Renault 4

Renault 4 (1961-1967)

The Renault 4 - R4 short - is a small car from Renault ( Régie Nationale des Usines Renault) and was manufactured by the summer of 1961 until the end of 1992. The R4 was one of the first production vehicles with a "fifth door " ( wide-opening tailgate ) and the first Renault car with front wheel drive. The market was very successful car during the 31- year production period than eight million copies.

History

On August 28, 1961, Renault presented the R4, which was until 1965 officially " renamed " in the Renault 4 in the French press as a low-cost cars

He was introduced at the IAA in Frankfurt on 21 September 1961, was a fair star. According to this press release drove 200 white R4 at the Eiffel Tower in Paris over what was then already was a remarkable marketing campaign for Renault.

In August 1967, the R4 was modified for the first time. These visual enhancements included a revised anodised aluminum radiator grille, the wider bezel laterally extended up to the headlights. The Renault rhombus wandered into a centrally framed strut on the right side.

In the fall of 1974, the R4 models were similar to the larger Renault 16 a black plastic grill. The Renault logo, the rhombus, was now again centrally located in the radiator grille.

From mid- 1976 until the end of 1978 a first deliverable only in two colors special model named "Safari" was offered, the side rubber rails and special seats with integrated head restraints possessed. From 1977 square stand and flashing lights were now mounted in front.

With the introduction of the Renault 4 GTL in early 1978 ( 1108 cc, 34 hp) got the series a grill made ​​of gray plastic and standard lateral protective strips made of reinforced plastic. The bumpers were painted instead of chrome and trim accounted for. The front drum brakes were later replaced by the disc brakes of the R6.

Renault 4 (1967-1974)

Renault 4 (1974-1978)

Rear view

Renault 4 (1978-1992)

Interior (1987)

Success

His success is attributable to the R4 to the fact that he was practical, inexpensive and, apart from corrosion-prone frame and body, mechanically robust. Not only students and young families appreciated the R4, but also the Spanish Guardia Civil and the French Gendarmerie used the R4 as service vehicles until well into the 1990s.

Technology

The R4 has a platform frame, with the non -supporting body is screwed. The wheels are independently mounted and sprung with torsion bars, the front of the lower support lever with push rods and upper wishbones, rear of longitudinally mounted swing. The rear torsion bars are longitudinally offset, so the wheelbase is on the left and right different. This design was also at the Renault 5 models to find Renault 6 and Renault 16, even with these there were the different wheelbase. Braking is done with four drum brakes.

Later models with larger engine (depending on country version 956 or 1108 cc ) have disc brakes on the front axle. Front of the engine, the transmission with the differential and above the rack and pinion are mounted, resulting in a flat and long steering column caused to penetrate in a frontal impact to the passenger compartment, endangering the driver can. Until 1967, a three-speed gearbox was fitted, after a four-course. These transmissions have aluminum housing and the input shaft protrudes forward so that the engine with the jack handle can be started, which is inserted through the bumper and the frame for transmission. Produced from 1975 onwards cars have the same transmission as the Renault 5 with cast iron housings can not be started with a crank and therefore have not the characteristic hole in the bumper. The circuit was operated by a round tube, which was conducted over the engine ( the so-called turret indexing ). The manufacturer Sinpar offered a four-wheel drive for all versions. The vehicles had already in the early 1970s a brake controller and infinitely adjustable backrests on the front seats, which was then not even offered in an almost twice as expensive car like the Opel Kadett. The suspension is, as usual, as interpreted by this time at French cars very soft, the beam width is therefore adjustable with small levers on the headlights. The water-cooled OHV four-cylinder in-line engines are considered to be robust. The engine performance has been over the years increased only insignificantly, to the first vehicles since 1961 from about 26 hp to 34 hp (from August 1970) until the end of production.

In 1978 Renault addition to R4 GTL with 1108 cc ( "standard type" 845 cc ) on the market, the more pulling offered at unchanged maximum power, but less used.

In 1983 had the smaller models for environmental reasons only 29 hp, only the version GTL had 34 hp. In Austria, all versions were delivered with 34 hp, after the introduction of the three - way cat - duty ( with lambda probe ) of the distribution in Austria has been set.

An exception was the Renault Rodéo, who first appeared in the fall of 1970 as Rodéo 4, also with 845 cc on the market. In the fall of 1972, the Rodéo 6, which had 1108 cc displacement and 45 hp followed. In the summer of 1981 sparked the Rodéo 5 with 1280 cc and 45 hp models from both.

The combination of front-wheel drive, independent suspension, a relatively long wheelbase combined with a largely flat vehicle floor and the height of the body helped the R4 to a good use of space and a high utility value with sufficient motorization.

The R4 the first model years were still 6- volt on-board voltage, and the starter was operated by a push button on the dashboard.

It was the simple mechanics, low consumption, low maintenance costs, as well as the versatility that brought success to the R4 even in uneven terrain thanks to the long wheelbase, in many parts of the world. The R4 has been criticized for its lack of corrosion protection - the hollow sections of the platform frame rusted from the inside through when the new car was not protected by vacuum sealing. Also the build quality was temporarily want ( depending on the installation ) left.

Variants

Thanks to the platform frame, it was possible to fit other body styles. So there was between mid-1965 and late 1992 the R4 as Fourgonnette Renault 4 F4, between early 1975 and late 1990 when Renault 4 F6 with 12 cm longer wheelbase and 20 cm long structure from 1968 to 1971 as a convertible (R4 Plein Air called ) and by the fall of 1970 with plastic construction as Renault Rodéo 4 also known as pickup it was built is limited to mid- 1981.

In Colombia, there was the R4 with a 1289 cc engine from the R12, which speeds up to 145 km / h allowed. In small series of the Renault R4 was also built by the company Sinpar with selectable four-wheel drive. Technology and underbody of the R4 also found the Renault 6 use.

Renault 4 " Plein Air" ( 1968-1971 )

Renault 4 F6 (1975-1990 )

Renault 3

The Renault 3 - short R3 - was the economy version of the Renault 4, which was offered from September 1961 to August 1962 only in France. With a smaller engine of 603 cc fitted, it was arranged in a more favorable French motor vehicle tax bracket. In addition to a more fuel-efficient equipment marked him above all the missing third side windows between C- and D-pillar.

However, the model did not sit through the market, so the production was discontinued after less than a year.

Production figures

By 1964, half a million copies were produced, in 1966 there were already one million vehicles. In December 1977, five million vehicles were already in production until 1986, when it was 7.5 million.

The end of 1988 the last models were sold in Germany, because the R4 no longer met the stringent emission limit values ​​in Germany.

The end of 1992 the production of the Renault 4 in Colombia has been set. The production in Yugoslavia with the body tools were destroyed in the early 1990s during the Balkan War, until then, a total of 8,135,424 vehicles of the various R4 models were rolled off the line.

In 1998, Renault's Kangoo a vehicle on the market, which was described by the press as the legitimate successor to the R4.

Stock in Germany

Credited the stock of Renault 4 is in Germany on 1 January of selected years, according to the Federal Motor Vehicle Office. Before 1 March 2007, the fleet comprised, in addition to the number of vehicles registered, the number of temporary closures. Since 1 March 2007, the vehicle population contains only the " flow of traffic " including the season mark.

After the final report of the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control 54 Renault 4 were scrapped in favor of the scrapping premium between 27 January 2009 and 31 July 2010.

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