Renault Alpine A310

Eight year of dream car hell

- by Peter Edenberg 2019-05-04

After the summer season 2009 Johan put his Renault Alpine A310 in the garage for the winter. The decision matured while the leaves were falling and later when the spring were starting to crack up, eight years of renovation began.

Two persistent souls refused to give up, so in a barn in Katrineholm, Sweden, a French jewel grew, to be a rolling work of art on our streets.

johan brusefält and his renault a310 alpine

Test drived on the island the whole day

Johan has always dreamed of a Renault Alpine A310 ever since he played the card game SuperTrumf as a child. The car became a lasting memory from his childhood, even though the Alpine rarely beat any other car in the game. Still, its shape was appealing, and the rarity of the car on Swedish roads made Johan hold on to his dream.

In 2007, the day came when the A310 was bought by the board member of the Swedish Renault Club, Peter Bergqvist. On the island of Gotland, the Renault was tested for a full day before finally being shipped to the mainland.

Almost immediately, Johan realized that the car might not be the dream car he had imagined. It didn’t really behave the way he wanted—it felt a bit wobbly and unsettled on the road.

Johan’s mind quickly began to race with thoughts about what wasn’t quite right and how he could improve both its performance and its appearance.

“Just needed to be painted”

For two seasons, Johan drove around in his dark blue, almost purple A310. Before the winter of 2009, he put it in the garage, and after that, an eight-year renovation began.

When the renovation started with Jörgen Stendahl, it quickly became apparent that the car had quite serious flaws.

“Both Jörgen and I thought that the car just needed a bit of paint, but that was not the case.”

On the left side, the car had at some point previously been in an accident, and the overall structure was very worn and deteriorated.

The A310 construction was rotten

“The plastic body is actually self-supporting, but a few tubes extend from the central frame under the floor. One of the steel tubes had completely disappeared inside the fiberglass. The ends of the tube were not sealed, so the steel pipes had been exposed to water, air, and the elements for almost 40 years. The structure was almost completely rusted and destroyed.”

In addition to the pipes, there are fourteen plates in strategic places under the car that hold the body to the frame. All fourteen were beyond saving as well.

The bodywork, once the paint was stripped away, looked like a bubbly alpine landscape. The more Johan and Jörgen sanded, the more flaws appeared. There were repairs, dents, and moisture damage throughout the body.

They realized that the trunk lid was beyond repair and needed to be replaced immediately.

The whole front of the Renault needed to be swooped

During one of the winters, uncured fiberglass seeped through the filler in the body. It had become so damaged that Jörgen and Johan made the decision to cut the front of the body. In the middle of the front wheelhouse, the body was cut straight off to make room for a completely new front section.

Johan tries to show me this while we are photographing the car.

“Now that the paint has started to settle into the body, things like that begin to show in the contours.”

I couldn’t really see it, even though I was looking closely. Still, this is exactly what makes this magnificent Renault so remarkable—Johan and his attention to detail. The baseline level of this renovation is extraordinarily high. When we start talking about it, Johan immediately mentions Jörgen and gives him all the credit.

“It was he who set the quality level for this renovation. Without him, it would never have been this beautiful. It had to take the time it took. Jörgen thought, as I said before, that it would just need a bit of paint, but it ended up taking a lot more time and work than that.”

“I have a lot to thank Jörgen for.”

“After that I just had to wait.”

The more we talk, the more I understand that Johan has drawn the long straw. There was nothing he didn’t know when it came to the history of this fascinating Renault Alpine A310.

The level of detail, the depth of knowledge, and Johan’s relentless perseverance have created this rolling piece of art.

A good example is the side windows. Sure, it looks great with plexiglass windows and a rally-style opening—but maybe not as durable or refined in the long run.

For two years, Johan explored, searched, and tracked down someone who, based on a picture he found online, could build inner door panels that would allow for a proper window crank.

“I found a guy in Marseille. He couldn’t speak a word of English and just gave me an email address. Based on that, I wrote him what I needed, and the reply was more or less just an account number. I transferred the amount he asked for.”

“After that, I just had to wait,” Johan says with a big smile.

