Renault 5 (France, 1972-1985)

Renault’s “Project 122” was internationally unveiled to the public in January 1972 as the Renault 5. The ‘supermini’ car could also be simply called “R5” and its target was the small cars market, which had been dominated by the Renault 4 and the Citroën 2CV. The R5 offered a more attractive styling and a superior performance than its main rivals, being more elegant and faster on the road.

It was mainly conceived to be at the same time an agile, handy car for the city and a comfortable and economic car for long roads. As soon as the first Renault 5 was put out, the car became quite popular and started a new automotive era where cars could be both desired and accessible.

The Renault 5’s air-cooled front engines were built with displacement capacities that ranged from the basic 0.8 L to the strongest 1.7-liter unit, including a 1.4-liter turbocharged engine.
The non-turbo R5 engines produced from 35 up to 90 hp, while the two turbocharged versions had power outputs of 109 or 158 hp.
Depending on each variant, the Renault 5’s top speed was achieved between 75 mi/h (120 km/h) and 125 mi/h (201 km/h).
They were built with 4-speed or 5-speed manual transmissions.

Unitary steel frame with welded steel panels.   Platform (no data)   Suspension Torsion bar suspension   Steering Rack-and-pinion.   Brakes Hydraulic all-wheel drum brakes or front discs and rear drums.

Recently arriving at Renault’s design studios, Michel Boué conceived the styling for the Renault 5, a hatchback car that was made available with 3 and 5 doors. Unfortunately, the creator didn’t live to see his creation, as Boué died before the Renault 5 was launched.

The R5 was mostly characterized for its sharply oblique rear end, short-length bonnet with a reduced front grille, large windows all around, big side doors and a bigger rear door that goes down to the bumper.
This car was styled with strong, defined, yet round-edged lines.

FASA-Renault of Spain built a sedan model that derived directly from the R5 and was dubbed Renault 7. It was an exact four-door sedan copy of the ‘5’.