After producing mainly luxury cars in the years between the World Wars, Renault conquered the roads after the Second World War with iconic small cars such as the Renault R4. Rolled it on two separate occasions letting off in the middle of a corner with a large berm on the outside. In Australia they competed in the Redex Trials. the early Eighties, when they were being manufactured in American Motors Corporation (Even in 1956 Road & All of these were sold in the US originally. The original 4CVs were 19 hp, upped to 21, then 26 as octane ratings in Europe improved. . The Renault 5 is a supermini produced by French automaker Renault. Models like the 4CV and the Dauphine werent viable on dirt roads, where the Citron 2CV reigned supreme; they were too low, yet buyers were beginning to look for a daily driver they could take hunting, or to a family picnic, on the weekends. in the extreme tail with cooling outlet vents in the engine lid -- I nearly Here, at last, was a well-matured little car that Launched with a 55 hp 1470cc engine, it moved upmarket with a 1565 cc version developing 85hp on the arrival of the TS version in 1968. Rebadged Dacia Dokker for Middle East, African and South American markets without the presence of Dacia. Strengthened by its alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, and its unique expertise in electrification, Renault Group comprises 4 complementary brands Renault, Dacia, Alpine and Mobilize offering sustainable and innovative mobility solutions to its customers. Led by the Dauphine, Renault sold 91,073 cars in the States in Renault Scnic III (2009; also available as Grand Scnic), Renault Scala (2012; India only version of Nissan Sunny), Renault Pulse (2012; India only version of the Nissan Micra), Renault Modus (2004; also available as Grand Modus), Renault Megane II (estate version sold in some markets as Grand Tour), Renault Laguna III (2007/2009; hatchback, Grand Tourer), Renault Fluence (2010; saloon based on the Mgane III platform), Renault Espace IV (2003; also available as Grand Espace), Renault Clio III (2005/2009; hatchback, 3 and 5-doors, Grand Tourer). Many of its factories had been flattened, and up to one third of its machinery destroyed. sections, with substantial cross-bracing, had been welded. At launch, the range included two basic models. I was allowed to blast (toughen in cheek) down the fire roads. Manage Settings Classic. I only saw one other one in my life, about 20 years ago at an antique store just east of Janesville, Wis. European cars. Oh, well, I love where I am now and thats as good as it gets! It gave Renault a bad name for some few yearsin fact most of the 1961 4CVs sold in the US are actually leftover 1960 models that remained unsold at the end of the 1960 model year. In 1952 one 4CV with special tank carosserie by Antem beats not 1, but 8 world records on the Montlery race course, with notably one lap, at 172km/hour with an 750cc engine! Small van under the Kangoo, heavily based on the Dacia Dokker. Note he first cars with an average 105,9 kn/hour over 1597km all over Italy with mainly mountain roads. be expected, but there was none of that at the Rgie. two people were being carried, the rear wheels now had a small degree of Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. One competed in all three (it was also successful in hill climbs); it was one of only 2 cars to do so (the other was a Standard Vanguard). With a hatch and a folding rear bench, the 4 was at the same time extremely innovative and unabashedly basic. Said Renault of the process, "Arctic conditions were sampled in the North Cape area [of Europe] by one car, another car was sent to work in the Swiss mountains, and a third to the United States. Up front, there was a conventional If only Renault commercial success by any standards. Ha! ", The Renault Dauphine's unit-construction bodyshell was really that of a Renault Le Car is constructionally closely . The spare Classics. However, it quickly won the public over with its ability to meet requirements easily and simply. Thats longer than a lot of Barn Finds readers have been alive so its nothing to sneeze at, as nobody that young says, ever. not really beat 45 mph in second gear, and somehow, too, they felt vulnerable. saw these back in the 60s. Mar 8, 2014 - Explore Jean-Marc's board "Renault 1950-1980", followed by 546 people on Pinterest. Florida bill says no, In the Moment: To believe youre the best, Our Two Cents: 7 cars that we got wrong at first, Underground VAULT at the Henry Ford Museum: Cars with amazing History | Barn Find Hunter Ep. The owner was home. Since Dauphine parts bolt right in-and it's a wet liner engine-one can up the car's performance by using larger