(upbeat music) Citroën is known for its innovation, and Renault
is often overlooked. But it was Renault in the 1960s pioneering hatchback designs, and it was
Renault that put it all together into one of the first small hatchbacks, the Renault 5. It
struck a chord with customers. It was sold as the cheeky “Le Car” in North America,
and went on to become the best selling car in France for most of the 1970s and 80s.
How did this stylish hatchback come about, why did the second generation look so similar to the first
and what’s next? This is the Renault 5 story. (music) Renault were no strangers to small, practical
cars. They’d produced the Renault 4 in 1961, a reaction to the Citroën 2CV. The Renault 16
in 1965 showed how a hatchback design could reconfigure the car to become something truly
practical for everyday use. Renault brought this hatchback practicality to the Renault 4 with
the reskin they called the Renault 6 in 1968. A year earlier Renault’s boss, Pierre Dreyfus
challenged the design team to make a next level small car. A “voiture à vivre” or car for all
seasons. It should be a small and nimble second car to be used around town, but be able to carry
a family of four the length of France in comfort on those new fancy Autoroutes. It should take the
practicality from the Renault 16, and it should be something the utilitarian Renault 4 and 6
weren’t – stylish. In short, it needed to be a new leap forward as Renault moved into the 1970s.
The shape came from Michel Boué who was doodling new car shapes to fit on the Renault 4 platform
and hit upon something better than the Renault 6’s boxy look. Renault’s management loved the shape, a
development team was formed and they got to work. Small hatchbacks weren’t yet a thing
– that would come with the Italian Autobianchi A112 in 1969, and would be popularised
by the Fiat 127 two years later. In fact, all three companies were, in parallel and
unbeknownst to each other, creating a blueprint for the modern small hatchback. Renault’s car
was longer than both of them, and was aimed at competing with Citroën’s Ami and new Dyane, both
based on the long-lived Citroën 2CV. Renault also toyed with other shapes for their new car. A
saloon for the Spanish market, as well as a coupé and an estate, possibly to replace the Renault 4.
But Renault’s designers focused on the hatchback, and it went from a sketch to final design in
just two years, a remarkably short period. Renault’s experience with hatchbacks meant the
rigid body could support an open roof that would feature a large canvas sunroof. Something of a
first, the boot didn’t have a lip to get over, making it easier to get things into the
back. The team went for a minimal grille and square headlights that, along with plastic
bumpers made for a modern, welcoming look. It was light years ahead of the competition.
Those new plastic bumpers were an innovation, but were a hard sell to management as they
cost more than traditional metal bumpers. But unlike metal bumpers they could withstand
impact of up to 4mph (7km/h), and there were fewer parts which reduced assembly costs.
A bold decision was to make it a three door. Most French cars, even the minimalist Citroën
2CV had doors for the rear passengers. Marketing people weren’t sure that French people were quite
ready to do the back seat squeeze! The designers created a five-door version, but a three door
with its hidden door handles were less to produce, and in any case, the hatchback made for easy rear
access. But the main factor was a nascent joint venture between Renault and Peugeot. To reduce
competition between the two companies they agreed that Renault’s car would only have three doors,
while Peugeot agreed that their next small car wouldn’t be a hatchback, at least not initially.
The Renault 5 might seem revolutionary, but underneath much of it had been borrowed
from the 8-year-old Renault 4. It’s no accident both cars had almost the same wheelbase, and
they used the same mechanicals and engines. But the modern monocoque body was built with
the latest equipment – Renault took delivery of their first robot for Renault 5 production
to automatically weld the body together. Like with the exterior, the interior used modern
touches such as coloured lights on the dashboard. Like the Renault 4, the gearstick grew out of
the dashboard. The controls and instruments were designed to minimise driver distraction,
something new and innovative. The deforming, padded dashboard, front disc brakes, collapsible
steering column and front crash structure were designed to reduce injuries before the age of
the airbag. The ergonomically-designed seats were comfortable enough for those long Autoroute
journeys, naturally in wild 1970s colours, and the rear seat could fold for a level of
practicality not seen on competitors cars. But overall, this was a gamble for Renault.
Would customers reject the hatchback as utilitarian? Would they be put off a car
that didn’t have rear doors? Their worries were mitigated a little when the Fiat 127
launched in 1971 and got a warm reception, but doubts remained. Was this, as Renault
thought, the future of small cars? (music) The new Renault 5, so named for its 5 fiscal
taxable horsepower, was first shown in December 1971 – the perfect Christmas present. At a time
when car adverts were banned from French TV, cinemas up and down the country hailed
Renault’s new practical “Supercar”, and Renault also launched a large-scale
print campaign. They played up the cars friendly rounded looks as well
as the hatchback’s practicality. To modern eyes the Renault 5 doesn’t look that
special, but to customers in 1972 the new car was a breath of fresh air. It was an instant
hit, appealing to all classes and age groups, and made the competition sit up and take notice.
