Renault Le Car: The Opp & Lock Review

"Jonee" (Jonee) 02/04/2015 at 13:10 • Filed to: Renault Le Car, Crap Car Reviews, Renault 5

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[ Full disclosure: Torch wanted to review my Renault Le Car so badly, he asked if he could and then moved 3,000 miles away. So, I'm through waiting for him to come back and am reviewing it myself because it's my car, what makes you think that Volkswagen-loving mother scratcher would do a better job? ]

Another car I adore that most everyone else in America hated is the infamous Renault Le Car. I'm on my third one now and its one of my pride and joys. Why did everyone hate it? The usual dumb shit Americans complain about with inexpensive, small cars. We'll go over some of them here and I'll explain why the Le Car was revolutionary and wonderful and its reception here was a crock.

The Le Car was what the rest of the world knew as the Renault 5, which was the hugely successful follow-up to the beloved Renault 4. Where they got their naming conventions is a mystery for the ages and we won't dwell on it here. Renault had been in America for years, but always had a spotty dealer network of random lots that sold whatever imports they could get their hands on.

So, in the 70's, they bought a controlling interest in plucky underdog American Motors to get their cars in AMC showrooms.

The 5 was actually called the "5" when it first arrived on these shores in late 1975, but that was apparently confusing to people who I guess thought they had bought an actual "5" and were then handed the keys to a car.

To combat this, the geniuses in AMC's marketing department came up with "Le Car" which means "The Car" in French only the French word for car is really " voiture ," but, again, Americans are morons and " Le " is all the French we can handle at any one time. They plastered the name in big letters on the sides of the cars to really hammer home what the little contraption was. Now that people knew it was a car that was on sale, they were ready to fly out the door.

Here's some background. One of the all-time car importing boondoggles was the tangled Renault Dauphine affair. The Dauphine was the replacement for the 4CV (which they kept making anyway) and built to be a Beetle killer starting in the mid-50's. It was small, cheap, rear-engined, and underpowered. It's three box design was more conventionally car shaped than the Beetle and is as cute as a button.

In typical French fashion, it has a little more flair, but none of the dependability of a VW. It used the 4CV's motor boosted to a screaming 32 horsepower, but you could get a Gordini tuned 37 hp one. Renault spent 5 years developing every aspect of it and thought the car was going to be hot. They even said so in the ads. And in Europe and elsewhere it was a big seller. Not quite the Beetle, but during its 11 year lifespan, 2.1 million Dauphines were built and sold around the world. Unfortunately, in America, they were as hot as the Archbishop of Nome, Alaska's balls. My mom actually bought one back in the day and I asked her what it was like and she said, "Terrible. The inside door handle kept falling off." I asked if it ran okay and she said that "it ran fine. Slow, but it never broke down or anything. It was just so cheap. The inside door handle kept falling off." So, for want of better fasteners on their door handles, Renault lost buckets of money exporting Dauphines to the U.S. Apparently everyone who took them for a test drive remained trapped in the cars, preventing them from ever being sold to anyone at all. They were crushed with the skeletons still inside clutching broken door handles in vain. In reality, they sold okay at first, so Renault flooded the market with them just in time for people to discover that they didn't hold up all that well under driving conditions in the United States.

They corroded and more than just door handles rained from Dauphines like car part filled piñatas. Sales plummeted. Famously, in 1959, two shiploads of Dauphines were turned back while en route to New York because the port there was already full of the things rusting away. It had arrived just a little too late, and was a little too fragile in the hands of American drivers to compete with the Volkswagen. (One of my personal favorite Car Talk memories is turning it on mid-show once and hearing, "…yes, the Renault Dauphine was the absolute worst car ever sold in America." They then moved on to something else, but I can only imagine how those guys must have ripped that car.)

Renault kept sending automobiles over the Atlantic and sold some R8's and R10's, but the Dauphine stink remained. Renaults were quirky, cheap, unreliable things weirdos drove. And, that's the environment the Le Car was introduced to. Only now they had AMC's miserable reputation added to it.

