Renault 4
 |
| Manufacturer |
Renault |
| Also called |
Renault R4 |
| Production |
1961–1992 |
| Assembly |
Billancourt, France
Valladolid, Spain
Vilvoorde, Belgium
Envigado, Colombia
Novo mesto, SFR Yugoslavia / today Slovenia
Guarda, Portugal
Ciudad Sahagún, Mexico
Los Andes, Chile
Santa Isabel, Argentina
Naas, Ireland
Milan, Italy[1]
Heidelberg, Australia
Wexford, Ireland
Casablanca, Morocco[2]
Algiers, Algeria (CARAL)
Montevideo, Uruguay (Renault Mini 4 - local version)
|
| Predecessor |
Renault 4CV |
| Successor |
Renault Twingo |
| Class |
Economy car, Supermini, Subcompact |
| Body style |
2-door pickup truck
2-door van
5-door hatchback |
| Layout |
MF layout |
| Engine |
45.6 cu in (0.7 L) I4
51.5 cu in (0.8 L) I4
58.3 cu in (1.0 L) I4
67.6 cu in (1.1 L) I4
|
| Transmission |
3-speed manual
4-speed manual |
| Wheelbase |
2,440 mm (96.1 in) (right)[3]
2,395 mm (94.3 in) (left)[3] |
| Length |
3,663 mm (144.2 in) |
| Width |
1,430 mm (56.3 in) |
| Height |
1,470 mm (57.9 in) |
| Curb weight |
600 kg (1,323 lb) |
| Related |
Renault 3
Renault 5
Renault 6
Renault 7
Renault Rodeo |
The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle"), is a hatchback economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 1961 and 1992. It was the first front-wheel drive family car produced by Renault.
The car was launched at a time when several decades of economic stagnation were giving way to growing prosperity and surging car ownership in France. The first million cars were produced by 1 February 1966, less than four and a half years after launch,[4] a commercial success for Renault because of the timing of its introduction and the merits of its design. It was exceptionally spacious for its size, and although regarded as a small estate car when launched, it is now seen as the first hatchback family car. Along with the Renault 16, it pioneered the popularization to the European private motorist of the hatchback during the 1960s. The only car to pre-date its front-wheel drive and top-hinged hatchback, was the 1954 Citroën Traction Avant Commerciale, which was marketed at commercial travelling salesmen.
The Renault 4 was Renault's response to the 1948 Citroën 2CV. Renault was able to review the advantages and disadvantages of the 2CV design and come up with a larger, more urban vehicle. In early 1956, Renault Chairman Pierre Dreyfus launched this new project: designing a new model to replace the rear engined 4CV that would become an everyman's car, capable of satisfying the needs of anybody. It would be a family car, a woman's car, a farmer's car, a city car.
1961–1962 Renault 3: installing windows into the thick
c-pillars added weight and cost which, initially, customers could avoid on entry level versions of the R3 and R4
1967–1974 Renault 4L: For 1968 the car received a more modern aluminium grill that it would retain till 1974
1974–1978 Renault 4L: In 1974 a plastic grill replaced the metal one
1978 Renault 4GTL: a further mild facelift followed, on European market cars, in 1978
Renault launched the Renault R3 and the Renault R4 simultaneously in July 1961.[5] The cars shared the same body and most mechanical components, but the R3 was powered by a 603 cc version of the engine while the engine capacity of the R4 was 747 cc. [3] This placed the R3 in the 3CV taxation class while the R4 found itself in the 4CV taxation class. [3] Actual maximum power output was claimed by Renault as 22.5 hp for the R3, and 26.5 or 32 hp for the R4, depending on price level and the type of carburettor fitted. [3] Initially the base versions of the R3 and R4 came with a thick C-pillar behind each of the rear doors although for a 400 franc supplement over the price of the basic R4 buyers could specify a body with the C-pillar filled by a third side window which increased the weight but which soon became standard for all R4s.[3]
