The 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed, running July 9 to 12 in the UK, will host the public debut of the Alpine A110 FUTURE, a development mule previewing the third generation of Alpine’s mid-engine sports car and rival to the next-gen Porsche 718 Cayman. The first photos have already been released, and while the prototype wears the usual camouflage gear and in fact shares most of its body panels with the current A110, it suggests the next generation will preserve the low-slung, perfectly balanced proportions that made the current car one of the best-looking vehicles on sale – even as it shifts to electric power.
The current A110 reignited the Alpine name when it debuted at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, drawing heavily from the timeless lines of the original 1960s model that cemented the French marque’s reputation through rallying success. Now Alpine faces an even bigger challenge: proving that a lightweight, razor-sharp sports car can thrive in the EV era. Better yet, there’s reason to believe the story may not end with batteries alone, as Alpine has said that an internal-combustion engine hasn’t been ruled out.
Alpine A110 FUTURE PrototypeAlpine
Porsche 718 Cayman In The Crosshairs
The A110 FUTURE’s final production body will undoubtedly evolve before it reaches showrooms, expected in 2027, but the camouflage can’t hide everything. An overhead view reveals noticeably wider fenders front and rear than those of today’s car, hinting at a wider track at both ends. That’s encouraging news for anyone who has driven the current A110, whose sublime chassis balance has earned praise from virtually everyone who’s sampled it, including legendary designer Gordon Murray, who liked it enough to buy one himself.
That should also make life even harder for Porsche. The current 718 Cayman already faces one of its toughest dynamic rivals in the A110, and Stuttgart is still wrestling with how to replace it. Porsche continues developing the next-generation 718, but the program has suffered multiple delays as the company rethinks its electrification plans. What was once billed as a pure EV is now potentially gaining gasoline-powered variants in higher trims, underscoring the uncertainty surrounding a model that has long set the standard for everyday sports cars.
Alpine A110 FUTURE PrototypeAlpine
Alpine ended production of the current A110 just this week after building 28,701 examples of the second-generation car. Porsche, by comparison, typically produces more than 20,000 Boxsters and Caymans in a single year, but Alpine’s sports car was gaining momentum at the end of its life, averaging roughly 4,000 to 5,000 sales annually. With both nameplates heading into the electric era, the playing field could tighten considerably, especially if sports car buyers, including Porsche’s traditionally loyal customers, remain cautious about making the jump to battery power.
Completely New Under The Skin
Alpine Performance Platform (APP) Debuting In Next-Generation A110Alpine
Beneath the new A110’s skin will sit a new aluminum architecture called the Alpine Performance Platform (APP). The lightweight design will underpin not only the A110 but also a roadster and a larger 2+2 sports car expected to revive the A310 name in a bid to take on the Porsche 911. For now, Alpine has confirmed only electric powertrains, but CEO Philippe Krief has previously said the platform was engineered from the outset to accommodate an internal-combustion engine if market demand calls for one.
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With the APP, Alpine’s engineers have gone to unusual lengths to preserve the balance that made the current A110 such a standout. Instead of packing the battery into a conventional skateboard layout, they’ve split it between the front and rear of the car to maintain a 40/60 front-to-rear weight distribution. The battery also uses a cell-to-pack design to save weight, while an 800-volt electrical architecture promises ultra-fast charging and sustained high-performance driving.
Alpine Performance Platform (APP) Debuting In Next-Generation A110Alpine
At the rear, a pair of electric motors are paired with silicon-carbide (SiC) inverters, which convert the battery’s DC power into AC more efficiently than conventional silicon-based units. The technology generates less heat, trims weight, and switches current faster, allowing more precise control of the motors. Overseeing the entire powertrain is a central computer Alpine calls the Dynamic Model, which coordinates everything from energy management and regenerative braking to torque vectoring, steering, and even the car’s active aerodynamics.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Alpine has already launched two EVs in the form of the A290 hatch and A390 crossover, but the A110 remains the brand’s core model. It’s the car that revived Alpine in 2017, and it now has to carry that identity into the electric era. If Alpine gets it right, the A110 will set the tone for what a lightweight electric sports car can be.
It also matters for Alpine’s global ambitions, though Alpine’s planned US launch by 2027 has been put on hold for now. Nevertheless, Alpine has ensured its new A110 meets all US crash safety standards, leaving the door open for the car to eventually end up here – and bring a new challenger into Porsche’s biggest market. You don’t invest all the money crash testing a new model to not sell it, so this could be a reality sooner than we realize.
