Car Show Classic: 1981 Renault 14 TL – Why Don’t You Grow A Pear

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– Posted on September 9, 2024

This week we will explore a category of cars that is relatively difficult to find nowadays, despite there being many examples of their occurrence. “French Four-door (or Five-door, in this case) Fails” is the motto, and therein lays the issue: cars that didn’t sell too well in the distant past, be they French or otherwise, are by nature pretty thin on the ground now. But I still have a few goodies from my summer 2023 stint back in the home country, where I found this perfectly preserved R14 – a perfect embodiment of French automotive failure.

The year was 1976 and Europe was gripped by hatchback fever. Almost all major carmakers were at it, apart from the ones that merely aped the new fad by doing fastbacks (e.g. Alfasud, Austin Allegro, Citroën GS…). In France, one of the most ardent promoters of the rear hatch was Renault, the nationalized automotive giant. And their latest car, the 14, was going to be the ultimate compact family hatchback — a bang up-to-date competitor in the most cutthroat of segments.

It made sense for the new R14 to follow the hatchback trend, both from the point of view of the segment and within Renault’s range. Having imposed the hatchback design on their popular R4 (top left) and the trendy R5 (top right), as well as on the larger cars like the R16 (bottom left) and the new R20/R30 (bottom right), up to now Renault were still sticking with the three-box formula for their compact 1100-1300cc family cars, formerly represented by the rear-engined R8 and R10 (middle left), but now embodied by the R12. The newcomer was to occupy the same segment as the R12, but with an added dash of practicality and (hopefully) style.

We’ll get back to the styling in due course, but first let’s examine the R14’s internals. Even though it was to be a companion car to the R12, the R14 was a rather different animal under the skin. Its engine was a new 1.2 litre OHC 4-cyl. with its 4-speed gearbox located underneath, like the BMC Mini or the Peugeot 204. This engine-gearbox assembly was made by a joint-venture company between Renault and Peugeot, who used the same engine at the higher end of the 104 range.

The R14 used the Peugeot 104’s front MacPherson suspension (a first on a Renault), but the rear featured the same transverse torsion bar setup seen on many contemporary Renaults, making the R14’s left wheelbase longer by 3cm than its right.

Renaults of this era were not known for having an abundance of gadgetry, and the R14 was no exception. The GTL and TS variants had a little more content than this base model TL, but the main positive point about these (and many Renaults) was comfort. Nice soft seats, great suspension, low decibel count – the R14 was a nice place to ride in.

These are pretty compact cars, with just 253-256cm (99-100 in.) between the axles, but space utilization was near optimal. Renault claimed there was as much cabin space in these as in the R16, despite the 10cm longer wheelbase.

Dynamically, the car was deemed quite satisfactory for the era, with above-average roadholding and breaking. The Peugeot-Renault engine was capable and relatively quiet, but could prove a bit troublesome to start in humid conditions. The steering was criticized as being “weird” and the gearchange was also judged as below par, but not irredeemably so.

The main issue with many Renaults of the ‘60s and ‘70s was their, shall we say, unorthodox approach to styling. The Renault 6 was roundly panned for its ugliness, the R12 was a very odd shape and the R15/17 coupés, though they have their fans, are an acquired taste. On the other hand, the R5 was perfectly adorable and the R16 quite classy and innovative. With its bulky rounded derriere and its anonymous face, the R14, unfortunately, belonged to the head-scratcher category.

Initially, the front end had a peculiar sad-eyed visage. None of the Renaults at the time had much in the way of family resemblance; this was like the anti-R5, which had such a joyful demeanour about it. A facelift in 1979 moved the turn signals from the bumper to the end of the fenders, giving the 14 a bit of the new R18’s more confident look.

But the thing that caused the R14 to fail, more than anything, was the ill-conceived “pear” advertising campaign of 1977. The PR firm tried to emphasize the car’s unusual rounded shape, which they alleged made it more comfortable, passenger-centric and roomy. The obvious issue (at least obvious to every non-PR French person who saw these ads) was that une poire (“a pear”) is a common slang term that can best be translated as “chump.”

It was a disaster. The R14, barely a year in production, became known as a sap’s car. Renault went all-in on the ad campaign for several months before they realized what a terrible effect it was having on their car’s image. Above, a July 1977 ad urges readers to “Compare the Renault 14 with its rivals” – somewhere between absurd and abysmal. But let’s go ahead and do that comparison anyway, albeit for MY 1981.

In context, the Renault 14 really wasn’t all that bad, either aesthetically or performance-wise. Our feature car, being a cheaper base model TL, was just a few francs cheaper than the Mazda, but all of these other cars (save for the Lancia) are mid-to-high level trim, so the GTL fits better in this table. I tried to find prices for hatchbacks only, but failed to get a full roster – the Allegro is a fastback, but it has no hatch. The Toyota Tercel, the Mitsubishi Mirage or the Honda Civic should be in its place, really.

The aforementioned fruity fumble aside, Renault customers had a number of other issues with the R14. One was the engine, which was not strictly Renault technology. At the time, this counted for a lot: quite a few folks were used to doing their own maintenance, and they were used to the Cléon OHV 4-cyl. – a very well-known quantity. This was even prevalent among Renault dealers, who would promote the R12 and its trusted engine over the R14’s not-really-kosher Peugeot-derived drivetrain. Renault tried to address this by creating a deluxe TS version for MY 1978, featuring a 69hp version of the 1.2 litre, switching to a 71hp 1360cc variant in 1980, but there wasn’t much they could do. If people preferred the old technology, it was available on other models, so those sold better than the R14.

Another big issue – albeit one that was prevalent on late ‘70s Renaults in general, not just the R14 – was appalling rust-protection. Some cars were falling to bits in 2-3 years. To be fair, it wasn’t just Renaults, but being the state-owned “number one national carmaker”, French politicians and Renault owners lay a lot of the blame at the régie’s feet. Early R14s were notoriously quick to rust, and Renault only seriously addressed the problem from 1980 onward.

Sales were well below expectations from the off, peaking at 200k units per year in 1979 and in 1980. The death blow came with the introduction of the Renault 9 (a.k.a Alliance) in late 1981: the poor R14’s annual sales for 1982 sank to less than 70,000 units, while Renault churned out half a million of the newcomer R9 for the same model year. The R14 was put out of Renault’s misery the following year, even as the hatchback R11 (a.k.a Encore) debuted.

Renault tabled on manufacturing about 2.5 million of these, but barely made a million units in the end. Aside from Spain, export markets were not keen on the R14, either – and they never had the silly adverts to contend with. Perhaps it’s just one of those cars that never had a chance, but it also had all the bad luck in the world along with it. Sometimes, that’s the way the pear crumbles.