So, what's the big deal with the Le Car? It's just another cheap shitbox people hated. Didn't you say it was revolutionary? Yes, look at it. It's shaped like the Rabbit, Dodge Omni and a hundred other little shitbox hatchbacks, you say. But, the Renault was the first. It was the shitbox all other shitboxes followed. It really was a revolutionary and totally modern design that was an ingenious package for its time. Renault had a long, proud history selling affordable cars culminating with the 4CV which helped put France back on wheels after WWII. Citroen's strange and sexy cars like the 2CV and DS get all the attention, but Renault always did the French auto industry's dirty work, building cars average people could really use. The 5 was designed in 1967 by Michel Boué, a young assistant in Renault's design department, on a lark. Renault wasn't planning on developing a new small car, but they knew instantly this was something special. At first, it was just an outline quickly drawn over a photo of a 4 that Boué would tweak in his spare time. Unlike the carefully developed Dauphine, after some fleshing out, it went pretty much from design rendering to production.

Seriously. The guys at Renault took one look at the drawing and said, " Mon dieu! " And a couple months later they had a full-sized mockup. No focus groups. No board meetings. They liked it, they made it, and it worked.

Now, that may sound funny to you and me since it's just a little square car like we've seen a billion times, big whoop, but when you look at the low-priced offerings people were driving before then, you see why it was so striking. The 4CV was dainty and primitive.

The 4 was awkwardly utilitarian and kind of looks like it was designed by surrealists as an exquisite corpse.

But, the 5 was clean and cool. Mechanically, it was basic, with engines from other Renaults and the transmission out of the 4. But, its monocoque body with, for the first time on a car ever, flush plastic bumpers was like a space pod from the year 9000 to the australopithecusses living in 1972 when it debuted.

It was exactly what everyone wanted and was an instant sensation. It came in bright colors and was hip, chic, affordable, and amazingly practical. The hatch is big, and when you put the seats down, it becomes like the Tardis. It'll swallow almost anything.

It also came out just as the oil crises of the 70's started to hit, so its timing was impeccable. People were downsizing and here was this nice, new, thrifty little car. By 1975 over a million had been sold and Renault execs drunk on its success looked at the great big North America shaped hole on their sales map and said, "what do we have to lose?" But, imitators like the Rabbit and Civic had beaten it here, and Americans were all, "they still make cars in France?" I find it typically American that we looked at something the rest of the world found to be an innovative piece of economical transportation and laughed at and mocked it. Because that's what happened. It was Le Joke. People thought it was too tiny, the tires were too narrow, the layout of the controls was weird, it had a stupid name. These are the same people who went on to buy Chevettes and Pintos like they were made of pornography. Unlike those cars, the Renault 5 was designed as a small car. It wasn't a big car shrunk down and minimized. Unfortunately, as with the Dauphine, it liked salted roads as much as a banana slug, but show me a 70's car that didn't rust and I'll let you sleep with my wife, Charlize Theron. It was still really cheap, so they did sell enough to those without shame who just buy the lowest priced thing available like my father when he brought home a "Sears Video Arcade" instead of the fucking Intellivision I asked for. The Le Car managed to hang around until 1984. 3 years later, Renault cashed out their AMC stake and fled America never to be seen or heard from again, not that anyone's really noticed. As a final fuck you, they gave us the Fuego.

Everywhere else, people kept on buying them. It was so popular that when Renault developed a technologically all new replacement, they made it look almost exactly like the old 5 and called it the Super 5.

By the time that one was retired in 1996, more than 9.2 million 5's and Super 5's had rolled out of Renault's factories making it one of the all time great people's cars. There were, of course, the souped-up ones, the Alpine and absurd R5 Turbo, but I don't have all day and you know all about those anyway because FAST THINGS GOOD. ME LIKE POWER!

I am reviewing my 1978 Americanized Le Car version only since this is America and I've never driven a foreign one.

Exterior - 10/10

I've heard them described as ugly, but that makes no sense. It's a crisp, clean box with a slanted back that you can open up to put your stuff inside. What's the problem? I actually like the early U.S. spec ones with the cute round eyes, but most people seem to think they're dorky and that the later, Euro-style square headlights are so much better. Most people view things though an anal membrane. The cute ones win.

