The challenge, taken on not without a certain amount of madness, was taken on by a French composite materials company, called Quelet Composites. Which, led by a man named Philippe Chalot, himself a former student of the Italian Franco Sbarro, decided to take advantage of the “madness” created by the return to Alpine's life.
Philippe Chalot thus proposes a kind of A110, with an image glued to the original A110 Berlinette, from the 60s, but for almost a third of the price of the new Alpine A110.
Remember that the new Alpine A110, was presented as a rival to the Porsche 718 Cayman, and is already available in Portugal, never for less than 55 thousand euros. While this “A110” can be purchased for less than 17 thousand euros. Like? The name smarlinette gives some tips.
From Vaillante Grand Défi to Smarlinette
With a curriculum that includes, among others, the creation of the Vaillante Grand Défi, a set of 12 cars purpose-built for Luc Besson's film “Michel Vaillant”, Philipe Chalot has been dedicated since he founded the company Quelet Composites, in 2013, manufacturing composite materials and prototypes for the most varied car manufacturers.
This work has led, on the other hand, to the French company already having considerable experience and know-how in this field, and which has now materialized in this undoubtedly challenging project — a classic and historic Alpine A110, made from a Smart Roadster.
(almost) faithful copy
Say you couldn't have chosen a better base — the Smart Roadster is an all-over and, as the Smart's hallmark, is quite compact, features shared with the A110 Berlinette.
Based on the published photos, it is necessary to say that the final result of this “A110” turns out to be quite achieved, with the door handles or the wheels being the elements that we quickly identified from the original Smart Roadster.
Even in the interior, Quelet Composites spared no effort to not only disguise all the similarities with the German car, but also bring the final product closer to the image of the French sports car.
As for the technical aspects, everything remains the same as the formula used by Smart: the same 82 hp 0.7 turbo engine, the same (and not exactly brilliant…) six-speed robotic gearbox, not to mention the (few) 815 kg of weight. In fact, an important factor in maintaining the 11.7s of acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h, as well as the 180 km/h of maximum speed.
Orders are accepted?
Interested? Smarlinette was officially unveiled at the last Le Mans Classic, which took place between July 6th and 8th, and there is already a site where you can order yours. Take a look at smarlinette.fr.
Front decal from the original A110
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