PICK OF THE DAY: Low Mileage Renault Alliance GTA for Cheap Thrills

Let’s start by acknowledging that to anyone who has followed cars for some time, the Renault Alliance doesn’t come up on anyone’s ten-best list. Even hardcore Renault enthusiasts (both of them?) would probably lean toward it being more of a crap car. That said, the same company who brought us the Alpines and the outrageous R5 Turbo—not to mention Formula 1 champions then and now—took a page from the BMW M3 and Mercedes Cosworth and tuned their little people’s car with engine mods, tighter suspension, bigger wheels and a few aero refinements. This was the Alliance GTA of 1987 and 1988. Perhaps because it was crap to begin with, the transformation—vis à vis the Bimmer and Merc—was astonishing. In what must’ve seemed like a road test no staffer took seriously, the Alliance GTA was not only quicker through Road & Track’s 700-ft slalom than the aforementioned cars, but the Corvette and Alfa GTV6 as well, just to name a few. In fact, its skidpad number of .89g would still put it among the top twenty cars ever tested. Somehow, Renault’s motorsport savvy brushed off. Furthermore, they were significantly cheaper than the Bimmer or Merc—cars that have become collector and enthusiast darlings—and yet today, they’re off the map, rarely to be seen. Perhaps because of their lower price, they’ve been neglected or have reached some other demise. In any case, here’s one. And it’s one with less than 58,000 original miles. And it’s a convertible. And it’s less than $2,000. Compare that to a $40,000 E30 M3 or a $15,000 190 2.3 16V or even a $5,000 MK2 GTI, neither of which were offered in a convertible—or at least not in 1987. Yes, according to the listing, it could use a bit of sorting out, but it will clean up well and will undoubtedly offer a lot of bang for the buck, just as it did in 1987. Find it here on Craigslist in Soo Locks MI for only $1,750.