Should compete with Méhari
In Southern Europe, the Citroen Méhari gained popularity as a practical, unspoiled vehicle for farmers to get around on bad roads, as a beach car (alternative to the "beach buggy") and for military and civic duties. The Méhari shares a platform and drivetrain with the Citroen Dyane. With a simple plastic body, the cars were cheap to produce. The idea behind the Rodeo was to do the same with the Renault 4, which is also built on a supporting platform. The result was actually quite similar to Méhari, but Rodeo never achieved the same popularity. It has always stood in the shadow of Méhari, and today there are probably many people who do not know which brand Rodeo is.
ACL/Renault Rodeo
The development of the Rodeo was carried out by an independent company – ACL (Ateliers de Construction du Livradois) – but manufactured by Renault. ACL was founded by Raoul Teilhol and from 1978 the company changed its name to Teilhol. In the first years from 1970-1975, the cars were called ACL Rodeo, but from 1976 they got the Renault logo in the grill and were called Renault Rodeo.
Model history
3 models of Rodeo were made. Rodeo 4 is, as the name suggests, based on the Renault 4 (van) with the Renault 4 engine of 845 ccm. From 1972, you could choose the Rodeo 6, which was still based on the Renault 4, but which received the Renault 6's 1100 engine and a new design of the front. Both Rodeo 4 and 6 were produced side by side. From 1981, the Rodeo 4 and 6 were replaced by a completely new model developed by Teilhol, called simply Rodeo. All models could be converted to 4-wheel drive via a 3rd party company.
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