Story by Ernst Luthi
From the Archives, June, 2019
One man’s passion for Renault’s R16 – 45 years on
Mike Neil’s love affair for the Renault 16 started in the late 1960s, when, as teenager, he visited the Sydney Motorshow.
The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
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By pete
Story and photos by John Waterhouse, National Coordinator, Renault 4CV Register of Australia
First Post-Covid (we hope) Australian 4CV Muster, Easter 2021
Every two years, the Renault 4CV Register of Australia meets over Easter in a country town in New South Wales at our “Muster”. They are delightful social events with no competitions! The Register welcomes all rear-engined Renault models that are derived from the post-war 4CV model and early R4s that used the same engine and transaxle. Naturally we are pleased to see other classic Renaults at our Musters and members often bring later front-drive cars from the 1970s and 1980s, and even younger cars.
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Story and photos by John Waterhouse*
After the new Renault 4CV was exhibited at the October, 1947 Paris Motor show, the car went into series production. The new model’s success matched the economic recovery of Europe after World War II, half a million examples being built by 1955. A successor offering better performance and comfort and larger boot (trunk) space was the obvious next step for Renault and design work began in the early 1950s.
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Story by John Waterhouse*
The new Renault 4CV was soon used as the basis for what the author refers to here as “specials”, mostly lightweight coupés of one type or another, which began to appear by the late-1940s and early 1950s.
These “specials” ranged from an unknown number of both professionally-built cars that were made in very small numbers and home-made cars that are not the subject of this article. A few coupés were made by professional organizations in numbers that ranged from very few (like the V-P coupes discussed below) to many hundreds, like the Autobleu and Brissoneaux et Lotz coupés. Some of these cars were extremely stylish and those few that were made commercially were far more expensive than the standard saloons.
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Story by John Waterhouse*
After the new Renault 4CV was exhibited at the October, 1947 Paris Motor show, the car went into series production. The new model was soon involved in competition, the first recorded example being the July 1948 “Rallye Internationale des Alpes” . After this, various private and factory (“usines”) entries followed in a range of events, initially using the 760 cc R1060 model, competing in the 751 to 1,100 cc class.
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Story by John Waterhouse
Author photos unless otherwise noted
Background
After being exhibited at the October, 1947 Paris Motor Show, production of the Renault 4CV gradually increased from 503 cars for sale that year to a peak of 138,000 in 1955. The grand total was 1,089,918 by the time production stopped in 1961.
The Renault 4CV was the first model in France to exceed a production total of one million, quite enough to put it in the automotive history books. The outcome was more noteworthy as it was a complete change for Renault, who pinned the very survival of the Regie to the success of a small, unorthodox car that was unlike anything they had built before.
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Story by John Waterhouse*
The Renault 4CV was a child of World War II. The German army had occupied northern France, including the Renault works at Billancourt on the outskirts of Paris and production continued, under strong pressure to provide vehicles for Germany’s war efforts. [Read more…] about The Renault 4CV Part 1: First of a Million
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Review by Pete Vack
In a colorful, imaginative and creative manner, author and historian Graeme Cocks brings to life the story of Renault’s Type A – the first car to feature a direct drive with the engine, clutch, transmission and differential in line. (read Two Old Renaults). It all began in that perhaps not so humble woodshed in the Renault family’s back yard, as you probably ‘heard tell about’ many times. (Renault’s family owned a button-making factory and were well-off.) [Read more…] about Louis Renault’s Amazing Type A – Reviewed
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By John Waterhouse
Perth, the capital city of the state of Western Australia, seems an unlikely location for two very early examples of Renault production cars. Nonetheless, it is the home for a 1899-1900 production version of Louis Renault’s first car, the single-cylinder, De Dion-Bouton-powered Type A, and a 1903 Type N, a car that used Renault’s first four-cylinder engine. 1 [Read more…] about Two Early Renaults in Western Australia
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Story and photos by John Waterhouse
“I take this opportunity to invite you to the 60 years of the Floride next year.” Our friend Alain Traon’s email in 2018 came as a complete and delightful surprise. Alain had organised the Australian contingent at the 50th celebration of the Caravelle in 2012. The “Cara’Boucles” (Daisy Tour) event in France included some 30 Australian rear-engined Renault enthusiasts, most of us from the Renault 4CV Register of Australia. This was a huge gesture of hospitality from our French friends. Alain’s tour planned for this year in May was even more ambitious. [Read more…] about Renault Floride and Caravelle French Tour
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Story by Gijsbert-Paul Berk
There was more than just record cars at Montlhéry. Only a few people will still remember that, during the fifties, the small Renault Quatre (4CV) shown above was a very successful participant in a large number of European rallies and road races, and even won its class several times in the famous 24 hours’ endurance race at Le Mans.