Gearbox - 4/5

It's fine. It's French, so there's a twist, of course. The shifting motion isn't straight back and forth, you kind of go at an angle as illustrated on the knob. This is no big deal, so don't start screaming, "that's so stupid!" No it isn't. You won't even notice it. That's just the way the thing is set up. Unbunch your panties. The throw is short enough to seem quick. Shifting isn't all that precise, but I've shifted worse. I mean, it's not a fucking Ferrari, all right? What do you want from the poor thing? Besides, Ferraris use a gated shifter. Isn't that cheating? Of course it shifts into gear easily, there's a piece of metal there forcing you into the right slot. Sorry, car, if I think 3rd gear should be over there, I'm going over there and 3rd gear better follow me. Has anyone ever tried removing the gate? Not so precise now, is it, asshole? The Le Car's got 4 gears and it would be nice if it had a 5th, but it's an economy car and gears don't just magically appear in blocks of fromage .

Reliability - 7/7

Did I mention it's French? But, you know, mine have been quite dependable. I've had to do work to them, sure, but they're going on 40 years old. Once I replaced shit that was busted from age, they've always run like tops. It takes some carb finagling to get them to pass smog sometimes, but I've gotten them through. And, who doesn't need a little practice adjusting a carburetor now and again? I've had people tell me who owned them back in the day that they were pretty trouble free. Did they have a reputation of being reliable? No. They were cheap, stuff broke. They were French, people didn't know how to fix them. Especially not the guys at the dealership who were used to working on the rudimentary drivetrains in AMC's. But, millions of people around the world drove them in every condition imaginable, so it was clearly a durable little car.

Safety - N/A

Uh, I remember kids in school calling them Le Coffin. What if they had put that on the door? How badass would that have been? You'd drive a Le Coffin, wouldn't you, tough guy?

Interior - 11/11

Hey, for a cheap car from that era, it's actually pretty nice. Carpets were standard and the seats, although covered in flimsy vinyl, have a pleasant, comfy squishiness that is like sitting on marshmallows floating on a champagne river. Mmmm. That sounds nice. The bubbles tickling your toes. Taking handfuls of marshmallow from your friend's marshmallow floatie and stuffing your face until it can no longer support them and they sink and drown. Stupid friend. Like I said before, for its size, the Le Car is quite roomy. For its size. You still sit shoulder to shoulder with your cabin mate, and you're never going to stuff a Steinway in it, but it's a clever piece of space utilization. It's also got some fun French quirks like the ignition is on the left side of the column, and I dare you to find the hood release. Also, the cup holders are square. Amazingly, though, they provided a little tray next to the steering wheel that is the perfect size and shape for holding an iPhone. That's some Nostradamus level foresight right there. What would a champagne soaked marshmallow taste like?

Handling & Ride - 2 Million

It's an absolute joy to drive this car. No. Shut up. It really is. It's got a longer wheelbase than other cars its size. It's got fully independent suspension. It's got the shockiest of shocks. The French know their suspension and the Le Car is smooth and soft, but not hilariously soft. It's nimble and darty, but with a hint of understeer. The engine is shoved pretty far into the engine bay to make room for the spare tire so the car is quite well balanced. Steering is easy and precise so long as the bushings aren't worn out (they're always worn out).

Toys - ?

I don't know, there's a radio and sometimes they'd put a windshield wiper on the rear window. The whole car cost like 9 dollars new, so what kind of toys do you expect, you greedy dick?

Engine - 9/9

It has a carbureted, smog equipment smothered 1.4 liter making something something the right amount of horsepower. Chill out about the horsepower, ok? It's small and light. It actually does feel peppy if you're not thinking about it. I just keep it floored all the time and laugh with terrible glee dreaming of champagne infused marshmallow lollipop sundaes eaten off a friend's floating cadaver. Fuel economy is 26 city, 40 on the highway.

Horn - Gold Star

Sunroof - Award Winning

The greatest sunroof ever installed on a production automobile. End of story. Period.

Value - Check

It cost $3600 in 1978 which was the same as a Chevette and right in line with its other competitors more or less. But, these were AMC dealerships and those guys were desperate. There was always some rebate or sale and they'd take anything vaguely car shaped as a trade-in. So, you got your money's worth and more. You did have to put gourmet gas in it because that's what they had in Europe and fuck your merde Americain fuel . Of course people poured whatever sludge was cheapest in so they never ran right.

In summary: it's a charming sub-compact filled with charm that will charm the socks off of you if you have a heart. It's fun to drive in that slow car fast way. Like my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , it gets tons of attention. Foreigners will stop you to tell you how their first car was one. Literally every non-American has owned a Renault 5 at some point in their life. They're relatively rare since they were considered disposable so even the coolest of hipster will be jealous before scoffing and telling you they'd rather have a Yugo. And, even though they are rare, no one wants them, so if you do find one it'll be cheap. Plus, it gave us the greatest commercial in the history of humanity.

