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I first started Rallying in West
Australia in the late 60s and
these were all held on gravel
roads, so the best car for these
conditions was rear engine for
traction. Our best results were to
come 6th overall one year and
3rd the next. We started off
rallying with a modified hot R8
first and also competed in an R8
1300 Gordini.
A Repco Round Australia trial
in 1970 as co-pilot in an R16 was
another highlight. And yes we
finished!!
The R8 1300 Gordini that we
bought in 1989 has been used in many historic tarmac rallies and the roll cage, sump guard
and Halda gear that I had kept for 20 years fitted straight in.
Not many people outside of France know that Bob Watson won the Australian Rally
championship with a 1296cc R8 Gordini in 1970.
My love of the Alpine Berlinettes started in the late 60’s and I still have the poster
proclaiming the Monte Carlo rally 1971 win.
On my honeymoon in 1972 we had a conducted tour of the Alpine competition department
in Dieppe, which was something to remember. The rally cars had just returned from the
Monte but all had gearbox problems that year.
I first came across the Alpine A110 I now own, in a large private collection in Singapore in
1994 wearing Motul livery.
In 2001 I managed to make a deal and the Alpine came into my possession. However when
it arrived it had previously been stripped by his staff and painted, but none of the parts taken
off were sent with it, apart from the engine and gearbox (placed in the cabin), the seats, front
and rear windscreens and the 4 wheels.
I made a belated trip to Singapore and managed to find quite a lot of parts relating to this
car, however I found out that
several Renaults had been
restored at the same time and the
parts had been mixed up.
So I ended up with a total of
about 65% of the Berlinette.
Until I managed to buy an
Alpine A110 SX parts catalogue
from France, I had no idea what
went where and what I was
missing, so this was a step
forward.
The first couple of years were
Mark Duder's Alpine by Himself
Mark and the Alpine at the 2013 Vintage Stampede
Mark and the Alpine giving a Jaguar a hard time at the 2014
Vintage Stampede