An example of how much car can be squeezed into a small shell.
You have to go all the way back to 1898 to find the start for Renault. It happened in Paris, and the man was Louis Renault. The first car was built in a small shed in his parents' garden outside Paris. As for other start-up car factories, it was important to participate in car races, and Renault won its first victories before 1900. The next models followed the development of the market, bigger cars with stronger engines.
Many popular family cars
In 1923, a small car appeared to take on the competition with Citroën. The theme of small cars was followed up in 1946 with the model 4 CV. It was one of the smallest 4-door passenger cars that has been serially produced. It was followed by the Dauphine in 1956. One of the most famous models, the R4 came in 1962 with front-wheel drive. In the future, a number of new family cars arrived. Some with rear-wheel drive (R8) and others with front-wheel drive (R5/R6/R12/R16). There have been many popular family cars from Renault and that is still the trend.
Renault 4CV
The Renault factory was nationalized in 1945. During the war, France and the factory were occupied, and there was a ban on developing new passenger cars. But in the development department, the engineers worked in secret on a small new passenger car. Already in 1943, a prototype was ready. It was very round in shape and not so much reminiscent of the Volkswagen bubble. The finished car went into limited production and was presented to the public in 1946 and went on sale in 1947.
Monte Carlo Rally
The factory actively participated in motorsport before the war, and wanted to continue doing so. Therefore, the volume of the engine was reduced to 747 ccm, and the Renault 4cv went straight into the class for cars under 750 ccm. It resulted in several victories in, among others, the Rallye Monte-Carlo. Alpine, which became a famous sports car, was based on the 4cv. As a people's car, the Renault 4cv became very popular in many countries. In 1956 the Renault Dauphine was launched and sales of the 4cv declined.
Renault 4CV facts
Top speed: 92 km/h
Engine: 760 ccm – 19 hp
Measurements: Length 361 cm, width 143 cm
Produced 1947-1961
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Anders de Lange
Anders de Lange writes about car history. He has written about cars and car history for over 30 years, published his own books and written for the Norwegian car press.
