Cultural Fusion - The 1980s were a decade that refused to blend in. It was a time when cars became louder in shape, color, and personality — when every curve and crease tried to outdo the next. From this landscape of wild imagination emerged one of the rarest and most striking reinterpretations of a French sports car:
the 1984 Plenk & Ringswandl Renault A310 Breitbau.
Born from a German tuning house with an eye for excess,
it transformed the sleek Alpine A310 into something more aggressive, more theatrical, and unmistakably more daring.
The base A310,
built by Alpine under Renault’s wing,
was already admired
for its lightweight fiberglass body and mid-engined balance.
But in the hands of Plenk & Ringswandl, the modest French coupe evolved into a machine that looked ready to storm a racetrack or at least steal every glance on the autobahn. Introduced in
1984,
their “Breitbau” —
or wide-body —
conversion was defined by radical new bodywork:
massive flared arches,
deep air channels sculpted into the sides,
and a dramatic rear wing that gave the car an unmistakable silhouette. Some details, like the side slats along its widened haunches, subtly echoed the era’s exotic design trends — the same spirit that made cars like
the Ferrari Testarossa iconic — though here they carried a distinctly German sense of precision rather than Italian flamboyance.
Underneath the flamboyant skin, the mechanical heart remained familiar.
The 2.7-liter PRV V6 engine, shared with other
Renault and
Peugeot models of the time,
produced about 150 horsepower — not overwhelming by today’s standards, but plenty for a car that prioritized weight balance and engagement over brute force. The engine’s placement at the rear gave it a lively, tail-happy character, while the widened track of
the Breitbau added stability and visual drama in equal measure.
Documentation from
the A310 owners’ registry confirms that
the Plenk & Ringswandl version was exceptionally rare —
only four cars are believed to have been converted.
One of them,
finished in a vivid metallic blue,
resurfaced in Germany in 2022 and appeared on eBay the following year with a price hovering around €32,000 to €37,000.
Registry records even identify it by chassis number (VAE0001597), marking it as one of the few verified “PR2” conversions in existence. Beyond those entries, however, the trail of Plenk & Ringswandl as a company fades quickly. Little is known about the duo or their workshop — no brochures, no production figures, only a few surviving cars and a handful of photographs that capture their vision in fiberglass and steel.
That sense of mystery adds to the car’s charm. The A310 Breitbau stands today as more than a modified Renault; it’s a snapshot of a fearless design era when small workshops could take creative liberties unimaginable in modern times. Its exaggerated curves, slotted sides, and monumental rear wing reflect a philosophy of design driven by emotion, not data — a spirit of experimentation that’s nearly extinct in the automotive world today.
Decades later,
the Plenk & Ringswandl A310 Breitbau still commands attention not because it was perfect, but because it was bold. It bridged nations and ideas — a French chassis infused with German engineering confidence, shaped by the aesthetics of a generation obsessed with performance and flair. It’s the kind of car that reminds us how the best machines don’t just move; they make us feel something. And in that sense,
this rare,
wide-bodied Alpine remains a beautifully eccentric echo of an age when cars were allowed — even expected — to go a little too far.
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