Spotted: 4cv

"Berang" (berang) 02/01/2016 at 12:25 • Filed to: renault, renault 4cv

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This 4cv was lurking in the back of a guy’s personal stash of old cars, along with a couple thoroughly rusted out Dauphines.

These little cars are incredibly tiny. A little less than 12' overall, and particularly narrow inside. The engine was a water-cooled inline four which sat behind the rear axle. The cap under the rear window is for the radiator. The gas cap was located under the engine lid.

This car was probably one of the last 4cvs made as it has the late-model dashboard and wheels. Renault made the model 1947 through 1961. It spawned the larger Dauphine model, but its direct replacement was the Renault 4.

They are not common in the U.S. The slightly larger and more powerful Dauphine was one of the best selling imports at the time, but the 4cv was known primarily for being the cheapest car with four doors. You might say it was the Yugo GV of 1950s. It was too slow even for city use in the U.S. and was known for being exceedingly tail happy. I’ve always found them very interesting, but performance wise they had nothing on their closest competition in the U.S., the Morris Minor, which had the added bonus of featuring a non-scary front engine layout. In France and in other parts of the world, 4cvs were very popular though. They were the taxicab of choice in Vietnam, and Hino built them under license in Japan even after production halted in France.

Anyway, here’s a much nicer one demonstrating wet road handling:

dietryng > Berang 02/01/2016 at 12:38

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that sheetmetal is immaculate. especially when you look at the bumperettes. looks like they parked by braille.

Jonee > Berang 02/01/2016 at 14:50

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That’s a heck of a patina. As sluggish as it was, it spawned one of the great performance names of all time.

Spridget > Berang 02/06/2016 at 12:19

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We need pics of those Dauphines, the VW Thing, and the VW, along with whatever else this guy has. Did you meet the owner or just take the pics?

Berang > Spridget 02/06/2016 at 12:27

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We met the owner. He invited us to look at his collection. He collects VWs but he had a few other odd vehicles. I didn’t get pics of most of them. Neither Dauphine had a floor left. Aside from those the only really odd one was an Austin A35, but it was so crowded by other cars I didn’t bother taking a pic. It was in about the same shape as the 4cv, only with a bit more paint left.

Spridget > Berang 02/06/2016 at 12:36

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What else does he have? Does he have any plans to restore them?