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  History of a Alpine Enthusiast  
  Nicolas Bigosinski tell us the birth of his passion !  
   
   
 

Nicolas Bigosinski contacted us by email. Some photos of his car and a long text was added in this mail. Nicolas lives in Florida. He has now a rare Alpine GTA 'American version'.

 

His histoiry is very long, but so significant of the birth of the passion we have for Alpine. So, we refused to resume it. So you can read here this history signed Nicolas Bigosinski (nicolas@classiceurocars.com).

My Alpine Dream, or How not to jet the Passion die!

I remember this day back in France in 1977, I was 12. A friend of my parents was a sales representative for Renault and that day he was driving a brand new French blue Alpine A310. I remember the car had those plain wheels with the 3 slots in them. I sat in it and was so impressed. This was my real first experience with an Alpine. The beige seats, the smell of a new car and those unforgettable gages with the orange needles… "Some day you might be able to get one of these!" he said.

In 1984, under great pressure from a newly licensed driver (me), my Mom bought a used French blue Renault 5 Alpine. I loved this car. It was not the A310 I remembered and wished for, but the interior and exterior colors were the same and it had those 3 slotted wheels and those orange needles… My poor mother had to beg to drive her own car since I was using it so much. I would get up extra early, drop her off at work and then would "pilot" the car to school… Those little French country roads were great for practicing rallying. At 19, with only 1 year of driving (legally!), I was unstoppable, except that day when I missed a curve and ended up in the ditch… The car was not totaled and I was not physically hurt, but my favorite car was in a collision shop.

November 1987, Orlando (Florida), International Auto Show.

"Hello Mr. Nice Salesman from Renault/AMC! Say, I heard Renault was importing the new Alpine GTA. Do you know when they will become available and at what price?"
"Never! Renault will not import cars any longer."
Me, crushed: "But what about those US Spec. models they built? I know they made a few! They’ve got to import those at least?????"
Mr. not-so-nice-Salesman-any longer: "They destroyed them all"…

I remember this incident like it was yesterday. I could not believe that Renault was not going to import the Alpine. Ten years after seeing my first A310 from up-close, and now that I was working I could have saved some money to buy a used one… I was so disappointed.

In 1997 my hopes of owning an Alpine in the US were revived. While looking on the Internet I spotted a 1986 Grey Market GTA Turbo for sale in Columbia, SC. Allen Shaw was the owner and was willing to part with it for a very large sum of money. I was about to make an investment and decided against purchasing the car. But I will own an Alpine one of these days.

June 2000, Somewhere over the Atlantic.

"The flight back to the US is way too long…" I always say that when I come back from Europe after vacationing. However, I take advantage of this time to catch up on Automotive News from those great European manufacturers. Armed with my Autojournal, Best Cars and Top’s Cars, I re-live those driving moments on the Autoroute, Autobhan and Autostrada that I just spent at the wheels of a too common rental car. Top’s Cars is a magazine of ads only, kind of like Hemmings in a much smaller scale and in color. I am seated comfortably eating my peanuts when I spot this ad with a picture of an A610: "For sale, Alpine GTA 1989. US, type D500SP. 3L, V6 Turbo,250ch. Unique Model. Factory Certification. 26MKm. Exc. Cond. Price 125,000 FF".

I nearly jumped out of my seat. At that moment I could have easily become a terrorist, by wrestling with the flight attendants, fighting the other passengers, breaking into the cockpit and ordering the pilot to turn the plane back.

Upon arriving in Florida, I spent an awful night with remorse and nightmares of not buying the magazine while i still in France… The next day, I called the seller to inquire about the car:

"So they did not destroy all the US Spec. GTA? They saved some of them and one is for sale right now…? No it is not for sale?! Oh, you already sold it"…

Now I was really upset. That salesman had lied to me 13 years ago, and while I was in Europe I was hiking in the Slovenian Alps instead of reading Top’s Cars. I was too late and back home where it was going to be very difficult to investigate the US GTA’s remaining… The seller did mention that there were some others like his. Good, now I have to find another one.

For those of you who wonder why I just did not get an Alpine Euro Model in Europe and ship it back, you must know that DOT and EPA make it very difficult (almost impossible!) to import a car that was not intended to be sold in the United States. The "gray market" from the 80’s has done damages! Therefore I had to find another US Model somewhere or convince one of the only two Euro models owners in the US to sell me theirs!

Still everyday, I would look at the picture in the ad and see an A610. Could it be possible that the US GTA was an A610 in disguise with the 3L/250ch engine? The A610 is the ultimate Alpine (aside from an A110) and I could just see myself driving it down the Florida Turnpike. I had to know for sure. I sent a letter to Renault asking them about the Alpine US Certification and how to obtain one in order to import an A610 in the US. Renault replied they were not the manufacturer of the car therefore I had to contact Alpine in Dieppe directly.

I found some telephone numbers on the Internet and proceeded to call around. At the same time I was asking for virtual help via e-mail from different sites and leads relevant to Alpine.

By this time I had already spoken with the President of the American Alpine A310 Club, Brad Stevens, who was a great help. Brad not only is extremely knowledgeable about all Alpines (especially A310), but he is also a super nice person always willing to help. He knew I was in search of an A610 or GTA. Then, one evening, I received a call from Richard in Atlanta who had purchased one of the 2 gray market Euro GTA a few months early. Richard was unsure about keeping the car and thought I might be interested in buying it. Word goes around! Finally I was going to own an Alpine and I did not have to find a US Spec car in Europe. However I was still intrigued with the picture of the A610 being sold as an 89 US GTA… If the truth be told, I really wanted an A610. So I went back on the Internet and continued my search.

