Charisse Babouche
Paris, February 8, 2018. At the 2018 Retromobile Show, Renault is exhibiting 20 vintage vehicles from the Renault Classic collection. The show looks back on 120 years of innovations that have made consumers’ lives easier.
120 candles for Renault!
Renault is celebrating its 120th birthday this year! In 1898, Louis Renault drove up the steep rue Lepic in Montmartre, Paris in his “voiturette”. Surprised by the simplicity of the drive, onlookers went out to order the car. The Renault Frères company was born.
Renault Type A, Renault’s first car (1898)
The 20 vehicles on show demonstrate the brand’s quest to develop cars that make customers’ lives easier.
With its “4 doors, 4 seats, 4 horsepower” slogan, the 4CV is the symbol of the practical and affordable car, synonymous with post-war freedom. Each Renault is a car for living.
The 4CV, the car of freedom (1946)
Useful cars, cars for living
To make the lives of its customers easier, Renault innovates and constantly renews the automotive sector.
In 1965, Renault took a forward-looking view on customer needs by launching the Renault 16. The Renault 16 was packed with innovations for customers, including electric windows, an electric automatic gearbox and a hatchback.
The Renault 16 and its architectural and technical boldness (1965)
In another invention for another time, Renault invented the minivan in 1984. Espace was a spacious and comfortable car with a convivial cabin.
Espace, the embodiment of the car for living (1984)
Renault cars are also useful cars. For the Retromobile Show, the Estafette “Glacier”, a practical vehicle to sell ice creams with its sliding doors and flat floor, has been transformed into a store to celebrate Renault’s 120th birthday.
The Estafette “Glacier” (1959)
“The past always has a future”
With the slogan “The past always has a future”, the Retromobile Show marries automotive history with future innovations. Blending the past, present and future is an approach that makes a lot of sense to Renault.
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Discover the treasures from the Renault Classic collection at the Retromobile Show from February 7-11 at Porte de Versailles in Paris.