The
Renault 21 is a
large family carA large family car, also known as a D-segment car, is a European automobile classification which is larger than a small family car and smaller than an executive car. Multi-purpose vehicles based on a large family car design are often called large MPVs, while similarly-priced models from luxury car...
produced by French automaker
RenaultRenault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
between 1986 and 1994. It was also sold in
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
through
American MotorsAmerican Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.George W...
(AMC) dealers as the
Renault Medallion and the
Eagle MedallionThe Eagle Medallion was a rebadged and re-engineered North American version of the French Renault 21. While the cars were built on the same platform, the French market 21 and the American market Medallion differed in features, powertrain availability, frontal styling, and trims...
. It was produced 2 096 000 units.
The Renault 21 sedan was launched in early 1986 as the successor to the extremely successful
Renault 18The Renault 18 is a large family car produced by French manufacturer Renault between 1978 and 1993 .-Development:...
, and this was followed a few months later by the seven-seater
station wagonA station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
21 Nevada (known as the Savanna in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), a rival for the Peugeot 505 Family Estate.
Unusually, the Renault 21 was offered with disparate engine configurations. The 1.7 litre version featured an 'east-west' (transversely) mounted engine, but Renault had no gearbox suitable for a more powerful transverse engine: accordingly, faster versions featured longitudinally mounted (north south) engines. The two versions featured (barely perceptibly) different wheel bases: the engines were all relatively compact four cylinder units and the engine bay was large enough to accept either configuration without reducing passenger space. However, at a time when production technologies were relatively inflexible, the need to assemble differently configured engine bays on a single production line, along with the supplementary inventory requirements imposed both on Renault and on the dealership network, did compromise the Renault 21's profitability
Design
In 1986, the R21 was launched. It had a razor-like design, which was different from contemporary cars of the era, e.g. the
Ford SierraThe Ford Sierra is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....
(with its "jelly mould" design) and the
Opel AsconaThe Opel Ascona was a mid-sized car produced by Opel. It had three generations produced from 1970 to 1988. In motorsport, the Ascona 400 rally car driven by Walter Röhrl won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in the 1982 season....
(with its
J-CarThe J platform, or J-body, was General Motors' inexpensive front-wheel drive automobile platform from the 1980s and 1990s. The platform replaced the GM H platform. The J-platform is the only platform of GM to have a model in each of its "Original 5" passenger car divisions...
design).
The car was revamped considerably in 1989, both technically and aesthetically - the new sleeker outward appearance was similar to the also recently revamped
Renault 25The Renault 25 is an executive car produced by the French automaker Renault from 1983 to 1992. During its time, the 25 was Renault's flagship, the most expensive, prestigious, and largest vehicle in the company's line-up. It placed second in the 1985 European Car of the Year contest...
, and a liftback body style was also added to the range (which soon became more popular than the sedan in France) along with a sporty 2.0 L
TurboA turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...
version. The TXi 2.0l 12v and 2.0l turbo was also available with the
four wheel driveThe Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive or just FWD, was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, as the Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich.-History:...
Quadra transmission, and was capable of 227 km/h.
The Renault 21 liftback and sedan petrol-fueled models ceased production in early 1994 on the launch of the all-new
LagunaThe Renault Laguna is a large family car produced by the French manufacturer Renault. The first Laguna was launched in 1993, the second generation was launched in 2000, and the third generation was made available for sale in October 2007....
liftback, but the diesels and the Nevada (Savanna in the UK) remained on the market until their replacement
LagunaThe Renault Laguna is a large family car produced by the French manufacturer Renault. The first Laguna was launched in 1993, the second generation was launched in 2000, and the third generation was made available for sale in October 2007....
variants were launched (late 1994 for the diesels and late 1995 for the Nevada (Savanna)).
Other markets
The 21 also continued production in
ArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
for some years after its European demise. The 21 was crafted in Argentina, at the
Santa IsabelSanta Isabel is the Spanish and Portuguese name of one of two Roman Catholic saints, Saint Isabel of France and Saint Isabel of Aragon. Various places have been named for either of such persons. These include: Argentina:...
(Cordoba) Renault facility since late 1988 until early 1996.
All three body styles have been built there: liftback, sedan and Nevada (
station wagonA station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
). It has been equipped with both petrol and diesel engines. The only petrol engine available was the 2.2 litre 8-valve (carburettor for the starting production, injection for the later models), and the only diesel engine available was the 2.1 litre. Both engines were available for the three body versions.
