Performance brand Renault Alpine has prepared a spectacular concept car for the 2022 Paris Motor Show starting on Monday, October 17. We won’t have to wait until then to see the radically styled machine as the online debut will kick off this Thursday. Ahead of its debut, a shadow teaser image has been released of what the French brand is calling a “breakthrough concept car” dubbed Alpenglow.
If the name doesn’t ring a bell, it refers to an optical phenomenon. Per Wikipedia, alpenglow “appears as a horizontal reddish glow near the horizon opposite the sun when the solar disk is directly below the horizon.” Alpine describes it as “a luminous phenomenon in which horizontal lines of red light appear on the mountains before sunrise and after sunset.”
The catchy moniker has been chosen to reflect where the brand is currently as Alpine will discontinue combustion engines and gear up for the revival of electric vehicles. Alpenglow will not only signal the inevitable transition from ICE to EV but also provide a window into the future of design as models coming after the A110 will adopt a new stylistic approach.
Alpine refers not only to road models but also racing cars. In fact, the Alpenglow seems to be a track-only concept judging by its dramatic aerodynamic body. The low-slung electric performance model has a very wide body and what may be a canopy or gullwing door. That full-width LED strip clearly refers to the showcar name and there appears to be a wide wing or spoiler at the rear.
The Dieppe-based niche brand will be purely electric from the middle of the decade and has already teased three new models. Expect a hot hatch version of the Renault 5 electric revival that will join the GT-X Over crossover and a new sports car co-developed with Lotus on a custom modular platform.
Meanwhile, the rear-wheel-drive A110 mid-engine coupe with a 1.8-liter turbocharged petrol unit adapted from the soon-to-be-discontinued Renault Megane RS.