Dauphine pistons and liners, or even . In attempting to get it running I managed to break a head bolt. No mention of transmission either. My stepfather was furious but the car was such an oddball he did not know where to get parts so he sent it to the junkyard. This new hatchback featured an original body shape: a two-box design with a tailgate for accessing the boot. Luckily, there was a huge thicket on the outside of the corner AND the roof was round enough for an 80 pound kid to rock the car back over and the car flopped back over on its wheels. a top speed of 74 mph, much more suitable for keeping up with larger-engined the next few years, it never again produced anything that looked quite as cute. Pierre Dreyfus asked his team to design the 4 for urban and rural buyers alike, but its in the countryside that most went to retire. Car Reviews. You took the very words from me. Along with such cars as the Volkswagen Beetle, Morris Minor and Fiat 500, the Dauphine pioneered the modern European economy car. Track recent comps for the classic or exotic cars you own - or the cars you want. The Renault Dauphine enjoyed a long run -- 2 million of the little sedans were built between 1956 and 1958. Track and Motor Trend longed for a fourth gear.). On the bright side, enthusiasts who wanted a 4 (either as a project car or as a daily driver) had plenty to choose from, and many were even given away for free. assembly began in several countries (including England and Italy), and Renault In addition to its affordable Fore-and-aft location? My best childhood friends mom owned a 57 and later a 61 4 CV. Dauphine. All passengers had their own folding, removable, swivel seat. for carrying luggage, the resulting weight distribution was bound to Export sales accounted for almost half of the total with, for example, a special version tailored to the US market. They drug it home behind a pickup, her brother climbed in and, with great effort, stood up, popping the roof back up. He weighed in on its design, too. Dreyfus goal was to increase sales, and he knew achieving it wouldnt be possible without replacing the 4CV, which could not linger around indefinitely. While the 3 and the 4 were fundamentally the same car, major equipment differences ensured they didnt overlap. Since Dauphine parts bolt right inand its a wet liner engineone can up the cars performance by using larger Dauphine pistons and liners, or even aftermarket sets thatll boost the displacement to 904cc. Ah, fate. This approach was pursued by the Renault 20 and definitively established by the 21 Nevada. See more ideas about renault, classic cars, vintage cars. the car was also under attack from within Renault itself: from below by the new See more ideas about renault, classic cars, vintage cars. We had one when I was a kid. (YOU HAD TO KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR!) A range of medium duty trucks for distribution. In 1951, Rgie Nationale des Usines Renault -- as the government-backed company was now known -- decided that it was time to try again. Nearly 5.5 million were built. And it worked! Selecting front-wheel-drivea solution already in the works for the Estafette vancleared up valuable space in the cabin. The suicide area of this car is the space between the front and rear bumpers! But it fits the story line. A range of heavy duty trucks for long-distance. wrong," the company confessed as it begged erstwhile customers to consider While in French custody in 1946, the authorities sent him to look over the drawings of the impending 4CV model. abandoned Grand Prix racing, and was looking for work. The condition of this car appears to be rock solid, even the underside looks solid. pressures --15 psi at the front and 23 psi at the rear -- could completely Blue jeans are still everywhere, and sixty years after its launch, the 4 endures in its own way. And later, that same friends first car: a 58 4 CV! whitewall tires were standard. The seats were cheap hard plastic bucket style chairs from a discount drug store. The Dauphine was actually the best-selling four-door import in the United States in the 1950s. Front seatbelts became standard in April 1970, September 1970 brought a 12-volt electrical system, and a bigger 782-cc engine arrived in September 1971. the axle hubs at front and rear were quite large, with five very widely spaced Not benji, the car! coil-spring/telescopic dampers sitting atop the swing tubes (Renault called When I bought my Decapotable many years ago I got in touch with an owner on a 1956 Decapotable who said he could only find 5 in the US, my car was the 6th, pretty cool. I gave away the car as it sat, never did fix it. To replace the Renault 16, the brand once again called upon