The Alpinche is remembered today by this sculpture in the town of Orense: (L) Reverter, (R) Antonio Colemán, a co-driver for Reverter and president of the Orense team for many years.
Story by Roy P. Smith
What on earth is an Alpinche? If you are not familiar with Spanish Rallying you probably are puzzled. But to those who followed rallies in Spain, the Aplinche is well known, the result of a series of incidents that would lead to one of the great car-engine combinations.
The story begins with a determined, talented driver and intuitive engineer, Estanislao Reverter. Sadly, Estanislao is no longer with us, but his son Luis shared the story with me:
“My father, Estanislao Reverter, was born in Orense on 1 October 1929. ’Lalao’, as he was known, was a true promoter of motor sport. From 1955 he drove cars as varied as a Goggomobil, Renault 4/4, Fiat Abarth 1000 Bialbero, Panhard Dyna, Saab 96, BMW 700, Lotus Cortina, Lancia Fulvia, and Alfa Romeo GTA. He decided to set up the Escudería Orense, an organization that would help promote and organize rallies.
Number 5 is the Porsche 911 R of Estanislao Reverter on the rally Costa del Sol in 1970.