BF EXCLUSIVE: 1985 Renault Alliance Convertible

As a lifetime AMC fan and also a fan of Renaults, as well as being a Renault Alliance GTA owner, I’m incredibly attracted to this 1985 Renault Alliance DL Convertible. This is a Barn Finds Exclusive and if any of you have been looking for one, I don’t know if you’ll find a nicer example than this car. The seller is asking $6,700 for this Renault ragtop and it’s located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Let’s check it out.

The seller says that this is a one-owner car and it was stored for 15 years. $3,500 was just spent to get it serviced and maintained after all of those years of it being off the road. It also has new tires – all five of them – and it even has new paint in the original color!

I wish that there were a photo of it with the top down but I bet the seller would send one to any interested parties. The convertible was new for the Alliance in 1985 as part of a collaboration between AMC and American Sunroof Company. The frame was reinforced and they created a fun little power-operated ragtop. This one’s top is in good working order, but it is going to need a new window zipper installed. I have only owned one convertible in my life and it’s just about the most fun option that a person can get, in my opinion.

The interior looks spot-on and as nice as any that I have ever seen. I don’t see any flaws inside at all. Check out all of the photos in the gallery below to see for yourself how nice this car is. This one appears to be wearing its original Alliance floor mats which are a nice touch and it also comes with an owner’s manual, maintenance guide, and a repair manual.

The convertibles received the 1.7L inline four which would have had around 76 horsepower. You’ll have to get in touch with the seller, Bud, for any specific questions but this really looks like a nice example of a car that’s seldom if ever seen anymore. You can message him via the form below! Our thanks to Bud for listing with us and we wish him the best of luck with this Renault. If you have a garage fresh survivor that needs a new home, please consider listing it here on Barn Finds.

Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Asking Price: $6,700
Mileage: 33,778
Title: Clean

Contact The Seller

Comments

  1. Avatar Blueprint

    Same color, engine, tranny, steering wheel and luggage rack as my old ´86 Alliance 2-door sedan. GLWTS!

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  2. Avatar BarnfindyCollins

    I still recall the bright red one on the showroom floor of Ken Hyatt AMC Jeep Renault in Columbia, SC when we bought our 3 year old Jeep Woody wagon. Only one I ever saw. ASC made a similar conversion for Toyota and Yugo when I worked for a big dealer group. Good luck to the seller and nifty find.

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  3. Avatar Sanity Factor

    Overheating…warped heads…head gasket were made by ez wider….no thanks….

    Like 0
  4. Avatar CanuckCarGuy

    Always been a fan these, especially the GTA… in my opinion, Renault always had a way with design and their influence is now apparent in a number of Nissans. Good luck with the sale.

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  5. Avatar SAM61

    Very nice at a ok price for someone in the French Foreign Legion Chapter of an AMC club. A high school neighbor freind of mine purchased a new Fuego after college graduation.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Fiete T.

      “Fuego means ‘Fire…'”
      That was a line in one commercial they had. College roommate had one, it was mint. His twin & I teased him mercilessly about it. What a quirky, weird, unreliable, slow, and impossible to get parts for POS.
      “It’s French” is code for PITA

      Like 0
  6. Avatar don comfort

    I have that has one that has never been titled or maybe it’s never been tagged. I don’t recall the mileage, but it is essentially a new car.

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    • Avatar Scotty Gilbertson Staff

      Beautiful collection, Don!

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    • Avatar Rex Kahrs Member

      Hey Don, is that 510 a wagon? ’69 possibly? I had one in the exact same color.

      Like 0
    • Avatar ramblergarage

      I have an 87 Alliance conv with 160,000 miles and still going strong. This is the 4th one we have owned. I sedan, 2 convertibles one new one, and one GTA conv. They have some quirks but overall great cars.

      Like 0
  7. Avatar Canadian Mark S. Eh!

    I wouldn’t take it if it were free. To all you guys that like it your welcome to it. I’ve worked on these when they were around and that is why I would never own one. JMO.

    Like 0
  8. HoA Rube Goldberg Member

    Whether you like it or not, it never ceases to amaze me, no matter what kind of car, even one with as little interest as the Alliance, someone, somewhere took meticulous care of it. With such low miles, this was someone’s “go get an ice cream on a warm evening with the top down” car. For that, I’m sure this car was great. People pushed these too hard, they(American’s) just didn’t have that 4 cylinder mindset yet, and killed these. For city use, they were fine, I-80, not so much. Despite the rumors of sabotage, I think these were good,,,not great, cars.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Tom Justice

    There is probably not a better one anywhere but I will not even PARK CLOSE to a French car as I am afraid some of the unreliability will diffuse into my car. That goes for a FIAT and Alfa as well. It is better than a La Car.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Zapp

      That’s Le Car, not La Car. Unless you total one…then it’s Le Carcass.

