From Dirt Track To The Streets Of Paris: Renault 4TL
It's always fun finding some flimsy-yet-cool factory hot-rod parked on the street of a big crazy city (say, a Cosworth Vega in New York City), and a French factory hot rod is even better. That's why it was fortunate for us that Project Car Hell Poster Child Franzouse had his cellphone camera ready when he stumbled across this Renault 4TL in Paris. We like to imagine the ghost of Gervaise Macquart (that is, if fictional characters have ghosts) hotwiring this baby and taking it for a spin! Make the jump for Franzouse's description of his discovery.
Paris isn't Alameda and though there are some upsides to being here, it isn't really a car city and the vehicles we see are painfully bland. I don't know if this is worthy of your attention but I saw this Renault 4TL in the street the other day. It might not be as famous as the Citroen 2CV but it was actually the most successful car in French history (over 8 million units over 30 years). It is, among other things the most imported car in german history, and the first mass produced FWD hatchback. But the reason I'm sending you this one is that it still has the decals from the " Coupe de France Renault Cross Elf" which was a racing series held on dirt tracks with these cars (and their slightly tuned 782cc engine). Renault sold the cars and safety parts for cheap, preferably to young drivers, only a small number of mods were allowed and the winner of the season (10 to 12 races) would win a Renault 5LS (not the dreaded Lecar...) ready to compete in the Gordini Cup.
So this poor thing was hooned by irresponsible Frenchmen around dirt tracks, and now it lives in snobbish, fashion-obsessed Paris. I hope you enjoy the kitsch race styling details. And thanks again for the Poster Child post.
When I pointed out to Franzouse that I always thought the Mini was the first mass-produced FWD hatchback, he came back with a response that oughta get COTD consideration, even though it wasn't a comment in a post:
Damn nationalistic French automotive encyclopedia!