The R3 and R4 were targeted unashamedly at the aging Citroen 2CV which famously employed soft springing coupled with very long spring travel to soak up the bumps on poorly maintained country lanes. The new Renaults applied the same approach, which was a novelty for a Renault, and two of the cars appeared at the Paris Motor Show in 1961 mounted on a rolling road enhanced by vertical motion to simulate roads that oscillated at rates consistent with the cars’ suspension settings. As visitors to the exhibition queued to experience the ride they could watch the cars retaining their level pitch while the wheels furiously bounced up and down following the rhythms of the enhanced rolling road.[3] The display had its desired effect since early in 1962 Renault repeated it at the Turin Motor Show.[3]
The basic version of the R3 was priced just 40 francs below the lowest priced version of the Citroen 2CV in 1961.[3] The basic R3 was very basic, with painted bumpers and grill on the outside, the simplest possible instrument pod facing the driver along with a single sun visor, no windshield washer, and on the interior, no door panels.[3] This basic trim was also offered in the more powerful R4. The R4L with six side windows, chrome coloured bumper and grill, and less aggressively Spartan interior trimmings cost 400 francs (roughly 8%) more than the R4 with its four side windows. Where both R3 and R4 came with the same very basic level of trim the more powerful R4 cost less than 4% above the price of the R3 which seems for most customers to have been too small a difference to justify the purchase of an R3.[3] Similar as the Renault 4CV “Service” in 1953, customers shunned the basic model and in October 1962, the Renault R3 was discontinued.[5]
A "super" version (branded "de luxe" in some export markets) with opening rear quarter-light windows and extra trimmings was also offered.[5] De luxe and super versions of the R4L received a version of the engine from the Renault Dauphine giving them a four-cylinder engine capacity of 845 cc.[5] After the withdrawal of the 603 cc engined R3, the 747 cc R4 model continued to be listed with an entry level recommended retail price, but it was mostly the slightly larger-engined L versions that found their way into customers' hands. By 1965 Renault had removed the extra "R" from their model names: the Renault R4L had become the Renault 4L.
Early versions of the Renault R4 used engines and transmissions from the Renault 4CV. The original design brief called for an engine size between 600 cc and 700 cc but there was no consensus as to whether to use a four-cylinder unit or to follow Citroen with a two-cylinder unit. With Volkswagen now rapidly growing their market share across Europe and North America, Renault also gave serious consideration to an air-cooled boxer motor option for the forthcoming R3/R4.[3] Using the existing water-cooled unit from the 4CV was a solution, especially in view of the extended period of teething troubles encountered by the Renault Fregate, which had followed Renault’s last attempt to develop an ambitiously innovative powerplant.[3] The powerplant of the 4CV was larger than that specified by management for the new model, but Renault addressed this by reducing the bore so that the overall capacity of the power plant destined for the new R3 came in at 603 cc, comfortably at the lower end of the required 600–700 cc range. However, since they already had the 747 cc version of the engine on the shelf, well proven in the 4CV, it made sense to use this as well in what would in many respects be the older car’s successor. Therefore in 1961 the R3 emerged with cylinder bore and stroke set at 49 mm × 80 mm while the R4 was launched with the 54.5 mm × 80 mm cylinder dimensions from the existing engine,[3] giving rise to the 603 cc and 747 cc engine sizes with which the cars were launched.