Gaston Juchet, head of the Renault styling centre since 1965. Warshawskys was just like that. (I think that started when they went for BK reorganization) It used to be, you could depend on them to have anything you needed in a couple of different quality scales. The car needed to target the precise intersection of city and country life. You can find Renaults on best inexpensive cars as well as worst cars ever. Restore These Cars Without Going Bankrupt. There was more to come. Someone down the way from me on Orange Grove Road (west of Chapel Hill/Carrboro by about 5 miles) has 3 or 4 of these parked alongside a couple of 53-54 Fords. I know that there are but even a Subaru 360 seems fancier inside than this 4CV does. "1956-1968 Renault Dauphine" Would love to hear from you. bridges -- was true. Renault did outsell VW for at least several months in 1958/59. The result was a peoples' car that looked much classier than it The series, which entered production in 1961 and would be produced for over 30 years, was a successor to the Renault 4CV which had been produced . (although the last time was when I was getting my 1972 Chev. My, and my brothers 1st car, was a 59 4CV. There was also a large mechanically conventional 2-litre 4-cylinder car, the Renault Fregate, from 1951 to 1960. This car is actually from Tucson, AZ where I really wish I would have moved four decades ago. At the same time, weight and cost requirements meant making the 4CVs successor into a truck wasnt viable. Renault Scnic was the first compact MPV in automotive history. Renault entered the 4CV (quatres chevaux) in the LE MANS race in 51, the little car was a real racing beast. Rebadged Dacia Sandero. Luckily for Renault, when the Dauphine was being launched, the impecunious French race-car builder, Amde Gordini, had on a car with no less than 55 bhp that could beat 90 mph. fashionable Floride models -- called Caravelles in the USA -- with styling by Frua, and bodyshell manufacture by specialist Yves Georges was responsible for engineering and Gaston Juchet for style. find ways of dealing with it in its sports cars, why not Renault? Because almost all of those cars stayed at home, export enthusiasts missed out They have typically French engineeringwhich isnt necessaryily bad, just different. Looked just like this. Tank you! Porsche did about controlling tail-heavy swing-axle handling Having learned a thing or two about rear-engine cars from the little 4CV it put on the market right after World War II, Renault was ready for something bigger and better by the mid Fifties. New options for the year included Renault cars during this time period had two model lines; the economy four-cylinder engine models that in the 1930s became the suffix "Quatre" and the luxury six-cylinder models that were initially sold with the suffix "-six" that later became the suffix "Stella". The car's most notable distinction was its utilization of 4-wheel disc brakes, a first for a car of its size. The Clio platform that spawned the Modus also gave rise to the current Nissan. You can actually see a bit of the fan, just to the left of the heater box. If you are looking for important 1960s cars, this is the list of the all the iconic and amazing 1960s car models of the era. How cars were advertised during the 1960s changed nearly as dramatically during the decade as did American culture. teeming with these little four-seaters. It also included central locking and inertia reel seatbelts, innovative features that contributed to quality of life for Renault 16 owners. The Renault 16 reviewed the cues of family vehicle design. Everyone has his or her reason for buying a Renault classic car. Safety plays an important role now, besides quality of course. RWD (rear-wheel drive), manual 3-speed gearbox. (crickets) The 4CV was first shown at the Paris Motor Show in 1946 and they were on the market from 1947 all the way up to the space age of 1961. Thatll give the same power-to-weight ratio as an early Sprite/Midget. characteristics. any sort of head-on crash, that fairly hollow nose would fold up to the In the space of four years, they designed a vehicle of original architecture combining an array of technical and practical innovations with a functional design. control of an oversteer condition that presents itself. Multiple buyers have flaked out got to love eBay up for . Its in this context that Pierre Dreyfus (19071994) took the reins at Renault. 133, Loyal Friendship = FREE Car: 1927 Chrysler 60 and a Jaguar E-Type | Barn Find Hunter Ep. them "trumpet casings") themselves. Before long, 700 Renault Dauphines were being built every day, the I used to love cruising around all those yards as a kid, marveling at all the crazy contraptions dropped off after someones dream buggy died. The only reason I would like to have it is that my friend had one in the early sixties and it brings back fun memories. 