Alpine A290 review: Can this electric hot hatch recreate the magic of the 1980s?

There is something dangerous about revisiting the heroes of youth. Films you remember as masterpieces turn out to have acting that would embarrass a village panto. Nightclubs that seemed impossibly glamorous look considerably less so when encountered decades later in daylight. And cars? Well, the hot hatchbacks of the 1980s that occupy an exalted position in my memory were – it transpires – often noisy, uncomfortable, alarmingly flimsy and equipped with brakes that regarded stopping as aspiration rather than necessity.

Which brings me to the Alpine A290.

I first encountered it, static, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, as a guest of Alpine for a weekend in which the famous Sussex estate was transformed into the automotive world’s answer to Glastonbury – albeit with more carbon fibre, better hospitality and fewer people urinating against fences.

The Alpine A290 stands out

Goodwood remains one of the celebrations of the motorcar. For a few glorious days, everything from priceless racers to the newest exotica charges up the Duke of Richmond’s driveway while thousands of enthusiasts line the route. Alpine was there in force, amid the heat and dust, and the diminutive A290 immediately stood out to me among machinery with considerably more power and often absurd price tags.

But other Goodwood experiences are available. Away from the hill climb, the crowds and the noise, the Festival weekend includes one of the most extraordinary invitations in the British social calendar: the black-tie ball hosted by the Duke of Richmond at Goodwood House. It’s an evening of dinner jackets, champagne and spectacular entertainment in surroundings so quintessentially English you half expect Hugh Grant to emerge from the topiary.

It was all very glamorous. But somewhere amid the tuxedos and polished silverware, I kept thinking about the little Alpine outside. So, several weeks later, once Goodwood’s crowds had disappeared and Sussex had returned to normal, I returned.

This time, there were no grandstands or paddock passes. Just the A290, the South Downs and the sort of rolling, open roads upon which a small, fast hatchback has traditionally made the strongest possible case for itself. Because this, fundamentally, is Alpine’s attempt to reinvent one of motoring’s greatest pleasures for the electric age.

The A290 shares its basic architecture with the new Renault 5, itself a brilliantly executed revival of an 80s icon, but Alpine has done considerably more than give it a gym membership and a nicer tracksuit. The stance is wider, the suspension has been comprehensively reworked, the steering sharpened and the whole car given the sort of purposeful detailing that tells you this is the naughty one. And it looks fabulous.

There are shades of rally car in its squat proportions and flared arches, while those distinctive lights give it retro charm without becoming fancy dress. It references the past rather than impersonating it – an important distinction when nostalgia is currently applied to everything from trainers to television shows.

How does the Alpine A290 drive?

Out on the South Downs, though, appearances quickly become secondary. The joy of the old-school hot hatch was never outright speed. It was accessibility. A Renault 5 GT Turbo could turn an ordinary journey into an event without requiring a racetrack, and the A290 gets it.

Point it along a flowing Sussex B-road and there’s an immediate sense of eagerness. The steering is quick; the body remains impressively controlled and the instant shove from the electric motor means it darts out of corners with enthusiasm.

Yes, it’s heavier than those 80s heroes – but everything is heavier now, including most of us who remember the 80s. But Alpine has done an impressive job of disguising the kilos. What matters is that it feels playful.

That might sound an odd word to use about an electric car, but it’s crucial. Too many EVs confuse acceleration with entertainment. Being fired towards the horizon like a canapé from an overenthusiastic waiter is amusing approximately three times. After that, you need more. And, across the Downs, where fast, open stretches tumble into tighter corners before climbing again, the A290 encourages you to get involved. There’s communication through the chassis and a willingness to change direction.

Inside the vehicle

Inside, things remain pleasingly theatrical. There are sports seats, a chunky steering wheel and enough Alpine-specific detailing to make it feel special without becoming adolescent. The driving position is excellent, and the cabin retains much of the Renault 5’s cleverness.

But the best hot hatches have always possessed a slight sense of mischief. They are practical cars behaving improperly. And that’s what the A290 does so well.

It also makes a convincing argument that electrification doesn’t have to mean the end of affordable cars for enthusiasts. Inevitably, there is no fizzy petrol engine working its way towards a red line, no manual gearbox to stir and none of the mechanical soundtrack of the cars we grew up worshipping. 

Instead, silence gives the A290 a different character. You notice the road more: the tyres loading through a bend, the change in surface, the wind around the mirrors. On an empty stretch of road with the Downs unfolding, it feels less like compromised imitation and more like natural evolution.

And perhaps that’s where the A290 makes most sense. Not surrounded by supercars at the Festival of Speed, but on an empty B-road, doing what small French performance cars have always done best: making an ordinary drive feel extraordinary.

The heroes of our youth are usually best left undisturbed. Time has a habit of being unkind to them. But occasionally someone takes everything you loved, loses the bits you barely remember, and sends it back into the world for another generation. The Alpine A290 isn’t my 80s hot-hatch hero, it’s what my 80s hot-hatch hero grew up to be. And, rather annoyingly, it seems to have aged better than me. 

220bhp // 221lb/ft // 0-62mph in 6.4 secs // 106mph // 0g/km // 226 miles range // From £30,245 (after electric grant)

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This is a feature appearing in the September/October 2026 issue of Attitude, available on digital platforms and in print now.