Renault 5: it’s French For Good

In 1974, Bob Sprague went on a trip to England, hired a car to explore the country and fell in love with the Renault 5. It was cute, small and “fantastic”, but it was a car he'd never seen before. It was a Renault 5 and although it was unusual to Sprague, it wasn't for Europeans. Between 1972 and 1985 Renault built nearly five-and-a-half million of them, a figure Sprague says is believed to be more than the entire 41-year production of the Mini.

And 15 years after his first meeting with the Renault 5, Sprague finally bought his own model, a 1974 version. Having already been a Renault fan, heavily involved in the Renault club and rallying and owner of a Renault 8 and Renault 16, when Sprague came across the Renault 5 he contemplated buying it.

“I thought if I don't I'll regret it and if I do, I could at least say I'd done it ... so I bought the thing and put a bit of money into it,” he says. “But like all cars you restore, you spend a lot of money on them that you never recover.”

That first Renault 5 ownership encounter was in 1991. And as he became more familiar with the models, his collection began to grow. Sprague now has a healthy gathering of three Renault 5s although he did sell one last month. A blue 1983 model is among his current collection.

“It's not the most powerful little car,” he says. “It has a 1289cc, four-cylinder engine with 33.6kW and with that little horsepower, every decimal counts. It also has 86Nm of torque.” Sprague bought his Renault 5 eight years ago and is only the second owner.

“I got it for $1750 with 12 months rego from the day I picked it up. It was a bargain,” he says. The previous female owner imported the model from South Africa when it was first released. She had travelled more than 230,000km in it over the years. “It's very enjoyable, a very easy car to drive and there's a lot of glass in it so you don't feel like you're in a small car,” he says.

And while it has a soft and smooth ride thanks to torsion-bar suspension, Sprague says the downside of that is that it's “roly-poly.” One of the things that attracted Sprague to Renaults was their trend-setting character. The Renault 5 was one of the first cars in the world produced with a plastic bumper bar, something that has become standard on most cars today.

“They kept coming up with things other companies adopted as standard eventually. Keyless entry, too,” he says. The first generation of the Renault 5 was sold between 1972 and 1984 and came onto the market at the right time after the '73 oil crisis. “They were a very good looking little motor car, very economical,” he says.

“Their timing was perfect. It was Renault's first attempt at what they call the super mini.” They were available in Europe in a whole range of engine sizes, from 800cc right up to 1400cc and it was also the basis for the Renault 5 Turbo.

They then brought out the second generation of the car in late 1985 and called it the Super 5. This model went right through to 1996 and was superseded by the Renault Clio. And while they proved to be popular overseas — sold in Europe, South-East Asia, South Africa and North America — they never made it to Australia.

Because of rules at the time, Sprague says Renault would have been forced to charge more than the local Holden of the day, which didn't make it viable for our market. But over the years, people have privately imported Renault 5s into the country. However, Sprague estimates there would only be about 30 to 40 left today. And that means not many people recognise the cars as Renaults.

“Older people know what they are but younger people don't really recognise them,” he says. “They're rare, unusual in this country.” And not many have survived overseas, either. From the 200,000 or so sold in England, he says only 500 remain, mainly due to their poor reputation with rust. Sprague spent $5000 on the paint job and cutting rust out of his blue Renault 5, but acknowledges he probably wouldn't get close to that if he decided to sell it. “If someone gave me $3000 I'd probably be very happy,” he says.

Sprague is toying with selling one of his Renault 5, as three can't fit in the garage and he doesn't get many opportunities to drive them all. And there's also the expense of registering them each year. But the real dilemma is deciding which ones to keep. “Maybe I should let someone else enjoy one of the cars,” he says. “So do I build a bigger garage, or sell one?”

