After years of deliberation, delays and even a failed partnership with Caterham, Renault has finally managed to resurrect its Alpine sports brand that is previewing a new production sports car with the Vision Concept.

Revealed on Tuesday at an event in Monte Carlo ahead of a formal world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show next month, the mid-engine, two-seater model is a thinly disguised concept with a production version to roll out by the end of this year and go on sale initially in Europe in 2017, before becoming available in other markets around the globe.

The final name has not yet been confirmed, but Alpine has registered the AS1 and AS110 monikers.

The French firm is keeping most of the Vision’s technical specs shrouded in secrecy at this stage, but it has confirmed that it will be powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder mill placed behind the driver. The four-pot is rumored to be a development of the Clio RS’ 1.6-liter turbo, possibly with a larger displacement to offer a lot more power than the latter’s 197hp and 177 lb-ft of torque, possibly paired to a dual clutch transmission with steering wheel paddles driving the rear wheels.

Alpine said that the car’s low weight, understood to be around the 1,000kg or 2,200 lbs mark, will help the future production model achieve 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) in less than 4.5 seconds, which matches the Alfa Romeo 4C’s time, beats the Porsche Cayman GTS w/Sport Chrono by 0.1 seconds and is only 0.1 sec behind the Porsche Cayman GT4.

The Vision Concept’s exterior design is heavily influenced by the 2015 Alpine Celebration concept, itself echoing the design of the iconic Alpines from the 1960s and 1970, especially the A110 Berlinette, while its interior has a very futuristic vibe to it with a fully digital instrument panel.

Renault’s plans for the reborn Alpine brand, which delivered its last production car, the A610, back in 1995, won’t stop with the production iteration of the Vision, as the French will expand its range with additional models in the near future.

“All of us at Alpine are proud to have been entrusted with the task of bringing back Alpine to sports car lovers around the world”, said Michael van der Sande, Alpine Managing Director. “Our job is to faithfully re-interpret famous Alpines of the past and project Alpine into the future with a beautifully designed, agile, high-performance sports car. Our Alpine Vision show car is immediately recognizable as an Alpine yet resolutely modern. We look forward to revealing the production model later this year.”

The French performance brand is close to its official relaunch and the Vision Concept is our best look in what Alpine has in store for us.

Unlike some other concepts, 80 per cent of the Alpine Vision will actually reach the production line and that’s very good news indeed.

The company used styling cues fromthe legendary A110 Berlinette into their new mid-engined proposal, essentially previewing a sports car to rival the likes of the Alfa Romeo 4C and Porsche Cayman.

Alpine hasn’t shared any technical details about the car, apart from that it’s going to usea four-cylinder turbocharged engine mated to a flappy-paddle gearbox. The company says that they will also use lightweight material in its construction but not in the expense of cabin features and everyday usability.

In fact the interior of the concept looks like a very nice place to sit in, offering all the amenities you want blended with a very attractive design and premium materials.

Evo magazine had the chance of spending some quality time with the latest Alpine concept and the brand’s design chief Antony Villain explaining the idea behind it. The final production car is expected to be revealed at the Paris Motor Show, with sales kicking off in 2017.

Until then, take a look at the beautiful Alpine Vision Concept one more time.

The upcoming Renault Alpine model was supposed to be co-developed together with Caterham, but after a falling out between the two companies, the French automaker bought Caterham’s share in the Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham joint venture.

Consequently, Renault continued to develop its own variant of the car, without any input (or saying) from the British company. Naturally, that left us with more question than answers, wondering how Caterham’s vision might have looked like, but and thanks to Drive – the design studio that sketched the car – we can finally wrap our head around it.

As the secret will be out in this month’s Top Gear magazine, Drive decided to share the story of the model that was destined to be the future Alpine’s sister car – if the Caterham/Renault joint venture lived on.

The saga started about 5 years ago when the company had a meeting with Caterham. Initially, the two firms were working on a similar project, but “aspirations changed” with Renault stepped in with a new package.

While the engineering part was developed at Caterham and Renault, Drive’s design team was headquartered at the Renault R&D base in Guyancourt, Paris, within the Alpine face of the complex. There, the two design teams shared space, and soon enough the C120 and AS1 clay models came to be. Sadly, Drive's vision, although close to being realized, never came to be as Renault pulled the plug.

According to Mark Przeslawski, lead designer at Drive, the C120 was created to embody the spirit of the Caterham Seven – a car with a cult following and an iconic design. The mid-mounted engine layout was new to the British car maker, moving the whole concept away from the instantly-recognizable two-seater, forcing the designers to evoke Caterham’s heritage in different ways. You can check out more details about the car on the company’s official page.

While this marks the first time we've seen the new Alpine sports car in production form, we've already seen the patent last year and, of course, we're very familiar with both the Alpine Celebration Concept as well as the Vision Concept.

In other words, if you're dying to know what's hiding underneath all that vinyl, you can check out any of the twopreviously mentioned concepts for inspiration.

Of course, there's no substitute for the real thing and just like most auto enthusiasts, we too are looking forward to seeing the car without any sort of camouflage - if only to admire its half modern, half classic design cues.

The quad front lights, retro rear window and overall profile take us back to the Alpine A110, a sports car made famous in the 1960s, with a seriously good rallying pedigree.

In modern times, with an estimated 250 HP coming from a four-cylinder turbocharged engine, the Alpine sports car could go head to head with the likes of the Porsche Cayman, especially since it's expected to be around 300 kg (661 lbs) lighter and capable of hitting 100 km/h (62 mph) in less than 4.5 seconds. Reports have already indicatedthat the base-model could spawn other, sportier versions, with power ratings going all the way up to 300 HP.

As of right now, it's hard to say whether this car will make it to next month's Paris Auto Show, though a Geneva debut in March could be more realistic since these prototypes have just started testing on the road.

Renault is apparently adding the final touches to the all-new Alpine sports car, which is expected to be unveiled by the end of this year.

The as-of-yet-unnamed model will be presented during a standalone event, according to the brand's chief, Michael van der Sande, who spoke withAutomotiveNewsEurope on the matter, at the sidelines of the 2016 Paris Auto Show.

"We will do something relevant to Alpine. We have so much history and future to talk about that we didn’t want to do it at a show", van der Sande said.

Set to target the likes of the Alfa Romeo 4C, Porsche Cayman, and the Lotus Elise, theFrench two-seater will adopt a mid-engined and rear-wheel drive layout, and unlike some of its competitors, it will be "usable as a daily car", according to the Alpine official. Rumor has it that its price tag will sit slightly above the €50,000 (~$55,000) mark and power should come from a 1.8-liter turbo'd four-banger, expected to develop approximately 250 horsepower, or even up to 300 horsepower, in a sportier variant.

The public's reaction to it will be key to Alpine, which, depending on how well it will be received, will consider the introduction of other models.