Car Spot: 1983 Renault R5 Turbo 2

A LeCar on steroids

I remember back in 1979 when Renault bought into American Motors. It was a great partnership. Renault wanted to get back into the American market and would use AMC’s dealers while AMC got instant new product and, more imporatant, cash!

There was the Alliance and Encore built at AMC’s plant in Kenosha, WI and the Premier assembled at AMC’s Brampton plant. Imported cars came over on the boat like the Fuego and LeCar. Marketed in France as the Renault R5, it was tiny, great on gas and cheap to own and not very well built. Dad, who worked at AMC’s Parts Distribution Center in Milwaukee, WI was always coming home with stories about it breaking down. Its 0-60 time, an anemic 17 seconds. It’s top speed was 85 mph. What do you expect for $4,795. $15,550 in today’s dollars. On the plus side it did get 28 mpg in the city and 35 on the road.

But a year before the partnership, in 1978, a remarkable version of the front-engine, front-wheel drive version was announced-the 5 Turbo. The body was made of light alloy rather than steel and the hood and fender flares were fiberglass. The engine was mounted behind the driver and took up all the space between the seat backs and rear hatch, and a switch was made from front-wheel drive to rear-wheel drive. To make room for the engine, the Renault 5 Turbo’s rear track was 10″ wider than the standard model. It was powered by a 1.4-liter, four-cylinder engine with a turbocharger delivering around 160 hp and its 0-60 time was just over 7 seconds and had a top speed of 120 mph. Quite a bit faster than its little brother. I found this example at the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, TN. I highly recommend a visit.

Related Spot: See its sleeker big brother and how it almost came to America.

The Turbo 2 version was introduced using stock Renault 5 parts replacing many of light alloy components in the original 5 Turbo version. The 5 Turbo was intended as a rally car and was one of Renault’s most successful, but it was also a popular road-legal car. Around 250 examples of the Turbo 2 were imported to the US market. This week’s spot being one of them and if you were lucky enough to score one it would have set you back 30 grand.You would have made a good investment if you did because now they are 6-figure cars all day.

Thanks for spending part of your Sunday with us. You’re welcome to stay longer and check out my other finds. Hey, it’s Father’s Day, we can do whatever we want. Come back next week for another one of my spots I’ve discovered, along with some of its history. Have a great rest of your weekend and a great week ahead. See you next week.