I know that people will say that I'm crazy and Le Cars were the crappiest pieces of crap ever crapped. And, I know I have a bias for shitty little cars. But, the Renault 5/Le Car is a true classic. Boué's design was visionary. Sadly, he died of cancer in 1971 and never got to see the impact and influence his scribble would have. It's one of the best selling cars ever made and the genesis of all the hot hatches. It's also the perfect stocking stuffer.

It was the real French Beetle in my opinion. As a matter of fact, it was the replacement for the Beetle in most parts of the planet. And people called the Beetle crap all the time. But, it isn't really because crap is never that successful. [Insert your version of Coldplay/Radiohead/Bieber/Zamfir joke here.] Same goes for my Le Car (shown here before I took it apart).

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 13:13

3

Should have been called Renault Le Car: Le Opp & Lock Review

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 13:40

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OMG, THE BROWN!

Justin Hughes > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 02/04/2015 at 13:48

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Now I have to write something and call it the Opp, Lock, and Barrel Review.

Klaus Schmoll > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 14:43

17

My parents fell in love with the Renault 5 in the late 80's. Unfortunately, living in the GDR, getting a real one was impossible, but they managed to get this one for me. My first ever matchbox car! Still have it today as you can see.

Jonee > Klaus Schmoll 02/04/2015 at 14:48

1

Awesome. I have one just like it, but with the "Le Car" decals.

Klaus Schmoll > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 15:00

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Does the "Le Car" version still have the French plates (75 for Paris) from the original moulding?

Jonee > Klaus Schmoll 02/04/2015 at 15:03

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Yes, exactly.

KnowsAboutCars > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 15:48

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Magnifique! Your reviews are great!

BTW did you ever see this post I made some days ago?

Jonee > KnowsAboutCars 02/04/2015 at 15:53

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Thanks! This was a fun one to do.

I did not see that until now. Awesome photo. I'm flattered to have been baited. Now I have to research that beautiful little car, so thank you once again.

KnowsAboutCars > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 15:59

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Good luck! After making few Google searches I'm fairly certain that the newspaper article I linked is the only thing about it online.

tapzz > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 16:26

5

Oh gosh, the second series bubbly foam dashboard. That's your safety right there!

The first series had an even groovier squishy, stripey pattern:

tapzz > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 16:38

4

The one big failing of the 5: those hinges were glued . At least, they were in the factory.

I can still see my eight year old brother's panicky face while he pushed the window to its rubber gasket after it just about fell off.

Other than that, the review is spot on: people bought them as roomy, cheery, practical budget cars, they loved them while they lasted and moved on when the rust got them.

Jonee > tapzz 02/04/2015 at 16:56

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They did start riveting them after 79ish. That one's mine and it's the only one I've had where the glue has held for some reason. So, maybe there were days when there was good glue in the factory. I have found the perfect epoxy/clamp combo to fix them based on much trial and error.

Jonee > tapzz 02/04/2015 at 16:59

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We didn't get that early dash in the U.S. but I like the bubbly one. The next version with the futuristic hard plastic, though, I kind of hate.

Aliens Ate My Buick > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 18:52

5

Sue Sylvester approves.

JohnnyWasASchoolBoy > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 18:56

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"only the French word for car is really " voiture ," but, again, Americans are morons and " Le " is all the French we can handle at any one time. "

Also, voiture is feminine so it would get the article La not Le. It should have been La Car (La voiture).

Gary Yogurt > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 18:59

8

Few photos can get more French.

Viggenfit > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:04

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OMG, what a great article, the Le car Black Beauty edition was my first car. and one of my all-time faves despite having owned two M Roadsters, RX-8, M3, R32, 9-3 Viggen, 9000 Aero and some other enthusiast-ish cars) and having worked for Ferrari, Jag and some others. Quirky, fun, unintentionally thrilling amount of body roll, manual choke, brakes that could put you in a death defying (or not) spin with minimal effort, this car was loaded with character. The mega sunroof was fantastic, almost inspired me to buy a 500 Abarth cabrio (but not quite)...

Hyper1100 > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:06

6

The only car my grandma ever bought. And she bought it new! Went for Beige on Brown interior...
And when I turned 18 she gave it to me. God I loved that car! I have countless stories and memories in it, from bad breakups to amazing sex to trip across France.

