1986 Renault Alpine GTA Turbo

This is a famous car. It was one of two official Renault UK demonstrators, though it’s the only one that seems to have featured in the media. It starred in a Top Gear TV road test with Sue Baker at the wheel in 1986 and was the subject of an article by Roger Bell for Motor magazine in the same year, comparing it with an Esprit Turbo. The result? Roger called it a score draw, with the GTA besting the Esprit’s 140mph top speed by more than 10mph and proving a far nicer car to use in mixed conditions, but giving plaudits to the Lotus for all-out driver satisfaction on twisty roads.

After passing out of Renault UK’s hands, it seems to have led a pretty pampered life with a continuous service history and a very nice re-paint in the original Stratos Blue in 2002. It appeared in another road test in 2007, this time in Practical Classics magazine, before a major overhaul in 2012 centred on an engine rebuild with sensible upgrades to cooling, ECU, injectors, camshaft specification and turbo.

It’s done less than 10,000 miles since then and now shows a warranted total of around 78,000. It must be one of the best GTA Turbos left in the country and certainly the one with the most exciting history.

Freshly re-painted cars can be lovely, but fresh paint on composite cars can hide all kinds of faults that bloom when the weather changes. No such worries here - the respray is into its 18th year and is clearly very stable. If you were in a nit-picking mood you could find places that weren’t concours perfect, but the overall finish is truly excellent – the photos in the Gallery do not lie. There’s a car cover in a cloth bag in the front boot area, which may help to explain how it’s lasted so well.

The lenses and glass all round are also undamaged, which is unusual for a GTA. The decals look perfect and those distinctive ‘turbine’ alloys have been refurbished and look new. They wear the correct Michelin XWX tyres with plenty of tread left. Even the panel gaps are good by the standards of 1980s composite bodies…they’d embarrass many a Lotus.

The kidney-hugging charcoal velour seats are styled with the same veneration of straight lines and right angles as the rest of the interior. If the 1980s is your era, there is no finer place to be. Barring the tiniest scuffs and areas of loose stitching to the base of the side-bolsters, they’re in excellent condition. There are small marks on the vinyl sill pieces next to the front and rear seats, but nothing beyond normal light use.

The pinstriped cloth headlining is very smart but just starting to drop in one corner…if you look really hard. The dashboard, a kind of space-fighter fantasy you might find in a gallic Battlestar Galactica, has survived incredibly well with only one small repair to a spot on the end of the left-hand switch pod.

Budding sound engineers will find much to enjoy in the acres of blocky stereo controls that form the centre panel, including computer-controlled radio tuning and a graphic equaliser to make sure your Jean-Michel Jarre cassette sounds exactly as intended. The steering wheel, a tremendously satisfying three-spoke item, is perfectly trimmed in black leather. Oh, and for the Alpine sceptics out there, the window switches, wing mirror controls, petrol gauge and speedometer all work just as they should.

Only the electric interior door catch misbehaves, sometimes requiring you to use the manual release down by the handbrake. The washer fluid warning light currently declines to go out, even with plenty of fluid in the bottle. I’m sure you will agree that is a very small to do list given the reputation of 1980s French cars’ interiors!

All views underneath suggest a very strong underside chassis, general works by marque specialists over the years also give confidence as they would have reviewed any weak points and resolved them. The engine comes out on a subframe, and when the overhaul was done in 2012 some areas of paint and underseal were re-done to nip any surface corrosion in the bud.

The rear subframe itself appears totally solid and benefits from a slight miasma of oil, typical of PRV V6s. The visible areas of the front suspension and chassis frame are also sturdy and well protected.

The engine bay is very smart - it’s quite a treat to swing up the huge glass tailgate, lift the engine cover and gaze at the ‘V6 Turbo’ lettering on the inlet manifold. New silicone hoses, fresh earth straps and some neatly updated turbocharger plumbing all point to a highly professional job. The spare wheel is present in the left of the engine bay beneath its protective cover. The front boot is smart, clean and undamaged.

Our test drive proved very positive, the car is tight and does not suffer the looseness or rattles and squeaks that can afflict some cars of this era. The engine pulls extremely, nay surprisingly well, suggesting that the light upgrades to the camshaft, injectors and others are well placed, they have not hindered driveability or smoothness. There are no performance issues here! Gearbox, brakes and steering all perform very well, as you would expect with a service history like this….

Take your time - the more you read, the more your confidence grows. The media attention is nice and it’s exciting to think that this very car inspired the lust of thousands of petrolheads back in 1986, but with your sensible head on you should be reading the bills.

The first (of many) stamps in the service booklet say COMPANY CAR and Renault UK Ltd, Western Avenue, Acton. After the first year or two the car passed from Renault’s hands to private owners, spending time in Scotland and then returning to England in the mid 1990s. Receipts for repair and servicing throughout the car’s life are present, with a small file of photos from the major overhaul in 2012 showing the subframe removed and much smartened, as well as the engine rebuild itself. The bill for that phase of work from Renault Alpine Tuning Services - the place to go for specialist jobs to these cars - came to £3790, not including a long list of ‘parts supplied by the customer’ that would have taken it closer to £5000. Amongst the more recent bills we find £710 spent on a brake refurbishment in 2017.

Finally, the car’s original owner’s manual, service wallet and other books - including instructions for that baffling stereo - are all present. There’s even a full workshop manual.

This car should make vendors of other GTAs jealous. Because it’s got everything going for it…it’s a Turbo, in the best colour, it’s on the correct wheels, it’s been in steady use but only enough to build up a modest warranted mileage, it’s had an engine rebuild with subtle but sensible upgrades by the country’s leading specialist and it has a history file no other example will be able to touch. It hardly seems fair.

We’ve driven it and it goes like stink. It really is a 911 3.2 Carrera rival, albeit one that offers a different approach to the rear-engined, flat-six sports coupé concept, but it’ll cost barely half as much as the equivalent Porsche. It sounds fantastic too…ever heard one at full chat? Seek out that 1986 Top Gear video and you’ll understand. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeZfitNtMks&t=287s)If you’ve always hankered after an Alpine GTA Turbo and you can afford the surprisingly modest estimate of £10 – 16,000, surely this is the one to buy.  

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