Phenomenal Renault 5's anniversary

Created on Wednesday, 22 February 2012 08:21

Written by EgyptClass

Renault 5 was first to reach the young urban population and is now celebrating its 40th anniversary. The idea of producing a modern but compact and cheap car originally came from the U.S. subsidiary of Renault.

Bernard Hanon was inspired by the needs and perceptions of students at New York University, where he used to teach. His idea  was introduced to the chief of Renault, Louis Dreyfus who liked the new idea which proved to be a significant success.

Renault 5 was supposed to replace the already famous Renault 4, which was in the production lines since 1961. But R4 was literally basic car for masses and capable to cope with poor quality of rural roads. The project, codenamed 122, launched at the end of the sixties a new model debuted in January 1972. There were some who voiced their belief that the 3-door hatchback body wouldn't  impress the market and that the R5 would be a total flop. Time, however, showed how much  wrong they were.

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The modern mini city car with a length of 3.5 meters, front-wheel drive, designed by the studio of Michael Boué and with the first integrated plastic bumpers, raised such great interest that Renault soon had to solve the issue of increasing production capacity. The first year of the sale of "Five" appropriated 5% of the French market. Home plant in Flins was not able satisfy the demand and the production was extended to foreign factories in Valladolid, Spain, and Harren-Villevorde in Belgium, but also to others. In 1974 the 5 became a bestseller until the year the 1983. In 1977 it even became the best-selling model in Europe. Nine out of ten pieces made in France were heading for export. Not only to Germany, Italy and Switzerland, but also to the USA, where R5 was marketed as Le Car of AMC network since 1976.

The Five's success continued until 1992 when got replaced by the first generation of Clio. It is no secret that Clio  was built including  many of the successful elements of the '5'.