Sold it for 500euros when I moved to North America, in 2007.

Viggenfit > Viggenfit 02/04/2015 at 19:08

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And PS — I grew up riding around in a powder blue Renault Dauphine that my grandmother drove (primarily because she wouldn't be caught dead in a German car because ww2).

JJS119 > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:12

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When I was a kid there was a beat up Renault Le Car in the backyard of an old house I would pass on my way to school. I fell in love with it and told myself one day I would have a Le Car of my own. Well, I have yet to have my own but I still love them as much as I did when I was a weird 8 year old kid and my desire to own one has not changed.

JJS119 > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:12

0

When I was a kid there was a beat up Renault Le Car in the backyard of an old house I would pass on my way to school. I fell in love with it and told myself one day I would have a Le Car of my own. Well, I have yet to have my own but I still love them as much as I did when I was a weird 8 year old kid and my desire to own one has not changed.

G42dog > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:14

2

It may only have gotten here in 75, but in Europe it started in 72. The Golf Mk I came two years later - that's what we think of when we talk compact hatch, but the 5 really was the one that started it all on a grand scale. And probably was also the one that really made VW get its act together and finish the Golf (which had been in development for an ungodly amount of time before they released the damn thing).

ranwhenparked > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:15

4

I think the problem is that people who bought cheap economy cars in the US expected to be able to completely space out on maintenance for years at a time and do nothing to the car besides put gas in the tank and still have it start up and get them to work/school/OTB/liquor store. You could do that with a Beetle - without constant tweaking, it would run like crap, but it would still run, and you could do that with a Datsun or Toyota or a Chevy II, but French, Italian, and British cars weren't so forgiving.

The fact that the 5 was still in production in Iran until only a few years ago says something. A developing country in a harsh climactic region would not have chosen the design to be one of its primary people's cars if it wasn't up to the task. See also Peugeot 504 in Nigeria.

Fjord > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:15

2

I'd say 'Way to go, now everyone will want one.' Except they won't because people are stupid. Great review. Still waiting for all the stars to align (i.e. finding one for sale when I have space and cash) so that I can get one of my own.

ranwhenparked > Gary Yogurt 02/04/2015 at 19:20

2

Well, she isn't smoking or drinking, so it could be slightly more stereotypical. Only slightly though.

DavidHH > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:25

4

Jonee

I can understand owning a curiosity, after all a friends dad had a Davis [three wheel death mobile]. But the Le Crap earned it's name from it's many, many issues. The Chevette and Pinto were actually decent small cars of their era, unlike the Le Crap. The Le Crap was one of the few non-Japanese cars that could develop dangerous amounts of rust within four years. The mechanical sucked, and parts fell off the car just like an old MGB. The one thing the car did well was drive in the snow, due to it's engine being near the firewall. To bad they were unreliable, difficult to service, and rusted like an abandon Soviet Nuclear Powered Submarine.

Don't get me wrong, as I'm not criticizing you for your work, as I will compliment anyone who can make an obsolete and unreliable car run. The all time winner of that competition is the owner of an early GM Dyna-flush car, owned by a mechanic / machinist. My complaint with your review that you are not being fair to all the other equally horrible small cars of the day, like the Civic 1200 with the aluminum engine hondamatic trans.

BATC42 > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:27

1

Great review! I prefer this generation of the Renault 5 over the one that followed (with an exception for the GT Turbo because it's awesome). My father used to have a Renault 4L van with an engine similar to the one in the R5 Alpine. And he used to be a codriver on 5 GT Turbo, that's how I discovered rallying, with this car, back in 1996 at 4.

Jonee > Fjord 02/04/2015 at 19:28

2

They turn up, but when they do they've usually been sitting for some time with a minor repair needed that the owner couldn't have been bothered to fix. That's the condition all 3 I've had have been in. But, I got them real cheap and it wasn't hard to get them back on the road. And, fortunately, I live in California, so rust isn't an issue. The funnest, cheap project cars in the world.

DavidHH > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 02/04/2015 at 19:28

2

What are you talking about, it hides the unsightly vomit from your pets, children and drunk passengers.

55_mercury > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:32

1

not really any more revolutionary than a Toyota corolla hatch of the same era. I get a feeling the only reason this review is so flowery with praise is for the sake of it being less common and thus ultra hip-cool.

