Friday, August 24, 2012

Renault LeCar walkaround


In case you don't remember, Renault sold cars in the U.S. until the 1987 model year. The Renaults I remember included the Alliance, Encore, Fuego, and of course, the LeCar, which preceded the rest of these vehicles. The little LeCar, with its three-lug wheels and French hatchback styling, was always a bit different from the American, Japanese, and German hatchbacks of the '70 and '80s. Why? Well, this video, shot by micro car enthusiast, Mark Hatten of MPH Specialties, should explain some of the reasons. In case you were wondering, the LeCar was sold in the U.S. from 1976 through 1983, was marketed through American Motors (AMC), and had a 55 horsepower 1.4-liter engine. Oui, oui!

3 comments:

Ducati Scotty said...

The Citreon 2CV also had trailing arm rear suspension, as well as leading arm front suspension. It also had a ridiculous amount of suspension travel. As I recall, the designer wanted a farmer to be able to drive across a field with a basket of eggs on the seat and not break any. Now that's truly a car for the people!

Anonymous said...

Renault isn't exactly known for their reliability, are they?

Anonymous said...

Actually the design parameters about driving across the field was for the original Citroen 2CV. One unique thing about the Le Car was the transmission was in front of the engine in a longitudinal fashion. Also, Le Cars were actually very reliable. As a previous owner of a 1980 Le Car I have to say that it was a fun car with a lot of character. It was also interesting that other Le Car owners would always wave.