Moving the engine from the back of the 4CV to the front of the new model nevertheless involved significant planning: design changes to the unit were introduced as part of the process. The inlet manifold was now a steel casting whereas on the 4CV it had been constructed of a light-weight alloy: this was driven by cost considerations now that aluminium was not so inexpensive as it had been fifteen years earlier.[3] Renault also took the opportunity to introduce a feature which subsequently became mainstream but which at this stage was not on the agenda of competitor manufacturers (other than Peugeot). For the new car Renault designed a “sealed-for-life” cooling system, supported by a small expansion tank on the extreme right side of the engine bay. The cooling system contained a type and quantity of anti-freeze intended to enable operation without topping up or other intervention throughout a car’s life provided ambient temperatures below minus 40 degrees were avoided.[3]
The engines were larger than the small 425 cc (later 602 cc 29 hp), engines in the 2CV. The R4 always had a four-cylinder watercooled engine. The original Renault R4’s engine capacity of 747 cc served to differentiate the model from the more powerful Renault Dauphine, but the Dauphine’s 845 cc engine was used in the 4 itself from 1963 onwards: for most markets at this stage the Dauphine engine now came as standard in the top of the range Renault R4 Super, and was available in some other versions only as an optional extra.[3] Given that Renault’s 603 cc, 747 cc and 845 cc engines all shared the same cylinder stroke and were all of the same basic design, it is likely that there was very little difference between the manufacturing costs of the basic engine block between the three. From the perspective of the sales and marketing department, they did fall within different taxation classes (respectively 3CV, 4CV and 5CV) but at this end of the market tax level differences were by now less of an issue even in those European countries that still taxed cars according to engine size.
With time, the increasing trend to production of Renault 4s in a wide range of countries reduces the validity of generalised statements as to which engines were fitted when: in French built cars the old 845 cc engine soldiered on in the more lowly versions until the mid 1980s, but in 1978 the top end Renault 4 GTLs received the new 1108 cc engine: this engine was no longer new to Renault, however, being the five-bearing “Sierra” engine, first installed in the Estafette van and R8 in the summer of 1962. A smaller version (956 cc) of this new engine replaced the by now venerable 845 cc engine in the 4 in 1986. Unlike the original "Billancourt" engine from the 4CV, Renault's “Sierra” engine rotated in a clockwise direction, so fitting it required reversing the direction of the differential in the gear box in order to avoid producing a car with one forward speed and four reverse speeds.
The initial transmission was a three-speed manual, described by one critic as an obsolete feature when compared to the four-speed manual of the thirteen-year-old Citroën 2CV. Ironically the new Renault 4 did not inherit its transmission from the Renault 4CV nor from anyone else: the transmission was newly developed for the car.[3] The dash-mounted gear lever was linked via a straight horizontal rod that passed over the longitudinally mounted engine and clutch directly to the gearbox right at the front. The resulting absence of any linkage at floor level permitted a flat floor across the full width of the car's cabin. Synchromesh featured only on the top two ratios, even though the low power of the engine required frequent gear changes by any driver using normal roads and wishing to make reasonable progress.[3] On this point Renault quickly acknowledged their error and cars produced from 1962 featured synchromesh on all three ratios.[3] In 1968 the Renault 4 finally received a four-speed transmission.
The three principal new models introduced by Renault since the war [6] had all featured monocoque "chassisless" construction[3] which was believed to save cost in the manufacturing process and to cut running costs by reducing vehicle weight. The Renault R3/R4 design defied this by now widely accepted mantra, employing a separate platform to which the body shell was then attached.[3] The body's structural role in maintaining the overall rigidity of the car body was thereby reduced, placing less stress on the roof and allowing for thinner window pillars. Although the use made of a separate platform resembled, in some respects, the use that pre-war designs would have made of a chassis, the outcome was a structure described as semi-monocoque, and it would later allow Renault to use the R4 platform, with very little modification, to build new models such as the Renault 6 and Rodeo. (Later, the successful Renault 5 used the R4 running gear but in a monocoque shell).
Because the rear torsion bars are located
one behind the other, the wheelbase is
longer on the right side than on the left. |
The R3 and R4 had four-wheel torsion-bar independent suspension. This was an innovation which would be copied on a succession of subsequent front-engined Renaults introduced during the 1960s and 70s.
The car features a shorter wheelbase on the left than on the right because the rear wheels are not mounted directly opposite one another.[7] This concept allowed a very simple design of the rear suspension using transverse torsion bars located one behind the other without affecting handling. The front torsion bars were longitudinal. Dampening was contributed by the provision of hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers on all four wheels.[3] Those at the rear were mounted virtually horizontally which avoided the intrusion of rear suspension componentry into the flat floored passenger cabin.[3]
The longitudinal layout of the front-wheel drive engine and transmission with engine behind the front axle, and gearbox/differential in front is identical to the Citroën Traction Avant. The suspension is also very similar, the only difference, being the deletion of the Citroen's flexible beam between the rear wheels, to give the Renault 4 fully independent rear suspension. This is ironic as Louis Renault, the company's founder had been the harshest critic of the Traction at the time of its launch in the 1930s.
