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  • Renault 4CV (1947 - 1961) (Classics Reviews)
    The Renault 4CV is as much a french icon as the Citroen 2CV - and it's certainly as important, even if its rear-engined layout eventually proved to be an engineering dead-end. In its 14-year production run, more than one million 4CVs were built, which significantly assisted the French working class in getting mobilised.
  • Renault Fregate (1951 - 1960) (Classics Reviews)
    The Renault Fregate was introduced to meet the demand for larger, prestige cars as it started to pick up in France during the early 1950s as the country started to fully recover from the effects of WW2. The Fregate was a large unitary construction car plenty of interior space and reasonable levels of luxury.
  • Renault Corale Prairie (1951 - 1955) (Classics Reviews)
    The Renault Colare Prairie might have sounded exciting, but it was actually rather mundane – it was introduced in 1951 to fill a gap in the Renault range. It was a stopgap estate car cobbled togther from components in the Renault parts bin to sit alongside the large Fregate saloon until an estate version of that car subsequently appeared in 1955.
  • Renault Dauphine (1956 - 1967) (Classics Reviews)
    The Dauphine saw the arrival of the 40bhp Gordini, and the 49bhp racing-striped 1093cc Rallye model - paving the way for brilliant fast Renaults for years to come.
  • Renault 4 (1961 - 1992) (Classics Reviews)
    As well as the five-door hatchback, there was also a van, 4x4 and a beach car known as the Plein Air. Look out also for the short-lived, stripped-out and utterly charming basic model known as the Renault 3.
  • Renault 8 (1962 - 1972) (Classics Reviews)
    The Renault 8 was introduced in June 1962, and was closely related to the Dauphine. It shared the older car's rear-engined layout and underpinnings - and the big giveaway to the R8's origins were that despite being longer than the Dauphine, it shared the same 2270mm wheelbase.
  • Renault Caravelle (1962 - 1968) (Classics Reviews)
    The Renault Caravelle was an uprated and facelifted rear-engined Floride. Renault did the simple thing, and applied the name the Floride always went by in the USA. To distinguish new from old, the Floride included smaller chrome strips, and lost its trim from around the air vents.
  • Renault 16 (1965 - 1979) (Classics Reviews)
    The Renault 16 was an innovative and interesting middle-class family car that proved that Renault's front-wheel drive concept pioneered in the 4 could be scaled up successfully where the profits were much higher.
  • Renault 12 (1969 - 1980) (Classics Reviews)
    TS and Gordini models were genuine mfun to drive, while the estate version was genuinely capacious. Reskinned to become the Renault 18 in 1978.
  • Renault 5 (1972 - 1984) (Classics Reviews)
    The Renault 5 was designer Michel Boué’s legacy to the automotive world. Tragically, he would never see his labours bear fruit, dying mere months before the Renault 5 was launched in December 1971.
  • Renault 15 and 17 (1972 - 1980) (Classics Reviews)
    The existence of the Renault 15 and 17 is attributable to the success of the Ford Capri. Once it became clear that Ford's Euro-sized Pony car was a substantial hit, rival manufacturers founf themselves scrambling to produce rival cars.
  • Renault 20 and 30 (1975 - 1984) (Classics Reviews)
    When the Renault 30TS was launched in March 1975, it was the largest engine from the French manufacturer since WW2. The 2.7-litre PRV-powered five-door hatchback was a deliberate move upmarket that proved to be spectacularly mis-timed, thanks to the after-effects of the 1973 Energy Crisis.
  • Renault 14 (1976 - 1983) (Classics Reviews)
    Although using the Douvrin made for great economic sense and admirable packaging, Renault dealers despised what they saw as being a half-breed powered by a Peugeot engine. Customers also failed to warm to the R14's idiosyncratic styling, and the pundits soon christened it with the unflattering name of the ‘rotten pear’ – which tells you all you need to know.
  • Renault 5 Gordini and Gordini Turbo (1976 - 1984) (Classics Reviews)
    It remained a solid seller until the end of the original Renault 5 in 1984 - what followed was considerably hotter.
  • Renault 18 (1978 - 1987) (Classics Reviews)
    Surprisingly, the 18 was the first mainstream Renault to be offered with forced induction, and proved quite popular for a while. Few survive now; and even fewer are cherished.
  • Renault Fuego (1980 - 1986) (Classics Reviews)
    Renault stopped importing the Fuego into Great Britain in 1986.
  • Renault 5 Turbo and Turbo 2 (1980 - 1986) (Classics Reviews)
    But when making its mid-engined turbocharged challenger, for marketing purposes Renault needed it to at least resemble a car you could buy in the showroom. Hence it looking like a 5. The first 400 Renault 5 Turbos were built in-line with Group 4 regulations, but to build more of these homologation specials, it would have cost Renault too much money.
  • Renault 9 and 11 (1981 - 1988) (Classics Reviews)
    The Renault 9 and 11 were an attempt by the company to build a conventional range of cars with true international appeal - hopefully banishing memories of the quirky and hard to sell 14. The four-door R9 saloon arrived first in late 1981, and promptly won the European Car of The Year award - but despite this, it was an anonymous effort that had gone down in history in representing one of Renault's fallow periods.
  • Renault 25 (1983 - 1992) (Classics Reviews)
    The Renault 25 was an impressive executive car offering following on from the plain-Jane 20/30 - and it was designed to appeal in export markets as well as in its home country. The styling was an interesting mix of old and new, with a highly aerodynamic body and Fuego-style wraparound rear window.
  • Renault Espace (1984 - 1991) (Classics Reviews)
    After more than ten years, the model finally comes to market in 1984 (1985 in the UK) as the Renault Espace. It's a multi-purpose vehicle and has a glassfibre body based on a galvanized (although it still rusts) steel spaceframe. Powered by the Renault Douvrin engine it's a basic affair with little choice in spec or engines.
 

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