Perhaps dealer support network is an issue? Confirm the specification of the unit fitted: later transplants are common and likely to give more performance, though sacrificing originality. But as a “thank you”, he did get arrested by the French on trumped-up war crime charges after the last consultation, and was jailed for twenty months. Most I found were rusty and not worth restoring. I have seen Dauphines in the wild. I’m in my 80’s and know about cars. Beautiful! Can’t say that I recall *ever* seeing any of the subject Renaults when I was growing up. I sure did love those seats in my R10. The new model developed a keen following and, in Gordini form, achieved considerable success in racing and rallying. Both brakes and clutch were quite heavy when new and, even with the limiting valve operating correctly, the overly powerful front discs can lock – beware a faulty or missing valve, or poor tyres. My uncle traded a bicycle for one and they had a waiting list. But it certainly didn’t solve any problems that Renault had in the US; if anything, it was a bigger disaster than the R10. Didn’t seem any less delicate than our other cars (it ran for more than 130K miles) at the time, though it was certainly more pricey to fix than our Buick. Il faut dire que la 10, conçue pour combler le fossé séparant la 8 de la 16 en attendant la 12 (lire aussi : Renault 12 Gordini), n’a pas un physique facile.Si elle reprend la cellule centrale de la 8, ses portes et même sa lunette arrière, elle se retrouve rallongée à l’avant comme à … It originally was an automatic but the owner had it thankfully converted back to a 4spd. Salon 1969 : la R10 Major reçoit un moteur 1 289 cm3 (alésage x course 73 x 77 mm) de 60 ch SAE. While I still marvel at the build quality of our early ’60s Beetles, I would also submit that there was something of a ‘preference cascade’ that occurred with Volkswagen in the mid-’60s. I worked in a junk yards. A new engine family arrived with the 8 that continued to be built up to 2004. Your email address will not be published. The front seats were luxurious, the back seat fine for kids, plenty of luggage room. It was a happy day when I exchanged it for a leather German police coat and an ounce of illegal herbs to a friend who already had an R10 and naturally needed a parts car. Next is the mechanical work that will start in the summer. Starter classics: 14 great cars for a first-timer, 28 appreciating classics and what you should pay for them, Malcolm McKay is a regular contributor to Classic & Sports Car. Today I drive a Honda Fit. I remember this because it had a Chrysleresque push button tranny selector. Did any of that matter? The R10 is such a car. Sorry, but you’d have a hard time prying my 1952 Chevy Deluxe and later my 1961 Bel-Air 2 door sedan or dad’s 1966 Impala out of my cold, dead hands! Peugeot was a very good car but expensive for what it was. Nice car but not fun to drive. The replacement Rabbit was a great car, but at first it had a terrible oil problem. With my adult outlook, I cannot now imagine a harsher climate for a Dauphine – being driven by teenage boys. The Beetle went from strength to strength all during the sixties, leaving the R10 in its wake. Just got it back before winter so not time to drive it much before I put it away. The R8 (model R1130) was released in June 1962 and was based on the Renault Dauphinewith which it shared its basic architecture and its 2,270 mm (89.4 in) wheelbase. But its fragility and lack of dealer support quickly caught up with it, and when the Import Boom turned Bust in 1960, Dauphine sales evaporated in a reddish cloud of iron oxide.”. I used to keep a 100w bulb burning all night under the hood with a blanket on top of it. The 4CVs little water-cooled 747cc four was enlarged to 845 cc, with power ratings of 19-32 hp. I’d still like to have one. Oh yes, the VW ads of the 60s. The Renault was far more ahead. When I arrived there in late 1962, I bought a 52 Renault 4Cv from an American civilian paying $350. Thank you Even the Mercedes, I use to see them in junk yards. Will do a road test and write up in May after my busy season The R10 was OK car, he had it for 6 years, replacing it with a 1974 Datsun 710 (which had automatic transmission, of course the VW and the R10 had only standard transmission at the time (I think the R10 came out with optional automatic around 1970). I swear I could turn the steering wheel 30 degrees to the left or right with no response from the vehicle whatsoever. The rats ate the insides. Built in France, Spain, Bulgaria and Romania (as the Dacia) and assembled as far afield as Venezuela, Mexico, Algeria, Morocco, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (but ironically not by Alfa in Italy), the 8 and 10 enjoyed a 14-year life and were made in big numbers, but survivors are rare and interest is only beginning to grow in their home country. I destroyed that car. Electric power steering is very heavy and the stiff suspension, and the Elantra I had before was the same. The officer thought he had a DUI on his hands. I could cruise all day at 70 mph. In the summer of 1977, when I was 17, my Dad bought me a used, 1968 Renault R10. Crosswinds can be startling in the mountains, but overall, a good trip. My mother didn’t like how the car looked, she said it looked the same coming and going (guess the hood and trunk shape looked too symetric for her)…but it was more conventional looking than the Beetle, and it had 4 doors rather than 2. Yet Peugeot has been THE car of Africa and has been a strong player on that continent for decades, running in pretty harsh conditions. Car and Driver was certainly at the top of it’s game in 1967. Cohort Classic: 1964 Chrysler Newport – Chrysler’s Great Downsizing, Chapter 2. But today economy cars have improved a lot, but like the 