4-door sedan body type. Inside the cabin, Scnic featured three independent, removable, folding seats for rear passengers. Irony of ironies, Porsche himself even played a hand in the new small Renault. through a three-speed transaxle mounted ahead of it. Review our publications, results and financial events. He said the car needed to be less ugly than the 2CV but less elegant than the Dauphine, to lure buyers into showrooms without creating internal competition. As the slogan said, it was up to the user to invent a lifestyle to go with it! Same engine and transaxle as this car, I believe. Well aware of the specifications -- and the potential -- of Germany's "peoples' car," Renault told his engineers in 1940 that he wanted something like it. The range was expanded in 1977 with the arrival of a 110 hp 1995 cc petrol engine, and an 85 hp 2068 cc turbocharged Diesel engine in 1979. 1960 Alpine coup 2+2. Dauphine was very cheap to build, but this certainly wasn't the sort of car 3) Horsepower/Torque Curve. because the cars of Renault must be clearly recognizable within the never-ending stream of similar cars. We lived out in the boonies where at the ripe age of 11. Renault chose to use a longitudinally-mounted drivetrain, but it flipped it around. For the sporty driver, the main advantage was that when only Discover all news and stories of Renault Group and its brands. The 8 was powered by an all-new 956 cc engine developing 44 PS. Coupled with a higher compression ratio and larger carb, you can reach 45-50 hp without a lot of effort. This all took time, so the first car did not roll off a new assembly line at Flins until December 1955. Despite its clearly unconventional looks, Pierre Dreyfus gave the Renault 16 his approval, stating that it would be a car for families attracted by modern consumer society. Dr. Ferdinand Porsche has a lot to answer for. So they gave it to my father who had owned a couple of Dauphenes in the past. Everything you have . Whoever buys this oneI bought out the USs largest Renault dealership when they folded in 1974 and have lots to NOS stuff in my basementand in Europe parts for 4CVs are like parts for Model As in the USalmost everything is available. It is still considered to be one of the most expensive cars ever built by Renault although it remained a minor success. Realistically, the closest thing to the 4 in the modern-day Renault range is the Kangoo. That must have been the same guy took the 4cv around the world posting online almost daily. The Renault 16 was built in 1,851,502examples during its career, primarily at Sandouville, a purpose-built plant in Normandy. Theyre very unusual with the suicide doors only in the front. In 1966, the Renault 16 was named Car of the Year, ahead of the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow: quite a performance! I might have also mentioned the Gordini option that was available on the Dauphine. Whether you buy a classic car to visit shows and events or take a nice round trip, at ERclassics we have something for everyone. Renault speedily hired At 89 inches, its wheelbase was 6.3 inches longer than that We had a blast with it for years! 80 mph. Lets call it the engine cover until the angry comments roll in and Ill make a mental note of it for next time. A great car for Europe; for the U.S. not so much! The Dauphene had a push button automatic transmission. Although the 4 is no longer a common sight on French roads, there are thousands still sleeping in barns, basking in fields, improbably perched on a mountain, or helplessly beached in ravines in rural France. PU ready for the move to Nevada in 1983) If you old like me, then you remember the old squeaky wooden floor hardware stores where if you knew where to look, or the employee knew where to look, they had anything AND everything you needed. A range of heavy duty trucks for construction. air conditioning and a three-speed automatic transmission with pushbutton It must be viewed as a volume. At the front end, it looked positively flimsy (in in each rear passenger door to give away the game. If he had not originally designed the Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle, the fashion for building small rear-engined cars might never have taken off. sold a lot of them. . than sturdy rims with five mounting lugs to match up with the hubs, the space I still own three: the aforementioned 56 Convertible, an all original 48, and the 59 I bought in 1963. It stood proud as the best-selling car brand in France thanks largely to the 4CV economy car, introduced in 1947.