R21's were manufactured in Turkey in early 1990s under the name Optima (entry model), Manager (later Manager 2000 with 2-litre engine), and (top of the line) Concorde.
The R21 was also sold in
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
for a brief period as the Medallion, with the 2.2-litre engine being the only powerplant. However, the car was only on sale for a few months in 1987 before Renault sold its investment in
American MotorsAmerican Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.George W...
(AMC) to
Chrysler Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
.
AMC dealers were now under a newly formed
Jeep-EagleJeep-Eagle was the name of the automobile sales division created by the Chrysler after the US$2 billion takeover of American Motors in 1987...
Division of Chrysler, and continued to sell the car under the name Eagle Medallion until 1989.
The 21 was launched in Colombia in late 1987 with 2.0L longitudinal engine. Unfortunately warranty problems with cooling system, front suspension, and power steering compromise the 21's brand. Problems were difficult to solve for Renault and SOFASA (Colombia's assembly plan for Renault). The 21's reputation for Colombian customers was destroyed from since, even making Phase II being sold as the Renault Etoile in Colombia between 1990 and 1995.
Engines
- 1.4 L (1397 cc) petrol SOHC 8-valve I4; 68 PS; top speed: 165 kilometre per hour (Turkish development from C series block, called C2J, also available in Portugal and Yugoslavia)
- 1.4 L (1397 cc) petrol OHV 8-valve I4; 70 PS; top speed: 168 kilometre per hour
- 1.6 L (1565 cc) petrol SOHC 8-valve I4; 73 PS; top speed: 165 kilometre per hour; 0–100 km/h: 12.0 s (Argentinian development from C-series block, called C2L, available in Argentina and Colombia)
- 1.7 L (1721 cc) petrol SOHC 8-valve I4 carb.; 76 PS; top speed: 173 kilometre per hour; 0–100 km/h: 12.0 s (Available in TL and TLE models)
- 1.7 L (1721 cc) petrol SOHC 8-valve I4 SPI; 75 PS; top speed: 172 kilometre per hour; 0–100 km/h: 12.5 s
- 1.7 L (1721 cc) petrol SOHC 8-valve I4 carb.; 90 PS; top speed: 185 kilometre per hour; 0–100 km/h: 10.7 s (Available in TS, RS, GTS and TSE models)
- 1.7 L (1721 cc) petrol SOHC 8-valve I4 carb.; 88 PS; top speed: 181 kilometre per hour
- 1.7 L (1721 cc) petrol SOHC 8-valve I4 MPI; 95 PS; top speed: 185 kilometre per hour; 0–100 km/h: 10.7 s
- 1.9 L (1870 cc) diesel SOHC 8-valve I4; 65 PS; top speed: 160 kilometre per hour; 0–100 km/h: 16.0 s (available in SD and GSD models)
- 2.0 L (1995 cc) petrol SOHC 8-valve I4 MPI; 135 PS; top speed: 220 kilometre per hour; 0–100 km/h: 10.9 s (Available in GTX and TXE models)
- 2.0 L (1995 cc) petrol SOHC 12-valve I4; 136 PS; top speed: 230 kilometre per hour ; 0–100 km/h: 9.2 s (available in the TXi and TXi Quadra models)
- 2.0 L (1995 cc) petrol SOHC 8-valve I4 MPI turbo; 175 PS; top speed: 227 kilometre per hour; 0–100 km/h: 7.2 s (available in Turbo and Turbo Quadra models).
- 2.0 L (1995 cc) petrol SOHC 8-valve I4 MPI turbo; 175 PS; top speed: 217 kilometre per hour; 0–100 km/h: 8.6 s
- 2.1 L (2068 cc) diesel SOHC 8-valve I4; 67 PS; top speed: 164 kilometre per hour ; 0–100 km/h: 15.6 s (available in TD and GTD models)
- 2.1 L (2068 cc) diesel SOHC 8-valve I4; 73 PS; top speed: 170 kilometre per hour ; 0–100 km/h: 15.1 s
- 2.1 L (2068 cc) diesel SOHC 8-valve I4 turbo; 88 PS; top speed: 177 kilometre per hour ; 0–100 km/h: 11.8 s
- 2.2 L (2165 cc) petrol SOHC 8-valve I4 MPI; 110 PS; top speed: 192 kilometre per hour ; 0–100 km/h: 9.9 s
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