Even Peugeot’s 104 that launched 9 months later didn’t have the style of Renault’s new car, even
if it did have 5 doors. But the Peugeot 104, like the Renault 6 were cars for the head, and
not for the heart. By the end of the first year of production over 120,000 Renault 5’s had been
sold. Right hand drive models reached British shores later that year, and production started
in Spain. The Spanish car would be the first to move the gearstick to the floor, something
that would appear on most Renault 5’s by 1973. The cars designer, Michel Boué, who’d
also designed those colourful interiors, tragically wouldn’t see his cars success,
dying just a few months after the car launched. Electric cars had fallen out of fashion
at the turn of the 20th century, but car companies started experimenting with them again
in the late 60s and early 70s. 10 Renault 5’s were electrified with lead acid batteries,
the same batteries used in milk floats, and as you can imagine, performance and range
weren’t terrific. Like all these electrification experiments, it didn’t move to production.
As demand increased Renault launched the new LS with a larger 1.3L engine and a few
more modern conveniences. But by 1974 Renault had some direct competition in the form of
Volkswagen’s Golf which was almost the same size, but crucially came with either 3 or 5 doors.
Spain produced the booted Renault Siete or 7 in Spanish, finally giving the car those
rear doors it needed! To achieve this, the Renault 5 platform was stretched by 10cm (4”).
The plastic bumpers were dropped for old-fashioned chrome plated metal. The Siete sold modestly
well in Spain, but elsewhere it made more sense to pay a little more for the larger Renault 12.
As well as a saloon, Renault launched the Renault 5 Societé van, a natural progression
given how easy it was to load cargo. The LS luxury version turned into the TS with
even more features such as a centre console, reversing lights and new front seats that looked
like they’d come out of a 1970s science fiction TV show! And with a rush to fuel efficient cars in
the mid-70s Renault launched the frugal GTL that included plastic side protection to go with the
plastic front bumpers. Again, this doesn’t stand out today, but was a revolution at the time.
It wasn’t all frugality at Renault though. In 1976 they introduced the Renault 5 Alpine, using
their sporting brand to counteract the threat of the original “hot hatch” - the Simca 1100Ti and of
course the recently launched Volkswagen Golf GTI. In the UK it was known as the Gordini, as Chrysler
had first dibs on the Alpine name over there. Although the 1.4L Renault 5 Alpine got the car to
60 in less than 10 seconds and allowed the car to get over 100mph (110mph, 177km/h), it couldn’t
beat its German rival and was using improved, but older suspension that had its roots
in the 1961 Renault 4. But despite this it would prove more than capable on the rally
circuit, finishing 2nd and 3rd overall in the 1978 Monte Carlo rally, an achievement that was
commemorated with 2,400 special edition cars. Both the hatchback and saloon would take on
the Honda Civic in Japan as the Renault Go, but Renault’s main focus for exports would be
North America where it would once again face off against the Golf, rebadged as the Volkswagen Rabbit. "Frisky! Thrifty!" "Renault Dauphine!" "Here it is! America's largest selling four-door import.
The Renault Dauphine!" Renault had been selling their cars in North America for many years, and even outsold
their German rival on occasion. Would Americans warm to Renault’s “contemporary mini” now that
they were turning their backs on gas guzzlers? To comply with US regulations the engine
was detuned for emissions, and it got round headlights and larger bumpers. Renault
flew the press to California on a specially chartered 747 to savour the finest French food
and wine and try their compact hatchback. All that Champagne schmoozing did the trick, and
reviews of the Renault 5 were largely positive. But the public didn’t agree, maybe due to
Renault’s reputation for poor reliability. Initial sales didn’t live up to expectations, so Renault
quickly made changes to turn things around. The first was swapping to a new ad agency. The public
didn’t understand what the “Renault 5” name was all about. Where were the Renaults 1,2,3 and 4?
The new ad agency proposed calling it something different. Names like the “Renault Frog” were
rejected, and it was ultimately called “Le Car”. The second change was taking over the ailing
American Motors Company or AMC. This gave them access to AMCs 1,300 dealers across the country.