Thank you very much to all of you who responded and gave me advice through phone calls and e-mails. It gave me time to think and appreciate my best course of action. I learned, thanks to you guys, that the US GTA did not look like the A610, did not have the 3L/250ch engine, was never an 89 model and was not a type D500SP. Instead it was a specific model based on the Euro GTA with bigger bumpers, catalytic converters, pop-up headlights and about 350 more pounds. Brad Stevens and Mike Deak were kind enough to send me pictures and old magazines so I could make my own appreciation and compare. Thanks again to both of you.

I finally got in touch with Alpine in Dieppe.

"Allo, Bonjour, I am calling from Florida and would like to speak to someone who knows about US Spec GTA please." Mr. Vu, the Director of Customer Service comes on the phone." So it definitely does not look like an A610, too bad". "The A610 was never certified for the US market". Big disappointment…"You only manufactured 21 cars, that’s it?" " Now these cars were made for the US market therefore they are certified to be driven in the US right?" "Would you have any for sale by any chance?" My hopes were high. The factory kept 2 US Spec GTA."NO?????" The ones you have are chassis number 1 and 21, the first and the last and they are in your museum, really?"

"So I guess you would not consider, even if I insist, parting with one of them I suppose?" "No, but you know somebody who knows somebody who has one in Germany, and might consider selling it?" "Whoa". " The name of the person is Mr. Benny Raepers in Belgium.

At this point, Richard’s 86 Euro GTA looked very good! But I still had a lead and was not about to let go. The next day I contacted Mr. Raepers in Belgium who happened to be an Alpine Dealer since 1958. He informed me that the US GTA in Germany had been in an accident and was destroyed… I could not believe it. I asked him if he knew of another one.?

Well, Mr. Raepers was going to retire soon and since I was asking, he would consider selling his own Us Spec GTA… I was ecstatic. The search was over!

Chassis number 14, black on black leather, 16,545 original miles, perfect condition, the only black one with driver power seat, after-market BBS 15 in. wheels. This was perfect. At that instant a lot of things were going through my mind; payment, shipping, US Certification papers from Alpine, Customs, DMV, a place to garage it and most of all when will I have it here??? Every problem had a solution. I studied them one by one.

I was able to get the papers from the factory, did a wire transfer for payment, arranged shipping, talked to DOT (following the advice of one of my Internet source), talked to Customs and DMV to anticipate problems, etc.

Finally the car was shipped from the Zebrugges port in Belgium on December 6, 2000, with an ETA of December 18th. I could not wait. Since that day in 1977, when this Renault Sales rep. told me that one-day I could own one like this, the dream was about to become reality. It only took 23 years… Granted if I had lived in Europe it might not have taken so long. I would probably be driving an A610 right now, but we have to make sacrifices in order to live in the US, right?

The car arrived in Jacksonville on December 21st. Due to inspections from the Dept. Of Agriculture and Christmas, I drove up to Jacksonville with a trailer on December 26Th. But first I had to go to the Custom office in order to clear the car for DOT and EPA. I had all my paperwork with me, including the magazines Mike loaned me showing that the car was made specifically for the US market, my letter from Alpine stating the legality of the car, etc.. When I arrived, the Custom Inspector made it very clear:

"Here, we do not believe anybody who claims a car is legal to be driven on US soil!" "We have a problem as I do not believe this car can legally enter the United States…" Excuse me??? I got my whole package out; there were papers, magazines, articles, invoices, pictures all over the Customs Officer’s counter. Being so close, having the car right there after so many years, I would prove to him that I could drive this car here legally…

One hour later I was holding the release papers in my hand and had made a new friend! I was on my way to the port to get my Alpine. At last! I was so happy. I had never seen the car except for some bad pictures the seller had sent me. When I got to the port I saw my car for the first time. The car was in the condition the seller had described. It was dirty with a dead battery but it was here and it was mine. Nothing else mattered except to get it up on the trailer and go home to give it a good bath and a new good home. It only took me 90 minutes to figure out that the battery was located in the left front fender ahead of the wheels and hidden in its own compartment and to find the remote terminals located at the bottom of the windshield to allow jump-starts.

 
 

Thirty minutes later I was on my way home singing along and cruising at 75mph looking in the rearview mirror contemplating my Alpine. Other drivers would pass me looking and wondering what kind of car was on the trailer!

Since then, I have entered the Alpine in a Car Show and finished 2Nd in class. The car was very popular among ex-Renault owners with tales of neglected Dauphines and such. I plan on doing some modifications such as lowering it (mandatory American bumpers height gives it a weird look), putting a better, noisier exhaust (I cannot hear the engine running) and a bigger intercooler for track events. I do not wish to drastically change its appearance since it is such a rare car.

 

As for the other US Spec GTA’s, I was told by my seller that they were only 15 left (six were destroyed), including the ones at the museum in France. They are scattered across Europe from Sweden to Spain. But number 14 is where it was destined to be with the oversized bumpers and extra weight; on American soil...

 
 
 
 
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AlpineRenault.com
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