Giugiaro designs that time forgot, cont'd

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse) 02/25/2015 at 17:55 • Filed to: Giugiaro

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Have a Renault 21, which for a time was sold in North America as the Renault Medallion.

Interestingly (and this is probably the only vaguely interesting thing about the R21) the engine was mounted transversely or longitudinally depending on how big it was. Why? Because Renault didn't have a suitable transverse gearbox for the bigger engine.

No, this wasn't Giugiaro's finest hour.

ranwhenparked > Cé hé sin 02/25/2015 at 17:59

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It was also the Eagle Medallion for the last two model years it was sold here. Not that it was ever destined to be a big seller in the US, but two different names in just 3 years didn't help.

Cé hé sin > ranwhenparked 02/25/2015 at 18:09

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Interestingly the estate version was called the Nevada, but not in English speaking markets because the US state of the same name had trade marked itself anywhere they spoke English, but didn't bother anywhere else. Instead it was the Savannah.

Saoul-Virage > Cé hé sin 02/25/2015 at 18:14

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Probably not the best Giugiaro's car but it was not a bad car at all.
Big trunk capacity, a lot of room, comfy ride, reliable and even available with the 2liter turbo 4 wheel drive !
And it was also a pretty good car on a racetrack in different race series (Superproduction, Europa Cup...) :

Here is an R21 spotted in Dijon Prenois last year.

Cé hé sin > Saoul-Virage 02/25/2015 at 18:18

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I haven't seen one in years. Were they really reliable, or just by Renault standards?

Saoul-Virage > Cé hé sin 02/25/2015 at 18:27

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2 explanations :

-A lot of them are now on the road in North Africa (especially the Nevada break).

-As the price of these used car is ridiculously cheap, many of them were (and still are now) scrapped due to the government giving you some cash if you buy a new car and you scrap your old one.

2 of my friends drive a 21 Nevada (370000km! turbo diesel and the other is a 2liter injection), both run perfectly.

ranwhenparked > Cé hé sin 02/25/2015 at 18:27

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That is pretty interesting. "Nevada" isn't a bad sounding name for a car, really, so you would figure there would have to be some reason it hasn't been used much.

I'm kind of surprised the state government was able to trademark it though, since it's just Spanish for "snowfall."

Cé hé sin > ranwhenparked 02/25/2015 at 18:36

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Well, that's what Renault said at the time!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Cé hé sin 02/26/2015 at 06:14

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My parents had a Savannah when I was young. Cool car I thought at the time :)