Sales doubled, but with Detroit launching their own small hatchbacks, the North American market
was always going to be an uphill battle, and Le Car struggled to gain "le traction" especially with
more rust and breakdowns than the competition. However, it did well in French-speaking Canada as
“Le Cinq”, taking half of the small car market. When the Renault 5 launched in 1972 the interior
had been spartan, but not out of the ordinary. Interior comfort and dashboard design moved on in
the 1970s and the Renault 5 tried to keep pace, but it was falling behind. So, the 1979 facelift
made an updated interior its main focus. The other major change was, finally, a 5-door model with
real door handles! Along with an automatic gearbox that had appeared the previous year, this fleshed
out the range, appealing to a wider audience. And it certainly seemed that Renault had made the
right changes as the Renault 5 had its best year yet in 1980, selling over 700,000 cars. It
was the best-selling car in Europe, not bad for a light refresh of a 8 year old design. The slow
selling Spanish Renault Siete, now called the 7 didn’t get much of update. The largest change were
new rear lights, a new four spoke steering wheel and a barely noticeable change to the dashboard.
In the 1970s turbocharging moved from something only used in trucks to something you could
shoehorn into a car, and Renault would prove their turbocharging prowess when they won the 1979
French Grand Prix – the first time a turbocharged car had ever won in Formula 1. They started
work on a turbocharged Renault 5 for rallying in 1977 with the help of coachbuilder Bertone.
By 1978 they had something that was driveable, with wide rear tyres to get the extra
power down which required fat rear fenders. The power they produced from the
mid-mounted 1.4L engine was quite remarkable. To compete in FIA rally events, Renault had to
sell a certain amount of road-going versions, so the Renault 5 Turbo, with its futuristic
Bertone designed interior, was put on sale to a few lucky punters in 1980. Its 158hp (118 kW) 1.4L
fuel injected engine and lightweight body were a stupidly fast combination, going from a standstill
to 60 in a blistering 6.5s, almost unheard of at the time and it would give cars like the Lotus
Esprit a run for their money! With the Fuego launched at almost the same time, Renault could
capitalise on its newfound Formula 1 success. The Renault 5 Turbo didn’t just go quickly
in a straight line though. It won the 1981 Monte Carlo rally - beating out the new Audi
Quattro. Those homologation specials sold well, but were expensive to produce and not that
practical with a large engine sitting in the middle of the car! Renault produced something
more consumer friendly the following year, the Renault 5 Alpine Turbo with the
turbocharged engine at the front. It wasn’t quite the fire-breathing
monster of the Renault 5 Turbo, but it was still a barrel of fun! It was also
a lot more affordable, at half the price. At the other end of the spectrum was the
frugal GTL, with fuel economy so good that according to Renault it was witchcraft. In
reality it was comparable to the competition. And the 5 got a little more luxury - the
TX model appeared with electric windows, power steering, a leather steering wheel,
split rear seats and a digital clock! But electric windows couldn’t disguise the fact
the Renault 5 had been on the market for over 10 years. That was thrown into stark relief
when Volkswagen updated the Golf in 1983, and French car company Peugeot introduced the 205.
French customers rushed to buy the 205 hotness, sending Renault 5 sales plummeting. And the 205
wasn’t just beating Renault in the showrooms. It would win the 1985 Monte Carlo rally,
making the Renault 5 Turbo look old hat. Renault threw out special editions and an updated
and less expensive Turbo model until they could launch their second generation car. Cost savings
were found by using the interior from the Alpine Turbo, and regular Renault 5 doors rather than the
custom lightweight aluminium ones on the original car. It wasn’t quite as fast but was still a
force to be reckoned with. Le Car hadn’t taken off in the USA, and was replaced by the Renault
11 in 1983. It soldiered on in Canada until 1985. When a car manufacturer produces a next
generation car, they sometimes keep bits of the previous version – the platform, engines,
suspension, gearbox etc…, but almost always they update the shape to give the public something new
and fashionable to yearn for. Renault decided to buck this trend. Much of the car was updated –
the platform and the interior were taken from the strait-laced Renault 9 and 11, but the shape
barely changed! It wasn’t the fault of stylist Marcello Gandini. Customer clinics told Renault
they didn’t want a new Renault 5 shape – each new design was roundly rejected. So, Gandini
dutifully copied the Renault 5’s classic lines, despite not enjoying the process, making
it a little larger and more aerodynamic in the process. The car launched in 1984 as the
“Superfive” or “Supercinq”. It was only available initially as a 3-door, but customers could
still get hold of a 5-door Renault 5, as the old model was still on sale at a budget price.
The new car used the petrol engines from the old car, along with a diesel from the Renault 9
and 11. The 5-door model appeared a year later, stretched 6cm (2½”) for more rear legroom, and
what Renault 5 line-up wouldn’t be complete without a sporty Turbo? The Renault 5 GT Turbo
followed the Renault 5 Alpine Turbo by putting the engine and turbo at the front of the car. A little
more power and a little less weight helped, but it couldn’t rival Renault’s mid-engined monsters from
the early 1980s. With turbo lag some considered it a bit of a handful to drive. It managed to
beat Peugeot’s new 205 GTI in a drag race, but not their homologation special, the 205 Turbo 16.
