120 YEARS OF RENAULT

1937-60 Juvaquatre Inspired by the Opel Olympia and conceived to attract new customers to the Renault brand, by being cheaper. Tough and simple.

1898-1903 Type A voiturette A bench seat, 273cc single-cylinder engine and very little else. An instant success that laid the foundation for Renault’s rapid growth.

1947-61 4CV Renault’s Beetle rival, dreamed up during the closing stages of World War Two. Tiny, lightweight, hugely popular; the car that put France on wheels.

1905-10 Taxi de la Marne Renault won the contract to build Paris’s taxis; the Type AG won its ‘Marne’ epithet when the fleet was requisitioned for World War One transportation.

1961-94 R4 The ‘World’s first hatchback’ was really a small estate, designed to make the most of leisure time for France’s newly mobile merchant classes.

1911-28 40CV Variously the French President’s daily driver, the 1925 Monte Carlo Rally winner, and a 24-hour speed record holder, with 7.5- or 9.1-litre engines.

1964-69 R8 Gordini French Racing Blue paint, white stripes, twin carbs and a crossflow head turned this boxy rear-engined saloon into a sporting icon.

1965-80 R16 Renault’s groundbreaking ‘executive’ car was a pragmatic device with a flexible hatchback design, brisk performance and fabulous comfort.