Renault 4

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The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle", which could be heard as "4 wings" in French), was an automobile produced by the French Renault manufacturer between 1961 and 1993. It was the first front wheel drive Renault.

The Renault 4 was Renault's response to the 1948 Citroën 2CV. Renault was able to review the plusses and minuses of the 2CV design and come up with a larger, more urban vehicle. In the spring of 1956, Renault Chairman Pierre Dreyfus launched this new project: designing a new model to replace the rear engined 4CV that would become an everyman's car, capable of satisfying the needs of anybody. It would be a family car, a woman's car, a farmer's car, a city car. It would also be suitable for motorists around the world.

The production Renault 4 was finally revealed at the Paris Salon de l'Automobile in 1961, in the L version (L for Luxe), hence the popular name 4L.

Early versions used engines and gearbox from the Renault 4CV. The gearbox initially had only three speeds, an obsolete feature when compared to the four-speed gearbox of the thirteen-year old Citroën 2CV. Like the 2CV, the R4 body was bolted on to a chassis. This semi-monocoque construction would later allow Renault to build other models on the R4 platform like the Renault 6 and the successful Renault 5. The R4 had four wheel independent suspension. One of the most surprising, yet often unnoticed feature on the R4 is its shorter wheelbase on the left than on the right. This allowed a very simple design of the rear torsion bar suspension and didn't affect the handling of the car. The Renault 4 is generally accepted as having pioneered the hatchback body style, and is therefore significant in the history of car design.

While never achieving the same cult appeal as the Citroën 2CV, the R4 was the most successful French car of all time, with 8 million units being produced between 1961 and 1993. RHD market sales of the 4 Sedan ended in 1985, but LHD production and European sales continued until 1993, when the R4 was finally shelved.

Though the Renault 4 had a long production run, development of the design was limited - it never changed size or shape. The engines were significantly larger than the tiny 425cc motor in the 2CV. The R4 always had a four cylinder watercooled motor. The original engine's capacity of 782 cc was increased to 845cc from 1963 on. In 1978, a new 1108cc engine was introduced, a smaller version (956cc) of which replaced the 845cc engine in 1986. Chrome trim was eventually phased out on all models and aluminium grilles were replaced with plastic items. There were three different dashboards, all of which were simple in design. Changes to the body panels amounted to nothing more than a slightly altered bonnet and hinge alterations.

Despite the runaway success of the Renault 4, or perhaps as a result of it, Renault directed a lot of effort developing its small cars. They designed the Renault 6 and the Renault 5 while the Renault 4 was still selling extremely well. Some criticised this at the time, but the Renault 5 competeed in a different sector (3 door supermini). The Renault 4 is thus a bridge between the small utility vehicle (2CV) and the supermini design (R5, Peugeot 205).

The Renault 4 remained an extremely basic car throughout its life, and development never extended to making the design any less simple or spartan. However in spite of its basic design, the Renault 4 had an extremely comfortable ride due to well-designed suspension (which lended the Renault 4 a softer, more fluid ride than many modern cars) and a habitable interior due to comfortable seats and powerful heater and effective ventilation. However the windows lacked winding mechanisms and instead used sliding mechanisms. To some this gave the Renault 4 character but to many others, it was just annoying and a tell-tale sign of the age of the design.

Other details which made the Renault 4 different from other cars was the gear lever which was on the dashboard. This was an effective means of creating a flat floor using a simple design borrowed from the 2CV. Though unconventional and criticised by conservative motoring journalists, the dash-mounted gear lever was easy to use and left more interior space free.

There were many different 'special edition' Renault 4s. Some (including the Safari, Sixties and Jogging) were sold in special colour schemes, upholstery and other details, while others (Clan, Savane) were really nothing more than standard models with decals.

There were also special models which were not solely a marketing exercise such as the Renault 4 Sinpar 4 X 4, the Plein Air, the Pick-up, LPG versions and electric versions.

There was also a panel van version of the R4, which with its "high cube" bodyshell became the idiosyncratic French "Boulangerie" van. For many years, this was surely the most successful vehicle of its type and for many people it represents their idea of a Renault 4 more than the passenger version. It remained on sale in Europe until 1993 and was replaced by the Renault Express, based on the Phase 2 R5.

Though reasons such as emissions and safety legislation are often given for the Renault 4's demise, the Renault 4's popularity would not have lasted anyway. [1] Outmoded production methods, more advanced competition and the reasons outlined above meant that the Renault 4 days were numbered, at least as a mainstream product. In any case, projects to replace the Renault 4 had been in development since the early seventies. However the continuing success of the Renault 4, the need to replace the Renault 5, the difficulties coming up with a suitable replacement (and the idea that the Renault 4's market would die with it) all meant that the Renault 4's replacement did not appear until twenty-two years later. [2] When the Renault 4 finally went out of production in the early nineties, a retrospective series of ten black and white photographs by Thierry des Ouches was published in Libération in early December 1992. This series later won first prize from Le Club des Directeur Artistiques in the category of daily newspaper. It was also award the lion d'or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Image:R4liberation.jpg

To bring the Renault 4 production to an end, a series of the last 1000 Renault 4 "Bye-Bye" was released, each with a numbered plaque counting down to the last.

In 2003, a Japanese car modification company DAMD, came up with a design called the Ancel Lapin which tranformed the Suzuki Lapin into a Renault 4 lookalike.

Image:Ancellapin.jpg

The Renault 4 is in the background of numerous films due to its omnipresence, but it has had special roles inthe films Rugrats in Paris, Playtime, 102 Dalmations,Romancing the Stone, Let's Get Harry, Laws of Attraction, Where Eskimos live The Nephew and Team america world police.

Pierce Brosnan and Brian Ferry are said to be fans of the Renault 4. The Renault 4 has featured in two of Pierce Brosnan's films.

Today the Renault 4 is a cult object, one which originally brought many innovative concepts to the mass market.

Renault 4s in racing

The Renault 4 was originally powered by a 20hp engine and its suspension was never intended for sporting dynamics, so it should have been no surprise that it came last in the 1962 Monte-Carlo Rally.

However, the Renault 4 had certain advantages in its high torque and a suspension and ground-clearance that gave it go-anywhere capabilities. This meant that Renault was able to give it a sporting image with programmes such as the "Cross Elf Cup of France" in 1974 and the "Routes du Monde" programme in 1968. The latter was a project in which Renault would lend young people cars to travel the world in, and this would help to give the Renault 4 an adventurous and durable image.

The "Coupe de France Renault Cross Elf" was a series of races in France on dirt tracks with slightly tuned 782 cc R4s.

A Renault 4 Sinpar (the 4WD version) was entered in the Paris-Dakar Rally 1979 by Bernard and Claude Marreau and came in third.

The Renault 4 GTL was homologated in Group A. Jacky Cesbron raced one in Monte-Carlo rally 1993 and the Tour de Corse in 1991. Pinto dos Santos raced raced a Group N 4 GTL in the Rally of Portugal and the 1000 Lakes Rally.

The Renault 4 forms the basis of the 4L Trophy. This is an annual Rally which uses only Renault 4s. It is open to students who collect sponsorship and drive to the sahara to deliver educational materials to children of the desert and of Morocco.

External links

• French club
• Renault 4 Website
• Renault 4 Forum

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