Perhaps if Toyota had only briefly sold cars in the US and the Corolla hatch was their biggest foray then we would see a similar review heaping praises and accolades.

Jonee > Viggenfit 02/04/2015 at 19:32

1

Thanks. That's awesome. That's my Black Beauty pictured. I was delighted to find it as I love that color scheme and the "sporty" steering wheel. More character than anything on sale today.

bison78 > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:33

0

MGA!

bison78 > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:33

0

MG-TD?

Jonee > JohnnyWasASchoolBoy 02/04/2015 at 19:33

1

Good point. What were they thinking? They even used "le" in the old Dauphine ad.

bison78 > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:34

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Ugly US-style sealed-beam headlights.

bison78 > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:35

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More ugly sealed-beam headlights.

Old-Busted-Hotness > 55_mercury 02/04/2015 at 19:35

5

The 5 was FWD, though. Back then that was a Big Thing.

burro president > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:35

3

Truly great read. Please write more.

bison78 > tapzz 02/04/2015 at 19:38

2

Ah yes, fond memories of using epoxy to re-glue the windows back on the hinges every couple of months!

Darren McLellan > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:38

1

I seem to remember having to pull a spark plug to change the oil filter.

JayHova > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:38

1

Sweet MGs...MGA and the right one looks like a TF.

Darren McLellan > Gary Yogurt 02/04/2015 at 19:40

0

It's not French with the onions!

Jonee > DavidHH 02/04/2015 at 19:41

2

Thanks, DavidHH! I was actually waiting for your comment. I knew you'd have your 2¢ about the Renault. I know the issues with the Le Car very well. But, I stand by everything I said about it. 9 million Renault 5 fans can't be wrong, darn it!

And you knew someone who had a Davis??? Holy cow.

Devon lost his burner, understands electric cars don't require front grilles > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:44

3

Poor thing's gone cross-eyed

colorfulyawn > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:45

2

I can't really explain why, but I really dug the Le Car as a young kid ( when they were new). Something about the shape spoke to me.

Then again, I always had a thing for small, European cars. Karmann Ghias, Saab Sonnets, things like that caught my eye pretty frequently.

Jonee > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 02/04/2015 at 19:45

2

le damn it

revarthurbelling > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:47

1

I never had a problem with the Le Car (didn't own one, but owned a little Mazda hatch for a while). It was no Yugo.

Devon lost his burner, understands electric cars don't require front grilles > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:49

2

"Taking handfuls of marshmallow from your friend's marshmallow floatie and stuffing your face until it can no longer support them and they sink and drown. Stupid friend."

JayHova > Darren McLellan 02/04/2015 at 19:51

0

There's also not a single baguette or beret in sight.

Jonee > 55_mercury 02/04/2015 at 19:51

3

The Corolla didn't have a hatch in 72. I guess the wagon did, but that wasn't really the same. I do love early Corollas, but they don't have the personality, or even quite the practicality, as the Renault. I was a kid back then and remember them being around, so it might be more nostalgia than novelty, but I do like my oddball cars. Still, I stand by all my praise and I did acknowledge its flaws.

'69 tego > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:52

3

Holy Crap!!! my mom and dad almost bought a concord wagon from that place.

Jonee > '69 tego 02/04/2015 at 19:55

0

Ha. Awesome. Where is that? It's from a postcard I found on GIS, but I forget that the original image said. Is there still a dealership there?

trunkmonkey > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:55

0

The black is exactly the same as the one a friend and I spent a half hour looking for the hood release in when it had an issue years ago.Belonged to his Mom up in Maryland. I'll let you tell them where the latch is.

Good article written with a sense of humor. The Le Car ran okay,but you had to smack it every so often to keep the radio playing.Back in the 70's, people expected multiple clowns to get out when you parked this thing next to them.I eagerly await the future article where you shoehorn in a Hayabusa engine.

Jeff DelPapa > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:55

2

I had a Dauphine as a winter beater in my youth (about the same time as the 5 was a hot new thing). It was transportation, and sure beat the MBTA. It had a great heater. The rest, not so much. While 34 hp doesn't sound like much, there were still a bunch of 40hp beetles running around, and even the new ones were only like 60. The thing didn't weigh much, and that was before you factored in the parts that had returned to their original ore. The 3 speed transmission didn't help however. But that heat was great, especially after a few years spent with VW beetles.