- In Colombia, the car was one of the most sold, and remained in the memory of many Colombians, it was nicknamed "Amigo fiel" (Faithful friend) and was manufactured in the SOFASA plant in Envigado (a city near Medellín) from 1970 to 1992. Two of the most popular versions included the Master (1022 cc) and the Líder (Leader), with a more powerful 1300 cc engine. The first Renault 4 manufactured in Envigado Colombia was called Azul Pastrana, because this car was blue and President Misael Pastrana opened the plant.
- In Argentina and Chile the 4 van (Fourgonette) is known as "Renoleta", following the nickname given to the Citroën 2CV van, "Citroneta". Due to heavy taxation on passenger vehicles in the late '50s, the first 2CV were imported unfinished, only up to the front doors and completed with an Argentine-made pickup truck bed. The Spanish word for pickup truck is "camioneta", hence "Renoleta".
- In Italy the 4 was produced by Alfa Romeo factory in Milan under license in 1962 until 1964, 41809 R4's were built
- In Australia the car was produced between 1962 and 1966 in Heidelberg, Victoria but ceased production to make way for other models
- In Mexico, Renault 4 was produced in Ciudad Sahagun, a industrial city created between DINA and Renault in the fifties, the Renault production ceased in 1976.
- In Ireland the car was produced in two plants, the first established in 1962 in Naas, and the other established in Wexford in 1972, the production running until 1984.
- In Slovenia, former Yugoslavia, Renault 4 nicknamed "Katrca" or "cetvorka" (from French quatre, four) was produced in IMV (Industrija motornih vozil) plant, from 1973 until 1992. 575,960 R4s were built there. In 1989 the plant was sold to Group Renault and renamed REVOZ d.d.
- In Portugal it was known as "Quatro L". It was mainly used in Alentejo, by olive oil producers and farmers.
- In Spain the Renault 4L is known as "Cuatro latas".
Though the Renault 4 had a long production run, development of the design was limited – it never changed size or shape. Exterior chrome trim was eventually phased out on all models and aluminium grilles were replaced with plastic items. There were three different dashboards, all of which were simple in design. On the right side of the car at the back the position of the fuel filler was raised by approximately 15 cm (6 inches)[3] less than a year after the car's launch, presumably for safety reasons, but apart from this changes to the body panels amounted to nothing more than a slightly altered hood and hinge alterations.
Despite the success of the Renault 4, or perhaps as a result of it, Renault directed a lot of effort into developing its small cars. They designed the Renault 6 and the Renault 5 while the Renault 4 was still selling extremely well. Some criticised this at the time, but the Renault 5 competed in a different sector (three- and five-door supermini). The Renault 4 is thus a bridge between the small utility vehicle (2CV) and the supermini design (R5, Peugeot 205).
The Renault 4 remained a basic car throughout its life, nonetheless offering a comfortable ride, due to well-designed suspension, comfortable seats, powerful heater and effective ventilation. Windows used sliding mechanisms.
Renault 4 Fourgonnette (van)
There were many different 'special edition' Renault 4s. Some (including the Safari, Sixties and Jogging) were sold in special colour schemes, upholstery and other details, while others (Clan, Savane) were standard models with special decals.
There were also special models which were not solely a marketing exercise, such as the Renault 4 Sinpar 4x4, the Plein Air, a pickup truck, LPG versions and electric versions.
