When Levy was in France on his way to Le Mans, he came across a stable of Renault Alpines, the famous rear-engined French rally/race car. Way cool. Us auto journo types known for a while now that Renault’s been toying with the idea of bringing the Alpine back (why do these cars go away in the first place?). Today we have some details. The new Alpine will compete with the Mazda MX-5 Miata — a worthy competitor. As Renault owns Nissan, they’re be raiding their own candy store and using a smaller version of the 350Z’s chassis. A straight-4 should be capable of producing 220 hp. And if the Alpine is light enough, that should make for a quick little whip. Clues to the weight of the new Alpine can be found in Nissan’s 2006 Urge Roadster concept, also built on a more petite 350Z chassis and weighing a scant 2,400 pounds. Obviously, we say bring ‘it on, even if the new Alpine will be front instead of rear-engined. The Nissan doesn’t sound too bad either.