Renault is reaching back – yet again – into the nostalgia cupboard as it moves forward into the electric era.
The original Renault 4 (often affectionately referred to as the ‘R4’) was Renault’s answer to the famous Citroen 2CV. Whilst the R4 was arguably the world’s first mass-produced front-drive hatchback, it was marketed at the time as a small wagon.
Sold as a basic, go anywhere, do anything car for the masses, the R4 literally sold by the millions.
In fact, in its 33-year production run (from 1961 to 1994), over 8 million were sold. They were even built in Australia for a short time, although they were only ever a niche sale here.
As a result, there is a great affection for the R4 moniker in Europe, South America and much of Africa. It would appear that Renault is hoping to leverage some of that by reviving the Renault 4 nameplate for their electric ‘Renaulution’.
Renaulution, by the way, is the name Renault has given to its efforts to move into the electric mobility future.
As a part of this, Renault intend to be an electric-only brand by 2030. (Mind-you, they also intend their Darcia sub-brand to be the last to give up combustion engines.
That could mean that unless Australia pulls it finger out, we might start seeing Darcia appear here under the Renault brand, given until now Australia has been on track to become one of the world’s last markets for ICE cars!)
The new R4 certainly has some similarities to the original – it will be a small wagon/SUV style crossover, likely a replacement to the current Renault Captur.
In fact, Renault openly state they expect the market positioning of the electric Renault 5 and Renault 4 will be similar to the relationship between their current Clio and Captur models. (As both the new R5 and R4 will be built on their new EV-only CMF-BEV platform).
There are certainly several styling cues linking the original R4 to the show car. These include the silhouette and flat front arrangement – particularly the angled rear side windows and short front/rear overhangs.
However, the show car on display at the Paris Motor Show announcement harked back more to the 4WD R4 versions Renault successfully ran in early Paris-Dakar Rallies.
The show car has a roof mounted spare wheel, rear mounted shovel and recovery boards, wheels with tyre pumps built-in to enable on-the-run tyre pressure changes and sizeable side protection panels.
Presumably the eventual production model will be a toned down version of this and take on more of the day-to-day road car manoeuvrability and practicality that the original offered.
Specifications for the Renault 4EVER Trophy show car:
- Length: 4,160 mm
- Width: 1,950 mm
- Height: 1,900 mm
- Wheelbase: 2,570 mm
- Front and rear tyres: 255/55R19
Further specifications and performance figures will be announced closer to the revealing of the final production car. It is expected to go on sale (in Europe) in 2025.
Bryce Gaton is an expert on electric vehicles and contributor for The Driven and Renew Economy. He has been working in the EV sector since 2008 and is currently working as EV electrical safety trainer/supervisor for the University of Melbourne. He also provides support for the EV Transition to business, government and the public through his EV Transition consultancy EVchoice.