Alpine A110
Why 7.3: Built light when everyone else gave up, bought only by people who understood the assignment. Never sold in the US — which is the US market's loss, not the score's problem.
Layout
Natural habitat
Ride comfort
Sound
The 1.8 turbo four pops and crackles on a closed throttle, and 1,100 kg means little sound deadening to fight through. But it is a Mégane engine behind a bulkhead, capped at 6,500 rpm and largely delivered through the speakers. The weakest part of an otherwise exceptional car.
4-cylinder · turbocharged · 6,500 rpm redline · rated 4.8 / 10 for engine sound
Market value
Median asking price, good condition · €55k (2018) → €53k (2026), trending down · illustrative data
Child seats · ISOFIX
There aren't any — strict two-seater.
No ISOFIX up front — Alpine's manual covers belt-mounted installation only — but there's a genuine airbag-off switch: push and turn a dash lock to OFF with the ignition off, confirmed by a warning light before you fit the seat.
If the passenger seat has the optional racing harness fitted, Alpine prohibits a child seat there outright.
Alpine A110 official owner's manual (user-manual.alpinecars.com)
The long version
In the markets where you can actually buy one, the A110 draws people who cross-shopped a Cayman and picked the one that weighs four hundred pounds less instead of the one with more brand cachet — an odd flex that only works because Alpine built the whole car around that decision. It gets driven on the roads it was tuned for, not trailered to a track, because a 1,100 kg chassis makes back-road pace without needing a circuit to prove it. American enthusiasts are left importing gray-market examples or renting one abroad, its own tell about how good the reputation got without a single US sale.