The A110 R Ultime marks the end of an era. Will 345 horsepower and 420 Nm of torque, extreme aerodynamics and countless upgrades over the already excellent French coupe be enough to help us overcome the pain of saying goodbye?

Words Matteo Lavazza / Photos Alpine Cars

And so the time has come. Be ready to say goodbye. To be completely honest, I always suspected that the A110 had a sword of Damocles hanging over its head. The fault was obviously not its own, but rather that of the wrong era — a historical moment in which the joy of pure driving has been suffocated by crossovers and electric mobility. But if I think about it more carefully, perhaps the greatness of something like the A110 lies precisely in the fact that it represented a voice outside on its own in a time when everyone else was looking elsewhere. Over the last decade, if you wanted something truly engaging to drive, Alpine’s berlinetta was the only real alternative to the Elise and 4C, both of which also disappeared far too soon.

With its rebirth, Alpine actually gave life to what was initially supposed to become the new incarnation of Renault’s performance division (RenaultSport, to be precise), but the electric revolution seems to have reshuffled the cards and pushed the French executives toward focusing on an exclusively eco-chic lineup. For this reason, and others related to tedious regulatory matters, the A110 can no longer continue to exist — at least not as we know it today. As with the most classic of clichés, you appreciate things far more once they slip through your fingers, but the existence of a car like the A110 R only deepens the sense of melancholy.

If the A110 R was the hardcore version of the A110 S, the A110 R Ultime is not only the swan song, but the ultimate expression of a car that has always managed to combine performance with everyday usability. Produced in only 110 examples in collaboration with the Atelier Sur-Mesure design and customization team, it is the most powerful — and most expensive — A110 ever built. It looks as though it came straight off a racetrack, and indeed it did. Its aerodynamic appendages leave no room for compromise: carbon-fiber fins and profiles are practically everywhere, crowned by a gigantic adjustable rear wing designed to increase downforce when speeds become a serious matter.

Compared to the “standard” A110 R, however, there is much more. For example, adjustable Öhlins suspension with 90% greater stiffness, a new limited-slip differential, forged wheels and tires developed together with Michelin, Pilot Sport Cup 2 that are literally glued to the asphalt. And to top it all off, an upgraded braking system with discs enlarged by 10 mm and a recalibrated ABS setup. All of this packed into a car weighing just 1,082 kg. But that’s not all.

Sure, despite the fact that the beating heart of the Alpine remains a modest turbocharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, here it produces 345 horsepower and 420 Nm of torque, resulting in an exceptional power/weight ratio of 3.2 kg per horsepower. The dual-clutch gearbox loses one ratio — becoming a 6-speed — in order to optimally manage the increased torque and the stress placed on the engine. Think of anything and chances are it wasn’t left to chance. Not even the cabin, where we find fantastic Sabelt bucket seats that do not even remotely resemble those found in any other A110.

The A110 R Ultime is a track-day celebration usable on road, but naturally driving it on pothole-ridden streets that do not allow you to exploit its incredible aerodynamic package limits — by quite a margin — any real understanding of what this farewell to internal combustion is truly capable of. The rear wing is a two-plane adjustable unit and, together with the front splitter, diffuser (also in carbon fiber) and all the other aerodynamic profiles scattered around the bodywork, it generates 100 kg of downforce at 280 kph. As you can easily imagine, the Ultime is one of those cars whose performance factor increases in direct proportion to speed and cornering loads.

It’s not just about sprinting from 0 to 100 kph in 3.8 seconds, but about the way the little four-cylinder delivers torque, catapulting you forward as though launched from a giant slingshot. The feedback is elastic, but what you appreciate most is the sense of rawness transmitted by a suspension setup as rigid as marble.

You can feel every tiny imperfection in the asphalt and between the stripped-down weight and an almost perfect driving position, the A110 R Ultime does everything possible to rearrange your internal organs. Including your hearing, thanks to the new Akrapovič exhaust system. Personally, I would have done without power steering, but Alpine chose not to excessively distort the A110 concept, allowing the Ultime’s extreme sensations to be emphasized more through the relationship between chassis and backside rather than through the driver’s hands.

With the A110 — especially in S form — speed was never the issue. The R, and particularly the 345-horsepower Ultime, takes on an entirely different meaning because it constantly reminds you that this is a car designed for more specialized use.

Exactly like the Porsche 911 GT3 RS compared with the GT3, it may be superfluous 80% of the time, but it’s in the remaining 20% where it gains a significance inseparably tied to sensory emotions that can only be experienced in this kind of context. I’m talking about the chassis reactions to sudden weight transfers, but also about an even fuller and more linear torque curve. The turbocharger, combined with such limited weight, amplifies the ballistic effect, but what surprises most when driving between the curbs is the directional precision of an object engineered according to the “less is more” mantra.

Ten years ago, I knew the A110 would not be here forever, but it’s not the sort of thing you dwell on all day long. You convince yourself there’s still time, that you can postpone unpleasant thoughts to some undefined tomorrow. But time passes relentlessly and the curtain is falling on what I consider one of the most successful automotive revivals ever created.

Alpine demonstrated the importance of respecting its heritage by building a small, lightweight and powerful car capable of entertaining any type of driver. The A110 R Ultime is the definitive tribute, not only to the new A110, but to the spirit of a car that fought through some of the most epic chapters in motorsport half a century ago. The same philosophy has been applied to this special edition, which makes use of the finest engineering still applicable to a modern internal-combustion sports car.

That is why its astronomical starting price of €265,000 almost becomes a secondary detail. With the Ultime, you are not simply buying a sports car — because in that case there are far more rational alternatives — but the final fragment of an era.