Take a Trip to Guadalajara and Score a Franco-Italian Sportscar

Who doesn’t love an old Alpine? They’re gorgeous little cars, bursting with interesting engineering, built for a purpose, and soaked in competition history—what else do you need from a classic? OK, practicality isn’t spectacular, with a tiny two seat cabin and front trunk (we call that the frunk) dominated by fuel tank, battery, and spare tire, but who cares for all the style and fun on offer?

This particular example is an Mexican-built Dinalpin, a license-built version of the A110 made from 1965-1974 by Diesel Nacional, or DINA, who also manufactured Renault sedans during the time. Located in Guadalajara, Mexico, this example comes advertised with good photos and not much else. Claimed to have 40,000 miles, it also seems to have a 1,400 CC motor rather than the stock 1,100 CC displacement. The only other info we can gleam comes from visuals—nice looking paint, an apparently flawless interior, clean engine bay, and super-cool, period-correct, aftermarket Gotti wheels (with oh-so-French three bolt pattern) likely tell the story of a well-cared for car, but we reckon a phone call in Spanish may be a prerequisite to any serious bidding. If all checks out, its 1969 build date would make it un pedacito de pastel to import.

Like any old car, we’d want to make sure this one is free of rust (on the chassis, obviously) and electrical problems, and of course mechanically fit as well. Mechanicals are bone-simple and Renault-sourced, so even if it needs a bit of work parts are easy to come by and simple to fit.

With a BIN of $35,000, it’s not cheap, and lots of other cool four wheeled stuff is available for similar paper—Lancia Fulvias, Alfa Giulias, BMW 2002s, Lotus Elans, etc. None of these, however uncommon they are, match the exclusivity offered from the Dinalpin, tough, nor would they be as inexpensive to run, something to factor in to the purchase budget.

If you always wanted an Alpine, here’s your chance to have one for about half the asking price of a comparable French-built car.

Click here for the Alpine details on eBay.