My door handles stayed on. The starter died, and getting a rebuilt was comparable in price to the whole car by then. So I got real good at finding the slightest slope and parking on it. When I couldn't bump start, I took advantage of an un-expired french car rule, there was a hole below the bumper, and a cross pin on the jack handle. Yep, I can say I actually owned a crank start car.

Matthew Urso > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:57

2

I had no idea one person could smoke so much crack. Now I do

MultiplaOrgasms > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 19:58

6

+

My Grandfather used to own the big brother of this thing back in the 70s.

Fucker was a Minivan before it was cool.

Serious Gord > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 20:02

1

drove an early 80s one for about a year and a half.

It was hopelessly underengineered for western Newfoundland driving conditions. It got pummelled to pieces on the roads; rusted as fast as any car of the era save perhaps Toyota pickups; no power; worst shift linkage I've ever encountered; and a terrible driving position for anyone over 5 foot eight.

They may have been fine on the bucolic climate and roads of Europe or California, but they were without a peer for being awful where I was.

trunkmonkey > Old-Busted-Hotness 02/04/2015 at 20:03

0

I believe they used to tout these thing as having 7 inches of suspension travel in case you wanted to go over some sweet jumps.

mallthus > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 20:05

1

I married a woman that had one when she first was driving. She won't let me buy one.

Jonee > Jeff DelPapa 02/04/2015 at 20:06

1

That's awesome. I love hearing these stories. You have to admire any car whose best compliment you can give it is, "the heat was great." I drove a Subaru 360 around Boston for 2 years, so I feel like I know what you went through.

Jonee > trunkmonkey 02/04/2015 at 20:11

1

I was referencing that story with my line about the release. Unless someone else has the same story on Jalopnik. I know plenty of people have that story in the real world.

I'm not really the Hayabusa swap type. I get too much merriment out of them as is. But, I'd certainly like to drive one with an engine like that. I got to drive an R5 Turbo once, but only around a parking lot, so I didn't really drive it, but I got a very good sense of what a hair-raising experience it would be.

Jonee > Serious Gord 02/04/2015 at 20:17

0

Yeah, I doubt they were thinking of Newfoundland when they built it. Speaking of which, why the hell did you buy a Renault Le Car in Newfoundland?

'69 tego > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 20:21

0

Yep. Overland Park AMC Jeep, Overland park Kansas (a suburb of Kansas City).

they are still there. what a trip. KC Represent LOL.

here's their website if you're interested

http://www.overlandparkjeepdodge.net/index.htm

iggysaab9 > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 20:21

4

Oh right, they're French.

RacinBob > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 20:37

3

My LeCar story started was in '84. I and a friend had bought a RX2 and gone ice racing in '84 and I was hooked. I bought a ex Bilstein Cup '80 rabbit and went showroom stock racing.

For the '85 Ice Racing season, my friend and I bought the red LeCar from a secretary at work for maybe $200. I pulled the bolt in cage and belts from my rabbit, we hand cut the numbers and lettering from shelf paper, cut the muffler out of the LeCar, bought studded snow tires from Iowa and we had a ice race car. Two other friends went into a similar deal and found another and we went racing.

The cars were underpowered but they did work. Simple cars. We drove our cars up to Minneapolis and went racing. Sadly, in the 5th turn of the first session, My co driver was following a pack of cars into a turn and a RX-7 didn't went straight stuffed it into the high snow bank and we wrapped our radiator and grill around his bumper. Our season was done.

Great little car, we pulled the cage and belts, sold it for $50 and after a bummed a 150 mile ride back home, ice racing season was over and summer racing started early.

rudyH > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 21:03

1

In Chicago, I knew a woman who traded in her Chevy Citation, which she hated, on an Orange LeCar. It was great fun to drive and had a very supple suspension. The shifter wasn't too bad but it was a long time ago so I may be seeing that through rose colored glasses. At one point, it was very popular in Chicago for vandals to tip these cars over. It was in the new for several weeks as I recall. She had hers tipped and crumpled one side quite a bit. She was very upset but never repaired it.

Jonee > '69 tego 02/04/2015 at 21:05

0

They changed the façade, but that's the place alright.

Coty > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 21:07

0

DAUPHENE! One day.

Jonee > RacinBob 02/04/2015 at 21:09

1

Amazing! Thanks so much for that. The pictures are absolutely priceless. Sounds like you guys had a great time anyway, and I think you still got your money's worth.