Despite, or maybe because of its visual similarity to the previous car, the new Renault Superfive
was a hit in its native France. Maybe French car buyers liked visual continuity. The Renault 4 was
still on sale with very few changes since 1961, and the evergreen Citroën 2CV had been on the
roads for nearly 40 years at this point. The Superfive’s success was a rare bright spot
for Renault. The rest of their conservative range had sold poorly, and reliability was
dogging the company. All this was dragging on Renault’s finances. But the new Renault
5 reclaimed the top spot in France in 1986, ousting the cool Peugeot 205 and would
stay there for the rest of the 1980s. Production of the previous Renault 5
continued, and Renault struck on an even more cost-effective way to get customers
into their cars. They bought old Renault 5’s, reconditioned them, cut a hole in the roof,
slapped on some wheel covers and stickers, and sold them as the “Coach” special edition.
Renault removed the roof of their new model as well. Coachbuilder EBS created an
open top, and the 1989 “Belle-Ile” was a mashup between a convertible and a pickup.
Renault had mostly used the Renault 4 platform to build its cheap & cheerful vans, but the
1985 Renault Express, also known as the “Rapid” or “Extra”, was based on the Renault 5. Some
models included an innovative “giraffe hatch” to carry awkward long items. The Express Combi
had a folding rear bench seat to turn it into a truly practical vehicle. The Express went on to
be very successful in its home market, helping Renault’s beleaguered finances as they strove to
sell more vehicles using their existing tooling. The Superfive got a super small update in 1987,
but Renault’s eyes were already on a replacement. This time they wouldn’t copy the classic Renault
5 lines, but reach for something new. That would launch as the Renault Clio in 1990, and the
Renault 5 would be sold as a budget model. But sales were strong enough that it continued
in production until 1997 when Renault launched the “Bye Bye” special edition. Almost 3½M
second generation cars had been produced, and the Express ended production in
2000 after selling over 1.7M vans. During the Renault 5’s life it had been
produced in many countries, and some continued production. Iran started producing the
Siete saloon in 1975 and moved on to make the first generation Renault 5. After the Iranian
revolution Iran was ostracised from the west, but they -continued making these cars for their
home market, and also countries such as Algeria. So, it was still being produced when the
second generation ended production in Europe, and they’d continue producing it into
the 2000s as the Frankenstein Sepand PK with mechanicals from the Kia Pride
and a Mazda engine! From 2006 a joint agreement with Renault has resulted in
new cars like the Mégane coming to Iran and the Renault 5 in all its Frankenstein
glory ended production after 34 years. It’s a little hard to correlate all the production
figures, but it’s safe to conclude around 11M Renault 5s or derivatives thereof were produced,
and many have a nostalgia for the classic Renault 5 shape that had been seen for so long on
French roads. Renault thought about bringing the 5 back in 2012. That didn’t happen, but
when Renault announced a revolution in 2021 or “Renaulution” as they called it, they showed
a new Renault 5 EV concept. Well, recycling the shape had worked once before, so why not again?
The new Renault 5 EV takes the story full circle, from the EV concept the year the Renault
5 launched to a new chapter for one of the first practical hatchbacks. It includes several
classic Renault 5 cues, including the widened rear wheel arches of the Renault 5 Turbo, the charge
port on the bonnet where a grille used to be, and the rear lights. Time will tell how close
the production car comes to this vision, and if 21st century customers respond as
enthusiastically as 20th century customers did. With such a popular shape that was a hit
for so long, it’s hard to see how it will fail. As Renault has worked on the design they’ve
expanded their vision with the Renault 5 Turbo 3E concept. It’s clearly not been designed
for the road – that rear spoiler wouldn’t do well in crash safety testing – but it’s a sign
that Renault feel they can make an EV with some of the potency of the 1980s Renault 5 Turbo.
And with a claimed 0-60 time of 3½ seconds, and playful touches like a “Free Play” button
to start it, it looks like it could be a worthy successor to a car that is an institution in
France. There’s a lot said about other classic French cars such as the Citroën 2CV, but the
Renault 5 has sold more in less time. It was an innovative, truly practical car that people took
to their hearts, and has stood the test of time. Twenty years after the Renault 5, the Twingo
was another stylish, popular car that captured the hearts of French car buyers. The video on the
right talks about its history with Renault’s head of design at the time – Patrick le Quément. Thanks
for watching and I’ll see you in the next video.
