An anti land yacht, spotted at a recently held Dutch show for all kinds of Renault vehicles, regardless their age. A 1987 Renault 5 GT Turbo that can be best described as a streetfighter motorbike with four wheels and a full body.
The second generation of the Renault 5, also known as Renault Supercinq or Super 5, was introduced in 1984. Still very reminiscent of the 1972 original, yet with transverse engines.
The Supercinq hot hatch -read Peugeot 205 GTI competitor- was the GT Turbo. In its first years, it had a 115 DIN-hp, 1.4 liter engine with a Garrett T2 turbocharger.
That’s all fine, but I strongly suspect that the owner of this GT Turbo didn’t settle for 115 eager horses…
There, a sequential manual transmission, genuine sport seats, and a completely stripped interior.
The roll cage and absence of rear seats complete the picture(s).
And speaking of no rear seats, the Renault flyweight is registered as a van (commercial vehicle). Sir, ma’am, your parcel will arrive soon enough!
Related article/full story:
Curbside Classic: 1990 Renault 5 (Supercinq) GT Turbo – Plenty Of Baguette Up’n’Go by Tatra87
The so-called Le Car in the USA. The European version was better, with more engines and models. It was an iconic car for almost 30 years.
No, the LeCar was the first generation.
What GG says, the Le Car was a first gen Renault 5.
My first own car was a 1982 R5 (so also first gen) with a brutal 845 cc engine. Everything manual: the 4-speed transmission, choke, and the summer/winter setting of the air intake (a flexible tube, basically). And the rest too, of course.
Yes, the Le Car was the first generation of the Renault 5, the one seen here is the second.
Jimmy likes.
I have no overwhelming desire to own anything Renault, but if I did then this color combination would likely have to be part of it. And the Supercinq is one of the best styling updates of any car, ever, by leaving it instantly recognizable and also making it more modern than the date it was (re)created if that makes sense. And in GT Turbo form? Did it come any other way that I would have noticed? Non.
As this one sits, it’s pretty much perfect to my eye, and I can see why you took pix of it, although given the actual choice between it and a 205 GTI I’d probably take the 205. But that’s perhaps next month’s show…
No problem zipping around back roads at the stroke of midnight with those Rally lamp pods. The are kind of funny looking but mighty effective.
Registering as a van because it has no rear seats is brilliant. It reminds of the Porsche 924 I saw in New York City in the 80s with commercial plates so the owner could park in loading zones.
Is that an Estafette in the background?
I clearly remember that especially young guys bought new B-segment (subcompact) hot hatches with a panel van conversion. Back then, say around 1990, it was enough to remove the rear seats, put in a flat floor, and have the rear side windows blacked out. It made the car itself cheaper and it was cheaper to run (less road tax).
Later on, the legislation became stricter and stricter. No way you can drive around these days with a VW Golf GTI ‘panel van’, registered as a commercial vehicle.
And yes, that’s an Estafette 800.
That shape sure held up well. Nice find Johannes
What a cutie ! .
I too love those built in driving lamps, when I was young I loved driving late at night when there was little other traffic .
I remember “Le Car” being derided as not reliable, were they any good ? .
Add the interior bits back and I’d love to rock this thing .
Noisy vehicles get tiring as one ages out .
-Nate
Nate, this is a ‘Le Car 2.0’, the second generation of the R5, with transverse engines. And less flimsy/more serious than the first gen R5/Le Car.
As mentioned further above, I had a first gen R5 in the eighties, powered by a lawn mower engine and utterly, utterly basic. Sadly, it burned down to the ground in 1990. Not the Renault’s fault, I must add.
The GT Turbo at the show is as far from a comfy highway cruiser as you can imagine. It roared away -on a perfectly straight road- when I was checking out Renault’s farm tractor division of yore.