Coty > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 21:22

0

Slanted like a Beetle, just slanted the other way.

RalphieDC > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 21:29

0

It was Le Joke. People thought it was too tiny, the tires were too narrow, the layout of the controls was weird, it had a stupid name.

Well, I'll give us the last one.

Racekar > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 21:36

1

My father traded in an Opel Kadett on a LeCar which I then proceeded to take to school in Boston. It had a wonderful suspension that was able to soak up bumps and potholes, but it did lean over in turns, I don't think it has any sway bars. It was perfect for Boston parking, with those huge early 5 mpg bumpers. Many of my friends did make fun of it, but as you stated the interior and driving manners for a low priced car was great compared to the domestic equlivents. I ended up training it in on a Dodge colt, the one with the twin stick gearbox.

fishtankwog > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 21:43

0

The only car I have ever known where the @#$%^^(%#@^$%* cylinder heat MELTED and set the rest of the damn thing on fire. A tidy insurance settlement and a trip to the crusher. Fin.

DavidHH > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 21:52

1

Does the 9 million number include the models made in the Republic of Iran?

Give your self credit, as it's a crappy car, so being able to make your example run years later takes considerable skill. I always commend those who make their unreliable and unsupported relics run, as that takes skill. As I said, the all time winner was the owner of a GM Dyna-Flush Transmission car, who would travel hundreds of miles to shows by actually driving it there! Parts for his straight eight, early automatic trans car have not been available for decades, so he actually made his own.

I had a friend in High School who changed the graphics on the car to Le Crap. But then he managed to get the OEM lettering kit, and only had to make the "P". I knew two people who bought the Le Crap new, and considered the car basically disposable. Be careful driving, because one of these owners was seriously injured in a 20 MPH accident, fortunately she recovered. The Le Crap is really as dangerous as a small can be.

You would not believe how scary the Davis is when it hits a pothole with it's single front wheel. The design was weird but bad, and hence the reason they only made fifty or so. And this is another car which requires making your own parts.

wbizarre - OEM fetishist > tapzz 02/04/2015 at 21:54

1

That looks safe! I mean, it's squishy! Right?

Jonee > DavidHH 02/04/2015 at 21:58

1

The 9 million does not include the Iranian ones, no. Just the Renault badged cars built between 1972 and 1996.

I have rarer cars, like the Subaru 360, so I'm used to sourcing or making my own hen's teeth. That challenge is part of the fun for me. They're not my daily drivers, so if they sit in the garage for a while, they sit. They don't take up the space of something like that GM.

The Davis is a great example of "what were they thinking?" It's fascinating from a design and engineering standpoint for sure, but I can't believe they thought there was a market for it.

Bueller > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 22:01

1

The Dauphine was such a piece of crap that even in Brazil its reputation spelled the exile of Renault from the local market for over 20 years.

And, when Renault returned to Brazil, people got to find out that it still made pieces of crap.

AlienDNA > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 22:03

1

THAT was an epic review. Hilarious, honest and now I want an R5 even more than before. Your black & red is a classic.

Bueller > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 22:04

1

Here's the only R5 worth mentioning.

Wh? Parce que ce nes't pas un R5.

Jonee > Bueller 02/04/2015 at 22:05

0

Aw, but that Twingo's so adorable.

Jonee > Bueller 02/04/2015 at 22:07

0

I mentioned it.

Jonee > AlienDNA 02/04/2015 at 22:08

0

Thanks!

Unspiek Baron Bodissey > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 22:15

1

Mexico's telecom Telmex at one time had a large fleet of 5's for their field techs, complete with roof supports for carrying ladders:

Later they acquired a large fleet of Opel Corsas, branded in Mexico as the Chevy C2:

Infinitum is their brand of internet er... broadband (italics mine).

Now that I remember a friend owned an '80 Renault 5. Pretty reliable except that one time it suffered a massive short circuit. The dashboard was totally toast.

KAG25 > Jonee 02/04/2015 at 22:20

1

My mom had one of those new back in the early 80's in Ft Lauderdale. Blue 5 door with that huge sunroof that made it to almost a convertible. interesting car and very basic with 3 lugs, but was fun. The sun roof leaked after awhile though.

Abe Froman > Bueller 02/04/2015 at 22:22

2

Honorable mention?

Mike > Jonee