Renault 4CV
The Renault 4CV, also called " Cremeschnittchen " (also written Crèmeschnittchen ) called, was a four-door car, the Renault from 1946 to 1961 built.
History
The Renault 4CV was secretly developed since 1942 in occupied France, because the Vichy government had banned under pressure from the German occupying power, the development and production of civilian vehicles. Because of the successful preparations have already started testing the prototypes in November 1945. The vehicle was officially presented in October 1946 at the Paris Motor Show.
The 4CV was like the VW Beetle rear engine and rear wheel drive, unlike the latter, but no air-cooled boxer, but a water-cooled 4- cylinder in-line engine.
The serial production began in 1947 the Renault plant in Billancourt, near Paris, and ran until 1961. Overall, 1.1 million 4CV were built. Due to high demand Renault introduced the licensed production abroad (for example, in Spain at FASA ), with prefabricated parts were assembled in France. The term 4CV is how the Citroën 2CV for the French tax class "CV".
Along with the Citroën 2CV became the Renault 4CV to the French version of the "people's car ". Both were simple designs, which the masses in France motorized in the 1950s. They even had - in contrast to Volkswagen - four doors. All were posted on the B- pillar, so he had called the front suicide doors.
In the first series production vehicles from the Renault 4CV is still in use in the factory existing Remnants of desert camouflage of the German Afrika Korps. Because of this color gives the car the name " Motte de Beurre " was popularly (butter lumps ), the nickname " Cremeschnittchen " originally came from the Saarland, where until 1959 a customs union with France was and turned out the car about 3/ 4 of all approvals. Vehicles from the Federal Republic of Germany should have been declared.
Also in the Benelux countries coined the 4CV his time mainly the streetscape. Since then, the car was manufactured from 1957 in Valladolid, Spain, he sat by on the Iberian Peninsula. In 1953, the Japanese company Hino built the car license, where it is used primarily as a right-hand drive taxi was salvaged. Because of the strong demand for small cars of the 4CV was not exported to the U.S., which happened only with the parallel built since 1956 Renault Dauphine, the "American" looked considerably. So to speak, in the wake of Dauphine made it then but still about 15,000 4CV in the States; most buyers were formerly stationed in France American soldiers.
The " Kattschewo " ( quatre chevaux; German 4 HP ) had by 1948 standard radial tires ( Michelin X). During the period of production of the car was changed very little, so there was in 1955 a different dashboard, the engine power was increased from 17 to 19.5 hp and fitted with a starter solenoid. In 1957, the characteristic "star wheel " ( jantes étoiles ) in favor of conventional steel disc wheels were abandoned. The car now had 21 hp and could be ordered with heating. In 1959 the power of the engine was increased to 26 hp in 1961 received the " farewell models " crank front windows instead of sliding windows.
In April 1954, half a million were celebrating the end of 1958 the 4CV Renault the first to reach the 1 million mark. However, were at the time the sales figures already down. With the end of the last layer before the vacation in July 1961, the last 4CV rolled off the assembly; According to official factory specifications were hitherto 1,105,547 cars. However, the Japanese sister model Hino Renault 4CV remained until 1966 in production. The concept of rear-wheel drive Renault introduced in the later models Dauphine and R8/R10, etc.; Engine, transmission and steering of the 4CV were still used in 1961 in its front-wheel drive successor R4.
Technology
The car was equipped with a water-cooled 4 - cylinder in-line engine in the rear, the 21 hp ( 15.4 kW) made from 741 cc at 4000 rpm. He had a 3- speed manual transmission and a top speed of 100 km / h Bench tests showed that the aggregate has a good elastic behavior of the force deployment, which justifies the waiver of a fourth switching stage. Was objected that the engine in the entire operating range operates with excess fuel and therefore has a high specific fuel consumption.
Variants
From 4CV there was a small series with sliding cover, the décapotable ( literally: hood removable).
The French Gendarmerie had in the major cities for quick intervention ( riot squad ) is a blue- white-painted special model with 33 -horsepower engine and much larger rear window. Because the windowless doors were very much cut down, this strange vehicle in the vernacular " Panier à Salade " (salad basket) was called.
A Spartan economy version presented the model Affaires (business ) that it had no chrome, seats that were covered as sun loungers, and not even an ignition lock with key.
As a model Commerciale the car had no rear seats and an unclad rear as cargo space. However, because of the conditional by the rear engine difficult possibilities of feeding it found few buyers. Alternatively, Renault offered under the name Juvaquatre a station wagon / van with front engine on a construction from the 1930s, who received the interior and the front -mounted engine of the 4CV 1954. The Juvaquatre was built until 1960.
The French coachbuilding company Chapron has some Renault 4CV converted to full- cabriolets with modern lines and Brissonneau & Lotz originated from 1955 to 1959, the convertible Brissonneau 4CV.
Until the mid- 1950s, the 4CV took part in the race, there were numerous alterations as race versions.
Race wins
Remarkable
The quasi common successor of the 4CV and Juvaquatre was in 1961 with the Renault 4 (R4 ) a vehicle that was both saloon and estate cars. The car ran at the same time a the era of front-wheel drive vehicles at Renault. The designers built in an ingeniously simple way the engine and the transmission of the 4CV in the old rear drive assembly forward in R4. The transmission was characterized in the same direction in front of the engine, the old rear-wheel drive was equipped with constant velocity drive shafts, for front wheel drive. In this way, the direct - drive concept 4CV survived half a century, from the Urkonstruktion the 4CV 1942 to the end of production of the R4 in 1992.
The Spanish automobile company FASA produced the Renault 4CV in license to market it on the Iberian peninsula as a Renault 4/4. Between 1953 and 1959, 26 294 units of 4/4 were produced. Major optical differentiator for original French were six chrome-trimmed openings that were left of the license plate on the rear. They were used for additional ventilation and were mounted in two horizontal rows of three trains.