Alpine Renault A310 from 1978 Karus

Life is too short to drive boring cars. Joris Verheggen’s Daily Driver is a 1978 Alpine Renault A310.

Who makes us happy?
Joris Vergen, 37, is married and the father of two daughters. I work in a customs declaration office with its own program as a business analyst.”

What car are you driving?
“An Alpine Renault A310 from 1978. This was the time when Alpine still had the most stock of the two, hence Alpine-Renault and not the other way around. This originally white “Phase 1″ was imported from Switzerland in 2001.”

Why this car?
“My father and grandfather are real Francophones. Renault always drove from home. When I was a little boy of 10, I once saw an Alpine A110 parked. I was immediately impressed by this little car and asked my father without my knowledge if it was a Porsche. He proudly replied: “ No boy, this is Alpine!” Since then, the brand has never left me. My wife’s birthday present in 2009 was a visit to the club day organized by Alpine Renault Club Nederland. She still regrets that gift! The A110 is still the most beautiful, but after Sitting in the A310, I was sold out and had to get one.”

How did you get this copy?
“I’ve already contacted a vendor a few times, but never really followed through. Until I found this copy online from a layman at Vught. Admittedly, it wasn’t the most advanced and best looking Phase 2 but because of the special color I went to have a look and bought it right away. The previous owner bought the car from the first owner in Switzerland.”

What did you use it for?
“Usually on the weekend or when I want to drive a bit. Sometimes I take it to work. But only when it’s dry.”

What is the best feature of the car?
“The A310 is actually a GT with rally genes. It also has a very good chassis. Because of the larger wheels and cosmic, it rides really hard. Combined with the sporty muffler and exhaust manifolds, this is a very fast car for its era. In a German car magazine since then At the time, these Alps were called ‘Porsche Shrek’, Porsche horror. To me, the overall image of the Alps is their best quality.”