila.

Engineering boss Robert Bonetto said: “Technically it is possible to do. It could be very unique and very interesting.”

There is another advantage, of course.

You won’t get anyone changing the radio to some soppy song on Kiss FM when you’re listening to TalkSPORT.

As for the car itself, A290 is a hot rod version of the forthcoming Renault 5.

It will be front-wheel drive like the R5 and use the same battery pack.

But Alpine will sprinkle its special sauce on the chassis and hike the power.

Bonetto said: “The recipe of ­making a hot hatch was very well established for petrol cars and it’s quite the same for EVs.

‘Boost performance’

“You boost performance, enhance the suspension, give it a wider track, bigger tyres, different steering tuning and we’ll use the same brakes as the A110.”

I’m expecting two power levels – 170hp and 220hp – and a 0-62mph sprint time of six point something seconds.

Electric torque vectoring will help it ­corner like a go-kart. It’ll have a range of about 220 miles.

The size and exterior styling of this concept car is close to the real thing, albeit without the names of Alpine’s F1 drivers Ocon and Gasly illuminated in the strip lights at the front.

Which is a shame. They look cool.

But those X-shaped spotlights will stay. That’s part of Alpine’s DNA.

And so will those alloys with cutout square centres. Also cool.

There is one thing from the cabin that will transfer to the road car and that’s the OV button for overtake on the steering wheel. Just like an F1 car.

Designer Antony Villain said: “Pierre Gasly really loves this car. I’m sure he’ll be first in the queue to get one.”

Alpine’s next project is a sporty SUV with three e-motors pushing out close to 440hp.

Then the A110 replacement being co-­developed with Lotus.

So that’s “three dream cars” from Alpine in the next three years – and there are three more to follow.

Tres bien.

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