After reviving the Gordini brand, rumour says that Renault has its sights set on a second brand revival, using its Renault DeZir concept car to be presented at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. The DeZir could become the new Alpine - a brand which was killed off in 1995. In fact, the design of the concept car, from new Renault designer Laurens Van den Acker, is said to have taken inspiration from the Alpine A110 which was originally an electric sports car concept.

If the new Alpine does emerge from the DeZir concept, we can only wonder what the powertrain will be. According to Auto Motor und Sport, the new Alpine could appear in 2012 and would be a less extreme version of the Renault Spider of 15 years ago. That would make the Mazda MX-5 a competitor. To keep pricing within the 25,000 euro bracket, the Alpine would be equipped with a Renault turbo-charged, four-cylinder engine with about 220 hp. Rear wheel drive technology would be supplied by Nissan but it wouldn’t be that of the 370Z due to expense.

On the other hand, Caradisiac reports that the new Alpine wouldn’t debut until 2014 and would appear above the Nissan 370Z, with which it would share both the platform and the 3.7-litre V6 engine with 350 hp. The French site is thinking of a central-engined twin seater sports coupé. The DeZir concept will be equipped with an electric motor, and so we could see a sports electric car from Renault in the future. In any case, we’re enjoying this rumoured sports collaboration between Renault and Nissan, call it what they may!

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