If you’d asked me to name the least likely car I’d stumble across while passing through Kearney, Nebraska, a Renault Encore would certainly be close to the top of the list, if in fact I even remembered the car. This is Corn Country, so pickups and lots of domestic nameplates are the order of the day. Then again, for a few short years, Renault was granted a golden visa due to its investment into American Motors and produced some of their products in Kenosha, Wisconsin for domestic consumption. At least, that is, until the bosses ate some cheese and went all surrender monkey on the scheme due to the market shifting and priorities changing, yada yada yada, thus immediately selling everything to Chrysler and taking their Renault signage back to France after the 1987 model year, never to be seen again.
That left over 623,000 Renault Alliance sedans and its Encore hatchback siblings roaming the roads of North America without an overly enthusiastic dealer network to support them. Although having been feted by Motor Trend (Car of the Year) as well as Car & Driver (Ten Best List) as the best thing since sliced baguette with brie, Americans generally managed to exterminate these little cars fairly quickly, adding yet another stain to the general reputation of French cars in the States. Alliances were far more common than the Encore (and in fact during its last year of 1987 the Encore was actually renamed to become the Alliance hatchback); I don’t believe I’ve seen an Encore in at least two decades. An Alliance though I did find a few years back, albeit in final repose, and that sighting too had me rushing for the keyboard, although chances of being scooped on the subject were just as slim.
Yet here this one sits, clearly looking like a rust free and cherished daily driver. I’m pegging it as a 1985 model due to not seeing a Center High Mounted Stop Light (CHMSL) in the rear window, and those wheels seemed to debut in 1985 on the GS version which was also blessed with the 1.7 liter inline-4 along with a 5-speed manual transmission (as opposed to the standard 1.4l and 4-speed). Top spec, in other words, and perhaps the best (and best-looking) of the breed until the 2.0l Alliance GTA came along in ’87.
The yellow color on this one is great, perhaps paying homage to Renault’s corporate color scheme. Or maybe just the local corn. Kearney is a college town and those always seem to have some interesting rides (the Smart car in the background isn’t exactly common in these parts either…); there’s usually a mechanic somewhere nearby used to dabbling in obscure and/or orphaned drivetrains. Alloys add the requisite sporting intent, and the round fog lights might be a small homage to the six big round pots hanging off the front end of the R5Turbo rally car for night stages…
So yeah, overall it was quite exciting seeing this little kernel sitting in its driveway, and certainly brightened up my late afternoon, adding a welcome dose of joie de vivre. Now I somehow have a hankering for un petit cognac paired with a Gauloise…
Originally called Renault 11. Very popular here in Greece and most parts of southern Europe.
The 2-door version that they had in the US was not seen here.
Wow – that’s unexpected!
I’m going to take a big guess and assume that this yellow Encore is the same one as in this Youtube video below – it was evidently sold at a South Dakota auction in 2022. Unless it was another yellow Encore on the Great Plains.
And the yellow… the car actually looks pretty natural in yellow, but I had to look up to make sure it wasn’t really a color offered in ’85. With the Encore’s inherent weirdness, the color sort of matches.
I’m not 100% certain this is a GS, despite the wheels. Looks like the ’85 GS came with an air dam and passenger-side outside mirror, which this car doesn’t have. Of course those things may have been removed at some point in the last 4 decades, and then again, it does have the wheels and the rear spoiler of the GS. Regardless, this is outstanding – thanks for taking these shots!
Great video find. Yes, it is the same car! The most obvious evidence, is the lighter paint colour under the front bumper.
Yes, that is absolutely the same car, good find! It seems to run well! Even with all of the visible overspray, yellow is a great color for this and perhaps should have been offered that way originally.
Reminds me of the Archer Brothers Racing Team Renault’s in that bright yellow. Only missing the big black numbers, bottom stripes and logos. These were built to compete in the Renault Cup road course races and later in the Champion Spark Plug Challenge, in which they cleaned up in their class. Brings back memories. How I miss my 1985 Encore LS.
It’s perfect there in that big field.
Excellent find! It does look very cheerful in yellow. Reminiscent of a Cheerios box. Further proof, any car can last indefinitely, with a dedicated owner, and a parts supply. Very ’80s style, has aged well, including those graphic alloys. They played it safe, with the conservative DeLorean DMC-12 like nose. I always liked the efficient designs of the Alliance and Encore. Track might be widened here, for the better. And the round fog lights do provide a visual contrast. It does look rally-ready. I wonder if the owner has named their car? I suggest, ‘Sabine’. lol
Great find. You got to the point that I was going to make there at the end, which is about how Kearney is not 100% typical for what one might find in Nebraska. College towns never are typical, and my experience with Kearney is that there’s more there than might meet the eye. Still, it would be interesting to talk to the owner who also has a Smart car. I’ll bet there’s some kind of good story there.
Next time I’m in Kearney, I’ll look for this car. (Assuming that there’s time because I also fully intend to get to the Kool-Aid museum in nearby Hastings)
I’m not sure if this is a GS or a regular Encore that has been spruced up. I had an ’85 GS, it had blacked out trim on the window frames, a tape stripe on the side and black side view mirrors, right and left. Also, the driving lights are different from what my vehicle was equipped with. Too bad you couldn’t get a picture of the interior to verify if it had the front seats with side bolsters.
