Ray Gibbons writes:
After the Series V Alpine production ended, the name was used for a time
for a fastback, which looked like a slightly shrunken first series
Barracuda. It was probably badge engineering, perhaps of a Hillman, but I
am not really sure of that; I'm working from memory here. It was imported
here for a couple of years at least, and was a nice little car. I would
not have likened it to a B210 myself, because I thought the Alpine was at
least unoffensive, and the B210 was ugly.
>>Oh, I kinda found the later GT both offensive *and*
ugly ... :-|.
The 68 and later GT should not be confused with an earlier Alpine GT, ca.
1963-64, which had the same body as the Alpine roadster, with a
(removable) hardtop and slightly upgraded interior. I *think* the latter
GT did not come with the folding top.
>>As I understand it, the first Alpine to have the designation GT
was the '63 model, where GT designated a hardtop but no soft
top. The later GT was a fastback coupe kind of a thing,
with no convertible version offered. I know that
*some* of the mechanicals on the later GT were the same
as on the Alpine, because I used the axles out of a
steel-wheeled GT to convert from wires on my Series I
Alpine. Also, I do not believe the later GT used the
name "Alpine", but was simply called the Sunbeam GT,
although I could be completely incorrect here.
The Harrington was yet something else altogether.
>>Yes, desirable.
cheers-
daren (still looking for a '63 Alpine
w/wire wheels & O/D) stone
|