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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), is a hatchback economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 1961 and 1994. It was the first front-wheel drive family car produced by Renault.
History
The Renault 4 was Renault's response to the 1948 Citroën 2CV. Renault was able to review the pluses and minuses of the 2CV design and come up with a larger, more urban vehicle.
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Encyclopedia
The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle", which could be heard as "4 wings" in French), is a hatchback economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 1961 and 1994. It was the first front-wheel drive family car produced by Renault.
History
The Renault 4 was Renault's response to the 1948 Citroën 2CV. Renault was able to review the pluses 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.
Early versions used engines and transmissions from the Renault 4CV. The initial transmission was a 3-speed manual, an obsolete feature when compared to the four-speed manual of the thirteen-year old Citroën 2CV. Like the 4CV, the R4 body was bolted on to a chassis. However, the body had a structural role and the chassis could twist if the body was removed without proper shoring. 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. A 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 suspension using transverse torsion bars, and didn't affect the handling of the car. The front torsion bars were longitudinal. The longitudinal layout of the front wheel drive engine and transmission with engine behind the front axle, and gearbox/differential in front is identical to the Citroën Traction Avant. The suspension is also very similar, the only difference, being the deletion of the Citroen's flexible beam between the rear wheels, to give the Renault 4 fully independent rear suspension. This is ironic as Louis Renault (industrialist), the company's founder, (removed in 1944 for collaboration in the Second World War, when the company was nationalised), was the harshest critic of the Traction at the time of its launch in the 1930s.
During its production run the R4 was regarded as a tiny estate car, but in retrospect the car clearly popularized the hatchback body style, and is therefore significant in the history of car design. It was not the first, however, to introduce a top-hinged single-unit tailgate, one of the distinguishing features of the hatchback body style: both the earlier Citroën Traction Avant Commerciale and the Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk1 had top-hinged tailgates.
Around the world
- In Colombia, the car was one of the most sold, and remained in the memory of many Colombians, it was nicknamed "" (Faithful friend) and was manufactured in the SOFASA plant in Envigado (a city near Medellín) from 1970 to 1992. Two of the most popular versions included the Master (1022 cc) and the Líder (Leader), with a more powerful 1300 cc engine.
- In Argentina and Chile the 4 Panel is known as "Renoleta", following the nickname given to the Citroën 2CV Panel, "Citroneta". Due to heavy taxation on passenger vehicles in the late 50s, the first 2CV were imported unfinished, only up to the front doors and completed with an Argentine-made pickup truck bed. The Spanish word for pickup truck is "camioneta", hence "Renoleta".
- In Italy the 4 was produced by Alfa Romeo factory in Milan under license in 1962 until 1964, 41809 R4´s were built
- In Australia the car was produced between 1962-1966 in Heidelberg but ceased production for make way others models
- In Mexico, Renault 4 was produced in Ciudad Sahagun, a industrial city created between DINA and Renault in the fifties, the Renault production ceased in 1971.
- In Ireland the car was produced in two plants, the first establishied in 1962 in Naas, and the other establishied in Wexford in 1972, the production running until 1984.
Design
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 small 425 cc (later 602 cc 29 hp), engine in the 2CV. The R4 always had a four-cylinder watercooled engine. The original engine's capacity of 747 cc was increased to 845 cc from 1963 onwards (for some variants). In 1978, a new 1108 cc engine was introduced, a smaller version (956 cc) of which replaced the 845 cc 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 hood and hinge alterations.
Despite the runaway success of the Renault 4, or perhaps as a result of it, Renault directed a lot of effort into 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 competed in a different sector (three- and five-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 lent the Renault 4 a softer, more fluid ride than many modern cars) and a habitable interior due to comfortable seats, 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.
Another detail 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. It passed over the longitudinal engine and clutch to the gearbox at the front. Though unconventional and criticised by conservative motoring journalists, the dash-mounted gear lever was easy to use and left more interior space free.
Variants
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 4x4, the Plein Air, a pickup truck, LPG versions and electric versions.
In 1978, the R4 GTL arrived. It had the 1108 cc engine from the Renault 6 TL, albeit with the performance reduced for better economy, and bigger drum brakes. The GTL was identifiable by its grey front grille, grey bumpers, and grey rubber strips along the bottoms of the doors. It also had an extra air intake below the front grille (as a result, the registration plate was moved down to the bumper), and 12 inch (304.8 mm) wiper blades instead of the original 10 inch (254 mm) ones. Inside, there was a modified dashboard and cloth seats.
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 R5.
In 1989, SOFASA produced the variants Brisa (Breeze) which was based on the French Plein Air as well as the Jogging, which was marketed as a sportier version of the car and featured red accessories.
End of the R4
Though reasons such as emissions and safety legislation are often given for the Renault 4's demise, its popularity would not have lasted anyway. Outmoded production methods, more advanced competition and the reasons outlined above meant that the Renault 4's 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 22 years later. 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 International Advertising Festival.
To bring 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 called DAMD came up with a design called the , which could transform a Suzuki Lapin into a Renault 4 lookalike.
In pop culture
The Renault 4 is in the background of numerous films due to its omnipresence, but it has had special roles in the films Trafic, Braddock: Missing in Action III, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, 102 Dalmatians, Romancing the Stone, Let's Get Harry, Laws of Attraction, Where Eskimos Live, The Nephew and Team America: World Police.
Pierce Brosnan and Bryan Ferry are said to be fans of the Renault 4. The Renault 4 has featured in two of Pierce Brosnan's films.
The Chicken Song by Spitting Image included the lines "Eat a Renault 4 / Wear salami in your ears". A Renault 4 is also shown in the video to 'Born to teach Woodwork' At the point where Bruce Springstien says born to drive a Renault.
Today the Renault 4 is a cult object, one which originally brought many innovative concepts to the mass market.
In racing
The Renault 4 was originally powered by a 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 four-wheel drive version) was entered in the Paris-Dakar Rally 1979 by Bernard and Claude Marreau and came in third, it was also popular as a police car in mountainous areas such as Corsica.
The Renault 4 GTL was homologated in Group A. Jacky Cesbron raced one in the Monte-Carlo rally in 1993 and the Tour de Corse in 1991. Pinto dos Santos raced a Group N 4 GTL in visiting every round of the WRC though not all during the same season.
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.
In Colombia, Peter Goldring modified an 1400 engine from an R18 with and installed it in an R4, that reached a max speed of at 7600 rpm. This R4 has been called the "world's fastest R4"
The Dutch automobilemagazine Autoweek joined the The Peking To Paris Motor Challenge in 2007 with a Renault 4.
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