When I later open the door, there are indeed neatly finished inner panels with a proper window crank in place.

steeringwheel of the renualt alpine a310

“After that I just had to wait.”

During the renovation in Katrineholm, the body sat more or less finished in the workshop for three years.

“Partly because the body needed time to settle, but also because the energy after hundreds of hours of work runs out, as do the finances.”

When it was time to reunite the body and the frame, Jörgen and Johan came up with the brilliant idea of placing the body upside down in a cradle, allowing better access when fiberglassing the frame to the body.

“Slightly easier to apply fiberglass while standing than lying underneath and crawling.”

The decals is from the rally A310 – 1973

In the summer of 2017, all the sanding work was finally completed, and the car was ready to receive its Alpine blue paint and classic decals.

Once again, Johan shows his attention to detail.

“After Renault bought Alpine in 1973, Alpine didn’t really have any official colors until 1975. Alpine ran in a light blue color like mine. Otherwise, Renaults always ran in yellow, black, and white.

Before it was decided that Alpine would compete under the official Renault colors, from 1973 to 1974, an A110 and an A310 competed in these particular colors.

‘My car’ ran in the Ronde Cévenole in 1974, for example,” Johan says as we get ready to move and drive off.

The engine is making the air swell

When Johan turns the key, unburned gasoline is spewed out of the funnels. My body shakes as the high, beautiful engine note sends the birds in the trees flying away. The sound makes the air swell and vibrate. I’m thrown back to the paddock at the classic races I’ve attended, as I feel the ground begin to move when the A310 rolls forward a couple of meters.

I climb into the passenger seat as we head to a hamburger place for dinner. Johan hands me a pair of classic rally headphones, which I put on, though I soon push them aside to better hear the engine’s urge to push the car forward.

Every corner, throttle input, and gear change makes me smile. Johan drives the car quickly but with control.

Over dinner, eaten in one of Linköping’s coziest sports car garages, Johan answers the question of how he managed to cope with the renovation.

“I’ve heard that dead things shouldn’t win over you,” he says with a smile between bites.

When we get back to the parking lot, the classic question comes up. Johan answers without hesitation: “Of course you should!”

Immediately, I feel a small knot in my stomach as he places the keys in my hand.

Trying to start the Alpine with the wrong key

After receiving instructions and trying to force the wrong key into the ignition, the engine starts immediately. The V6’s rumble sends my adrenaline to the next level.

Immediately, I feel how easy it is to maneuver—it’s like sitting in a go-kart with bodywork.

On the first straight, I dare to push a little, but I can feel that there is so much more left in this compact engine.

As I begin to take the curves toward our final destination, the G-force in my head is the only proof that the car is turning. It stays flat on the road, and even when I push through the end of a roundabout, there is no unsettling movement at all. The A310 just wants to move forward. The front tires follow the steering input instantly—it’s precise.

The gear lever positions are not completely numb, but it’s wonderful to feel the short throw from second to third and back to second.

As soon as I lift off the throttle and/or downshift, a consistent blare comes from the straight exhaust pipes.

Headphones in the seat in a renault a310

The A310 is starting to take place on the dream list

Everything about this car is appealing. It’s the most balanced and fun car I’ve driven in my entire life, and I think the Renault Alpine A310 has started to make its way onto my dream car list as well.

Johan, my soul feels happy when I think about what you and Jörgen have been able to endure during those eight years of renovation to create this amazing work of art that is now allowed to roll again on our roads.

Johan, enjoy every second.

The before and during pictures of the car.

Johan´s five tips While renovating a car

Have an extra enthusiast car in addition to your project so you won’t become impatient.
Do not take shortcuts. Do things right from the start so you don’t have to do the job twice.
Always expect a renovation to be expensive and time-consuming. But don’t try to calculate the total cost in advance—you might never get started.
Ask for help. Seek out professionals or let someone with experience guide you in the right direction. Sometimes you can become blind and get stuck on details.
Push yourself, but at the right pace. Some steps will be difficult and demanding. Take a break if it feels too boring or frustrating, and try to find the enthusiasm again. The real satisfaction comes in the end when everything is finished.