Few rally cars of the early 1970s achieved as much with so little as the Alpine A110 Berlinette. Trofeu's RRFR series brings a rarely documented entry into the collector sphere: car No. 65, run by Ilia and Kolu Chubrikov at the 1971 Rally Monte Carlo — an Eastern European privateer campaign in one of the most prestigious winter rallies of the era. The model is finished in yellow and black, and rendered at 1:43.
The Alpine A110 Berlinette: Lightweight and Lethal
Built on a tubular backbone chassis with a fibreglass body, the Alpine A110 Berlinette was renowned in competition trim for its decisive weight advantage on the loose, snow-dusted stages of Monte Carlo. Produced from 1961 to 1977, the A110 featured a mid-rear mounted Renault inline-4 engine that made the Berlinette ferociously quick relative to its mass.
Car No. 65 and the 1971 Rally Monte Carlo
The 1971 Rally Monte Carlo was won by Ove Andersson and David Stone in an Alpine A110, confirming the model's grip on the event during this period. Factory entries took the headlines, but privateers such as the Chubrikov entry — car No. 65 — formed the backbone of the competitive field. The yellow and black livery on this car stands apart from the familiar factory blue and white, identifying it immediately as an independent effort. The Chubrikov campaign represents a notably rare Bulgarian privateer presence at a major international rally in the early 1970s.
A 1:43 Scale Model Built for the Completist
Trofeu is a Portuguese manufacturer whose RRFR (Road & Rally France) sub-series is explicitly dedicated to reproducing privateer and obscure rally entries — exactly the territory that mainstream 1:43 producers such as Spark and IXO typically leave uncovered. This model of the Chubrikov A110 fits that mandate precisely. The yellow and black livery with No. 65 race identification is faithfully reproduced, and the model captures the compact, rounded silhouette of the Berlinette at 1:43.
In the Display Cabinet
At 1:43, the Chubrikov A110 is a model that stands out on the shelf — compact enough to sit comfortably in a standard collector case alongside other Monte Carlo Rally entries from the same era. Its yellow and black livery provides strong visual contrast against more common factory blue Alpine examples. The model pairs naturally with other 1971 Monte Carlo Rally A110s, including the Andersson/Stone winner, or with additional Trofeu RRFR privateer entries to build a coherent early 1970s rally display.