Still, finding a Renault after all these years is amazing-I think you could call it a unicorn experience. It seemed like after Chrysler bought AMC and terminated the Appliance with extreme prejudice, these vehicles seemed to disappear almost overnight.
Very popular with my college buddies when they graduated as fully equipped cheap new or lightly used cars. Quickly became too expensive or impossible to repair but very comfortable to sit in while waiting for a tow. Most, if not all of these men now in their 60’s, still shutter when they see a croissant, a photo of the Normandie or French toast on a menu. One even went to the Paris games to seek closure and stopped by a Renault dealership. The salesman gave kissed him on both cheeks, they shared a big hug, and he placed him a Kangoo. They both wept openly and he was forgiven for the USS Lafayette fire.
The 83 Alliance I had in college started to self-destruct after about 75,000 miles. Stuff just kept breaking, and the parts were expensive. My car was the “Car of the Year edition” so it had the 1.4 and the 5 speed. You really, really had to drive that car hard to get passable acceleration. But man, were those front seats comfy.
‘Banana Split’ was a classic pop hit in France, in the early ’80’s. Suits this Renault.
Kearney, a place deeply seared into my memory as one of our overnight (non-resting) places on our annual pilgrimages to the Rockies (the other was Holdridge) in the early ’60s. All six of the Niedermeyers in one big happy motel room, staying up late and fostering family togetherness playing games into the wee hours. My father let down his hair, ran over to the liquor store and got a bottle of rye which eventually got passed around to all of us wee ones after he got pretty plastered. It was a rollicking good time; I’ll never forget it!.
Oh, right; great find there.
An almost 40 years old Renault 11 (or whatever) in the US, parblue! Never mind it’s yellow.
Once very common around here, because C-segment/compact hatchback (there was a sheer endless line-up available, besides the inevitable VW Golf, offered by European and Japanese manufacturers). Now I only see these at old-Renaults-only-events.
Not a bad-looking little car! I still think the GTA is pretty cool.
My preference are the quad-headlamp 1985 convertibles, before the CHMSL. They were ‘just right’, at least in appearance, a sort of poor-man’s 3-series BMW.
If only the quality had been better, say, engineered and built by Toyota instead of Renault.
Well, the most remarkable thing is that it hasn’t rusted away.
There are old cars that I could see myself owning (like te 59 Plymouth that Mr. Pellegrino found for us today). Then there are old cars like this – I am happy that someone owns it, and happy that the someone is not me.
One of the best curbside fonds we’ve had here in a while. Absolutely astounding.
And also a reminder that 85 killed a lot of interesting holdout cars due to changing regulations. The W123 never got a CHMSL for this reason and I’ve been thinking about retrofitting one to my 85. The weird first aid kit location makes things hard though.
I got a rental Alliance in San Diego, pulled into traffic out of the lot, and was nearly smashed by a huge Lincoln because the damned thing had no go.
An dating couple of coworkers had an Encore and a Nissan Pulsar–briefly, even shorter than their marriage. She taught a friend’s toddler to yell “Nissan Pulsar–Big Mistake!” Don’t know if her ex-husband’s name replaced it.
Ralph L exposited:
“pulled into traffic out of the lot, and was nearly smashed
by a huge Lincoln because the damned thing had no go.”
No – because the huge Lincoln was likely SPEEDING.
They’re not so bad if you look after them, I’ve got two R9’s, both 41 years old and both still in daily use in what passes for ‘summer” up here in rainy Scotland.
Here they are..
Hi Buck. Your pic needs to be in JPEG format. With a recommended maximum size of 1800 pixels squared. Thanks.
Alive and Kicking from 1985. Context for how alive and kicking this Encore is.
Remember the “convertible, versions” coming in some bright colors. Not so much the “sedans, or hatches.
jpeg it is
C’est incredible! Just, wow. This has to be one of less than literally ten running Encores in the United States
We liked our ’85. Someone else in the comments mentioned that with proper maintenance, they’re good cars. I agree with that wholeheartedly.
My only niggle: the stalk-mounted horn button. Je ne l’aime pas.
Wasn’t the horn on the Ford Fairmont also triggered from the stalk?
Accortding to this site there was 38.518 Alliance and 16671 Encore sold in Canada : https://www.losangemagazine.com/losange_magazine_issue_6_summer_2019/r16_ts#:~:text=After%20the%20manufacturer%20transferred%20its,still%20known%20to%20enthusiasts%2C%20though.
When Ford sold their French branch to Fiat-owned Simca, only for that firm to be bought by Chrysler, who then pretty much gave it to Peugeot-Citroën, little did anybody realize that Kaiser bought Willys to salvage Jeep, only to sell it to AMC who were then taken over by Renault, who then sold it back to Chrysler, who eventually ended up with Fiat and is presently, along with Peugeot and GM’s former European branch(es), part of Stellantis.
Glad to see a piece of this giant Franco-Italo-American clustermarque is still in such great shape. Encore indeed, Klein-san!