In 1978, the R4 GTL arrived. It had the 1108 cc engine from the Renault 6 TL, albeit with the performance reduced for better economy, and bigger drum brakes. The GTL was identifiable by its grey front grille, grey bumpers, and grey rubber strips along the bottoms of the doors. It also had an extra air intake below the front grille (as a result, the registration plate was moved down to the bumper), and 12 inch (304.8 mm) wiper blades instead of the original 10 inch (254 mm) ones. For the 1983 model year, the GTL got front disc brakes, the handbrake now working on the rear wheels, and there were a modified dashboard and cloth seats. The very first 1983 models had the handbrake lever moved from left to right under the steering wheel before it was moved the floor like in almost any other car by then.
There was also a panel van (Fourgonette) version of the R4, which with its "high cube" bodyshell and the unique 'giraffon' (giraffe hatch) at the rear became the idiosyncratic French "Boulangerie" van. For many years, this was surely the most successful vehicle of its type and for many people it represents their idea of a Renault 4 more than the passenger version. It remained on sale in Europe until 1993 and was replaced by the Renault Express (called Extra in UK and Ireland, Rapid in Germany), which was based on the second generation Renault 5 'Supercinq'.
In 1989, Colombian SOFASA produced the variants Brisa (Breeze) which was based on the French Plein Air and Jogging, which was marketed as a sportier version of the car and featured red accessories.
Though reasons such as emissions and safety legislation are often given for the Renault 4's demise, its popularity would not have lasted anyway.[8] Outmoded production methods, more advanced competition and the reasons outlined above meant that the Renault 4's days were numbered, at least as a mainstream product. There were several projects to replace the Renault 4, starting from the early seventies. However, the continuing success of the Renault 4, the need to replace the Renault 5, the difficulties coming up with a suitable replacement (and the idea that the Renault 4's market would die with it) all meant that the Renault 4's final replacement (the Twingo) did not appear until 1992.[9] To conclude production, a series of 1000 examples marketed as "Bye-Bye" was released, each with a numbered plaque.
To mark the end of Renault 4 production, a retrospective series of ten black-and-white photographs by Thierry des Ouches was published in Libération in early December 1992. This series later won first prize from Le Club des Directeur Artistiques in the category of daily newspaper. It was also award the lion d'or at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.
In 2003, a Japanese car modification company called DAMD came up with a design called the Ancel Lapin,[10] which could transform a Suzuki Lapin into a Renault 4 lookalike.
Renault 4 Simpar from the Paris-Dakar Rally
The Renault 4 was originally powered by a 20 hp (15 kW) engine and its suspension was never intended for sporting dynamics, so it should have been no surprise that it came last in the 1962 Monte-Carlo Rally. The Renault 4 had certain advantages in its high torque and a suspension and ground-clearance that gave it go-anywhere capabilities. This meant that Renault was able to give it a sporting image with programmes such as the "Cross Elf Cup of France" in 1974 and the "Routes du Monde" programme in 1968. The latter was a project in which Renault would lend young people cars to travel the world in, and this would help to give the Renault 4 an adventurous and durable image.[citation needed] The "Coupe de France Renault Cross Elf" was a series of races in France on dirt tracks with slightly tuned 782 cc R4s.
A Renault 4 Sinpar (the four-wheel drive version) was entered in the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1979 and 1980 by Bernard and Claude Marreau, coming fifth in 1979 and in third in 1980.[11] Renault 4 continued to feature in many long distance rallies after production ceased, such as in 2001 in the London-Sahara-London rally (Renault 4 GTL)[12] and the 2008 Mongol Rally.[13] The Renault 4 forms the basis of the 4L Trophy, an annual rally established in 1997 for students who collect sponsorship and drive to the Sahara to deliver educational materials to children of the desert and of Morocco.[14]
The Renault 4 GTL was homologated in Group A. Jacky Cesbron raced one in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1993 and the Tour de Corse in 1991. Pinto dos Santos raced a Group N 4 GTL in visiting every round of the WRC though not all during the same season. To celebrate the car's 50th birthday, Renault entered the R4 in the Monte Carlo Rally in 2011.[15]
Standard Renault 4s has taken part in a drag race at Santa Pod Raceway, Northamptonshire since 2004, and covered the quarter mile in 21.438 seconds with a terminal speed of 59.14 mph.[16]