      Like 0
    • Avatar Kinmot Willy

      The owner of this Bugatti EB110ss applauds your decision to park far away.

      Like 0
  10. Avatar Vegas Vic

    What a timepiece! Price seems high, still a different ride . Buy it and park her next to the Old Citroen you featured!

    Like 0
  11. Avatar irocrobb

    I use to manage a store and ran the till a lot of the time. In the 1980s there was a very attractive lady that would park in front of my store and usually pop in for a soda or pack of gum. She was not a local person but always looked just fantastic. I do remember she did not have a wedding band but cant remember what color the Renault convert was. Moral of the story is she left a impression,the car not so much

    Like 0
  12. Avatar ROTAG999

    That would be Le Car i remember when these first came in to the local Dealer saw a few of them around then gone too many problems and owners gave them away as mentioned head gasket was a big one. Gal @ work bought a used Le car for her daughter it was in the shop alot only other car that was that bad a Nurse in my apt bldg had a 850 Fiat spyder always being towed to complex if it rained would not start horrible is all i can say.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar David Miraglia

    I’d take her. Along with the beetles, minis , 2cv’s

    Like 0
  14. Avatar charlie Member

    A great car to tow around the US and Canada with your RV. Leave the RV at the campground and see the sights with the top down. And when it breaks down, as it will, you just hook it back up to the RV and tow it home.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Miguel

      Not a good idea with the automatic.

      Like 0
  15. Avatar Bill Rader

    Thought the RV idea was very thoughtful. It would look great behind the RV and be easy to tow.

    Like 0
  16. Avatar gus

    I have a 72 240z that i would like to try and sell. Its been sitting out front of my shop for several years. It looks really nice body wize no rust found in or out good paint but interior needs work due to window not closing and all the rain and stuff coming in car. Motor is in good shape and runs just had to play a little with dual carbs to get them zincd right.

    Like 0
  17. Avatar gus

    I do have lots more pics but cant figure out how to get them on here. If someone knows and can help I’d like to post rest of pics

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Fiete T.

    If I had to choose between this and a Chrysler TC by Maserati (same era, can be found in same price range), the gussied up K-car would win hands down. Power train is cheap to maintain or repair. Worlds more reliable. Interior is trimmed nicer. Can cruise on the freeway at 80 mph, no problem. An Alliance? Nope

    Like 0
  19. Avatar Fiete T.

    “Fuego means ‘Fire…'”
    That was a line in one commercial they had. College roommate had one, it was mint. His twin & I teased him mercilessly about it. What a quirky, weird, unreliable, slow, and impossible to get parts for POS.
    “It’s French” is code for PITA

    Like 0
  20. Avatar Bill T

    Every time I see one of these… I miss my GTA.

    Like 0
  21. Avatar eastlex91

    I had an ’86 Alliance with the 1.7l and a 5-speed. It was a peppy, fun and decent handling car. As far as reliable, well, yes you needed to do regular PM on it, but most of that was simple standard maintenance. The only thing that seemed to be weak on it were the motor mounts, which were not hard to change. That and the little snap ring that held the shift linkage in place. I never ever had a problem getting parts for it at the time, although I bet it’s challenging now. When I sold it in ’95, it had about 136,000 on it and was still running strong! And as a young guy, I drove the snot out of it – it took everything I could throw at it and kept on going! Was it a great car? No. Not even close. But it was a really good car with some really comfortable front bucket seats. It was also amazing in the snow!

    Like 0
  22. Avatar Michael Gregory Member

    The first brand new car I ever owned was a plain Jane ’84 Alliance. I loved that car in spite of the flaws and maintained it perfectly for three years or so. It was pretty much worthless when I traded it in, but I still missed it. One of my friends in town had a convertible exactly like the one in this ad. I wanted it so badly. I think French cars have long had bad reputations because of poor build quality. I remember seeing Renault Dauphines falling apart while they were turning corners when I was a kid. The only really crazy thing my Alliance ever did was repeatedly lose the cheesy pin in the driver’s door hinge and the door would go flying unexpectedly. As I always say, one car’s failure is another car’s character. If I had the money and the room I would snag this convertible in a second.

    Like 0
  23. Avatar Miguel

    I always thought these looked like a poor mans BMW convertible.

    I bought a 1985 convertible in 1989. The car had under 20K miles.

    It was a stick shift so I thought it would be a decent driving car.

    I found out later that the low miles were because it had been sitting in body shops most of it’s life.

    Also it was a gutless wonder.

    I had to downshift to 3rd gear to get up the grade coming out of Victorville on the way to Vegas.

    I sold it to a man for his daughter. It still looked like a cheap BMW convertible with the top down.

    Years later I bought an automatic for a couple of hundred dollars and it was a fast car. It is supposed to be the other way around.

    Like 0

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