Registration No: J144 EFU
Chassis No: VF111280006264902
MOT: July 2023
Estimate: £3,000 - £4,000

Motor Car Location: Staffordshire

• Imported from France in 2019 and UK registered with V5C document
• 128,000km c.79,500 miles recorded
• Offered with a MOT into July 2023
• A rare sight on UK roads

The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle" in French), is a small economy car produced by Renault between 1961 and 1994. It was very much a utilitarian 'voiture' in a similar vein to the Citroen 2CV and the Dyane. Although the Renault 4 was marketed as a short station wagon, its minimal rear overhang, and single top-hinged rear opening made it the world's first mass-produced hatchback car, as well as the first front-wheel drive family car produced by Renault.

The car was launched at a time when several decades of economic stagnation were giving way to growing prosperity and surging car ownership in France. The first million cars were produced by 1 February 1966, less than four and a half years after launch; eventually over eight million were built, making the Renault 4 a commercial success because of the timing of its introduction and the merits of its design. In early 2020, the 33-year production run of the Renault 4 was counted as the seventeenth most long-lived single generation car in history.

Motorsport plays a role in the heritage of the marque…yes, really. Renault 4s had certain advantages in its high torque and a suspension and ground-clearance that gave it go-anywhere capabilities. This meant that Renault was able to give it a sporting image with programs such as the "Cross Elf Cup of France" in 1974 and the "Routes du Monde" program in 1968. The latter was a project in which Renault would lend young people cars to travel the world in, and this would help to give the Renault 4 an adventurous and durable image.

A Renault 4 Sinpar (the four-wheel drive version) was entered in the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1979 and 1980 by Bernard and Claude Marreau, coming fifth in 1979 and in third in 1980. The Renault 4 continued to feature in many long distance rallies after production ceased, such as in 2001, in the London-Sahara-London rally (Renault 4 GTL) and the 2008 Mongol Rally.

The car on offer is just a standard car and wears decals that pay merely pay 'hommage' to the motorsport history of the '4'. Imported from France in 2019 and UK registered with V5C document, it displays 128,000km/ c.79,500 miles recorded on the odometer. The '4' is offered with an MOT into July 2023. A rare sight on UK roads.

For more information, please contact:
James McWilliam
james.mcwilliam@handh.co.uk
07943 584760