2013 Hyundai Accent I am driving, is horrible. It was the equivalent of the low-stressed flat head engines that were still so common in the US in the fifties. “The Dauphine, which was the direct predecessor to the R8 and R10, had a meteoric rise in sales during the Great US Import Boom. Sorry Hoxie I had no room to take you back to Indiana with both our guitars and no room from college. So he ends up failing to negotiate a left turn and ricochettes off of two other cars, totalling them as well. They had a small parts department. I had every make, Beetles, Renaults, Hillman, MG. Toyota, Datsun, Hyundai, plus American foreign competition like Corvair, Pinto, etc. Then to Maine for the body work Gordinis are highly collectable and correct engine parts can fetch thousands of pounds. It was also distinguishable from the 8 Major by the bigger 200mm headlamp units. That, combined with the intrinsically greater delicacy of the Dauphine’s design, were its two major shortcomings. The cars went from being perceived as decent, but quirky little things that eccentrics drove to something that represented a movement. …it was reliable…sure…let the wife drive.I got back to the states..just in time to drive…First car ….at 18…a Corvair hardtop 66…then met my future wife…whose father had six…yes six R8’s and R10’in his stable..all ready to go… in the driveway and street…all licensed and ready to go.plus over 12 ..”parts cars” on his ranch..sitting under the South Texas sun… I just engaged.. bought a 1971 R10 from the San Antonio Renault dealer “Broughton Motors” in 1979..Had a rebuilt motor…a factory approved Air conditioner from A.R.A… Dallas..an in dash unit no less …that actually worked well…Wife and I drove the R10 for over 110,000miles…till 1989…sold it in 90…ran well …yes the hand crank would amaze people……saved the growing family sooooo much money every year…did my own work on it..I regret letting it go….cost peanuts to run….my daily driver for ten years…But time goes on. A cheap car can outlast an expensive car. At that point, Ron Travisano, his partner, figured that they may as well just hop the next plane back to NYC and bag the whole deal. Production ended in 1971, except in Spain, where it was made through 1976. Moteur 1108cm3, 60 ch SAE. The R1134 Gordini was originally available only in blue, with two stick-on white stripes. The paragraph at the top of the page certainly sums up the Beetle and R 10 succinctly. Speaking to them, they were totally accustomed to regular wrenching on their German Dream Machines and would never consider a Japanese car. Inspect the rack for wear, and dampers for weakness. It’s great to see others’ experiences with their Renaults, good or bad. Well I have been unable to work on the R10 as often as I would like and decided that I need professional help with it. El Renault 10 es un sedán del segmento C de motor trasero producido a mediados de los años 60 por la Règie Nationale des Usines Renault (la actual Renault). Copyright 2011 - 2021 Curbside Classics. My dad had several of these. While at VWs headquarters in Germany making a pitch to become VWs US ad agency, Jerry (Della Femina) jumped up on a Kubelwagen in VWs museum, and began to simulate mowing down Nazis with the machine gun mounted on the vehicle. C'est avec cette phrase que débute le dossier de presse diffusé à l'automne 1964. Nope, just some poor schmoe who picked the wrong car to steal at the wrong time. They were gone by the time I was old enough to know cars in the late 70s. Economy poor. English and Italian cars never really made it. This was in Mexico. Where the Dauphine had been cute, this car was just not attractive at all, to my young eyes. My dad had a 1983 505 and loved the comfort and ride. I thought the caller was one of my friend’s playing a practical joke, so I remarked that there was no way that my car could have been involved in a high speed chase unless it had been air-dropped from a cargo plane from 10,000 feet. One of the R8s I had was an automatic. I think that was the minimum Renault was willing to ship him at one time. The ink on my CDL was barely dry. Anyway, the officer turned around and gave pursuit. On Friday January 22nd the R10 is off to Springfield Ohio to Lawrence Dooley’s Renault restoration shop to complete the job. A solipsistic argument would posit since automagics were available in R8s, and R10s were merely elongated R8s, that R10s were also available with autos. I really liked the R10. Hi Nick, Mate the springs and leavers you encountered when changing the disc pads on you old Renault 10 were not a mechanical ABS System but rather the Hand Brake system….. It certainly needs checking for level and signs of oil getting in or overheating. PS. (Maybe I’m “remembering” my Matchbox cars?) Only thing is, I don’t remember the name or author of the Dauphine book, does anyone out there in CC land know of it? But nobody mentions that VW also had problems with constant high speed driving on the freeways. In German, that approach was called Drosselmotor or “throttled engine”, which allowed it to run at its low engine peak for long periods of time without bad effects. Dauphine memories were longer lasting than the actual cars. Most garages would not fix foreign cars. The Renault units were quite similar to other post-war European small-car engines: small displacement, but with a relatively high peak specific output, which maximized their efficiency as well as taxes (in Europe). Our dirt road beat it to death in ~3 years. Jaguar? Tiene vinilo de Renault 12 Gordini en negro. The man who owned them was normally very genial, but during the 6 months or so that he had the two Dauphines I never saw him with a smile on his face. It was a very simple and fun car to drive, even though it’s been over 40 years ago, I still recall my Renault R10s fondly.