Polish supercar dealer La Squadra sells nearly every ultra-exclusive marque an enthusiast could want — Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Pagani, Singer and Autofficina restomods — plus the slightly more accessible Ferrari and even more accessible Maserati. It also sells French brand Alpine, and it hooked up with Zagato to create a special edition Alpine reviving a fascinating moment in the automaker’s history. The collaboration came up with the La Squadra x Zagato AGTZ Twin Tail, its party trick right there in the name: Built on an Alpine A110 R, a removable tailcone turns an everyday driver into an aero work of art.
The story starts with the Alpine A220, a prototype sports racer so short-lived and short on results that no one’s bothered to make a Wikipedia page for it. Designed to get Alpine into the higher 3.0-liter class at Le Mans in 1968, Aimedee Gordini built a 3.0-liter V8 that was two 1.5-liter four-cylinders from Alpine’s A110 Le Mans racer yoked to a single crankcase. When only one of four A220s finished at Le Mans, the previous-generation A210 beat the A220 for class honors, and the A220 suffered reliability issues in nearly every race it entered throughout 1968 and 1969, Alpine pulled the car from endurance racing and walked away from Le Mans to refocus on rallying. It held onto the A220 for a bit longer, cutting 11.8 inches off the tail and entering the racer in tarmac rallies like the Critérium des Cévennes. That wouldn’t last long, either, Alpine going back to a renewed A110 to win the 1973 World Rally Championship.
The car probably saw its greatest success as a 3:5-scale racer for kids, powered by a one-cylinder two stroke, and driven in a 24 Minutes of Le Mans race put together by the 24-Hour race organizer, the ACO.
The AGTZ Twin Tail starts with an Alpine A110 R, the hottest trim that gets a 1.8-liter four-cylinder making 296 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque. Zagato reworked every body panel in carbon fiber, extending the nose a bit and adding cooling ducts, and moving the side intakes lower to recall the A220. The modified roofline includes Zagato’s trademark double bubble roof, the headlights and taillights are custom. Without the tail, the AGTZ is 169.5 inches long, 5 inches more than the stock Alpine A110. The tailpiece adds 19.6 inches to this, turning the Twin Tail into a 189.1-inch display piece that no one should try to parallel park.
The car debuts at Villa d’Este in Lake Como in May. Only 19 will be made, each costing €650,000 ($705,239 U.S.). Deliveries are scheduled for October, said deliveries including a custom stand to hold the tail when not in use.
Source: www.autoblog.com