The death has occurred at the age of 85, of Jean Redele, founder of the Alpine marque. Jean Redele was born in 1922, the son of a Renault dealer, and he was always to have close affinities with the company. There was a period when the success of his cars gave Renault some much needed glamour and eventually Renault would take over Alpine and preserve the name as its specialised sports car branch.

After taking a degree in engineering, Redele joined his father's business which he helped keep afloat by his skill in repairing old cars and farm machinery in those difficult days after the Second World War. In the early 1950s, he competed with some success in events such as the Alpine Rally and the Mille Miglia in a modified Renault 4CV saloon and, in 1955, he founded Societe Automobiles Alpine.

The prototype car (A106) was little more than a Renault 4CV floorpan with a two-seat fibreglass coupe body, styled by Michelotti and made by Chappe Freres in Paris. It did, however, offer the option of a five-speed gearbox developed by Redele together with a company called Claude Engineering. Redele drove one in the 1955 Mille Miglia and so it was launched as the A106 'Mille Miles'. With one of these cars, Maurice Michy won his class in the 1956 Mille Miglia.

This success was a rare instance of an Alpine competing abroad and for the next few years the marque was rarely seen outside of France. The Mille Miles continued in production until 1960, using Renault Dauphine components as they came on stream, but the most significant model was the 1961 Berlinette Tour de France which was built on a backbone chassis, a feature which became an Alpine trademark.

Some other French constructors had tried to form a relationship with Renault and the company gave them some limited support. It seems that Renault was actively looking for a partner in motor sport on an informal basis and decided that Alpine was the outfit to back.