Renault 5


Renault 5


Renault 5


Renault 5


Renault 5



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Renault 5 classic car review

t was in 1972 that the Renault 5 hit the small car market, dominated at the time by the Renault 4 and Citroën's 2 CV. It swiftly carved out a place for itself. More powerful and sexier-looking than its competitors, it asserted itself as "the" small car of the 1970s and 80s. Its high tech and high style were confirmed by high sales of over five million units.

The Renault 5, a new concept in cars.
In the early 1970s, the automobile market was sharply segmented into only three classes of vehicle: big, small and medium-sized. Though all three were generally sturdy and reliable, only big cars could lay claim to comfort, elegance and power.
In 1968 Renault CEO, Pierre Dreyfus, sensed the market was ripe for a new concept in small cars. He envisioned a vehicle which was as robust as the 2 CV and Renault 4, but more stylish and faster on the open road. The concept was dubbed "Project 122", and was to give birth to the Renault 5. Designers, graphic artists and engineers went to work.

They soon determined the basic blueprint: a stubby bonnet, two long side doors, a full-size tailgate down to the rear bumper, large windows, and rounded lines. The Renault 5 would revolutionize the market by marrying seemingly opposing features. Practical yet stylish, compact yet spacious, it was both good on the open road and streetwise in built-up areas. The Renault 5 was a car that reconciled opposites in a miracle recipe of many ingredients. Its body was built on a crushproof central structure. Its two long doors with embedded handles lent it sleekness. Its spacious boot boasted 270 dm3 of stowage space, which could be more than tripled to 900 dm3 when the back seats were folded down. All at an affordable price.

Its technological advances related mainly to engine power. Although more powerful with its new camshaft and/or greater capacity, the baseline Renault 5's powertrain was modeled on the Renault 4L's engine, in turn derived from the 4CV's. It also boasted new safety features. The front of the car collapsed on impact, so affording the central passenger cabin full protection.

Inside:
The Renault 5 was positioned as the antithesis of the bourgeois car. Its style was youthful and groovy. It had a stowage box instead of a glove compartment and rush-like compressed fiber roof padding instead of fake velour. The instrument panel housing dials and indicator lights was square. The vehicle's interior colours were vivid - greens, oranges and even bright red. Plastic was proud to be plastic and no longer sought to imitate leather.

Renault 5 Successful launch
The launch campaign targeted a range of motorists: buyers of affordable vehicles (the Renault 5 was a small car, after all), young people, city dwellers and women. To hit home, adverts depicted the Renault 5 as a cartoon character, "Supercar". Never before had a motor vehicle been likened to a person who talked and had smiling eyes. The cute and chummy Renault 5 wooed and won the public at large.

Instant commercial success
By the end of the year 1972 the Renault 5 had already secured a 5% share of the French automobile market. Two years later in the wake of the first oil crisis which sent shockwaves through the global market, it clinched top spot with 11% of sales. Its low fuel consumption struck a chord with consumers. Already number two in Europe that year, it was number one by 1977. And when the five-door hatchback hit the market, the Renault 5 became the world's second most widely sold car.













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Schloss Bensberg Classics Concours d'Elegance and Historic Rally: Over 100 High-Res Photos

This past weekend (September 25-27, 2009) marked the premiere of the first Schloss Bensberg Classics automobile show, which took place in Cologne, Germany at the Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg, an 18th century castle that has been converted into a luxury hotel since 2000. The three day event, which was sponsored among others by the Volkswagen Group, included a Concours d'Elegance competition day for classic cars and concept models as well as a Historic Rally along the roads of the Bergisches Land in North Rhine-Westphalia for vehicles built up until 1979.

The 1st Schloss Bensberg Classics Concours d'Elégance saw an array of production and prototype models making their way to Germany spanning from pre-war models such as the Bugatti 57SC Atlantic to 1960s and 1970s exotics and concept cars like the Lancia HF Stratos and Italdesign's 1973 Audi Karmann Asso Di Picche coupe that's pictured above as well as more modern prototypes including the Lamborghini Estoque and Cadillac Sixteen (V16).

Photos copyright UP / VW

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