The Renault 5, sometimes called the R5, sold a few million copies around the world but never caught on in the U.S., despite being offered by 1,300 AMC dealers. It was a fun car to drive, even with just 50 horsepower. The seller has this familiar example listed here on eBay in Evans City, Pennsylvania, and the unmet starting bid price is $7,500, and even after clicking on that, the reserve won’t be met.
I thought this Le Car looked familiar. I believe we saw it back in 2019 here on Barn Finds. It had similar mileage on it back then, so it hasn’t been driven much in the last six years. About 300 miles, that’s a crying shame, but I’ve been guilty of similar non-use-abuse of fun-to-drive cars in not driving them more than 40-50 miles a year.
We got the R5 here in the U.S. in 1976, but sales were dismal. In a classic marketing ploy, I mean, attempt, they were renamed the Le Car here, and sales took off. Ok, I’m just kidding, sales didn’t take off, but with clever marketing touting the fun-to-drive qualities and comparing them to the likes of VW’s Golf. It sold much better in Canada, and a four-door version was available after 1981. They were sold until the AMC/Renault partnership’s “Alliance” hit the market in 1983.
The seller provides a video link here on YouTube, and it’s this exact car being reviewed. This is a screenshot from that video, as they didn’t provide a photo of the dash for some reason. The seats look as perfect as they did back in 2019, which is as perfect as they looked back in 1983, and the rear cargo area has a surprising amount of space, and the wicked huge fabric sunroof is wicked cool.
The engine is Renault’s 1.4-liter OHV inline-four with 50 horsepower and 70 lb-ft of torque. Backed by a four-speed manual sending power to the front wheels, this one starts, runs, drives, and stops. Hopefully, it does all of those things well, but we don’t know. My dad had an early “round eye” Le Car as a company car in the late 1970s, and it was fun to drive for this fresh teenage driver. Have any of you owned or driven one?
I’ve owned three, Scotty, and worked on three more. Fine little cars, nimble (if you could adjust to the body roll in corners, which was considerable), and surprisingly comfortable. Also, pretty easy to work on.
My interest dropped considerably when my last local Renault dealer went away. They were as good as any I encountered, but even their cooperation and enthusiasm could make up for Renault’s abysmal lack of parts support.
At 48K miles, the one I bought new was running fine. I racked up nearly 100K before the engine bent a pushrod and was torn down (why not? I was doing the work myself, and the parts for the rebuild — which I managed to get — came to less than paying shop labor). We managed to squeeze a few more horses out of the engine, too.
We didn’t get the best R5s, though. I had an early R5 whose first owner dropped in the “Alpine” hemi-head engine and, with almost double the horsepower as the U.S.-spec car it was a fun little beast. At least until the aluminum cylinder head developed a crack and mixed water and coolant.
Would I buy another? For the driving pleasure and economy, certainly. For the unobtainium parts, not so much. Yard Art doesn’t appeal, somehow….
How ‘Bout LeNoooo ~ Dr. Evil
I was given a ride in one of these years ago, and the owner ran it across an intersection where there was a deep drainage ditch between the road we were on, and the crossroad we were headed for. I as the driver was not slowing down, I kinda grabbed hold of something and hung on until he Blew across that ditch, and I barely felt it!
That impressed the hell out of me as I’ve been driving Citroens with the hydropneumatic suspension, the best in the world, since I was 17, and the suppleness of that all torsion bar suspension on the R5, as it felt almost as good as the Citroen DS ride.
Since then, I’ve had two R 16 Renaults, and they have the similar torsion bar suspension, and it still is the closest thing to the DS hydraulics that exists. And of course, the French love their derrieres, having the best car seats in the world in my opinion.
Friend of Mine at Auburn bought one of these in 1981, traded in his 77′ Monte Carlo. I think it was his Girlfriend’s idea. With Gas prices then it wasn’t a bad move.
My brother had one back in 1987-88. We called it the Leak-er because if there was liquid in the car it was in the drive way. Coolant, transmission fluid, oil, gas, windshield cleaner everything. The good old days.
In ’79,I decided to go SCCA Showroom Stock racing,
in class “C”.Our local club put on an autocross,where the owners
of the local Subaru & Renault dealers both brought out a car.
After watching them run,I crossed both cars off of my list.
I had one exactly like this. Same color and decals. Bought for $200 in 1992. Great riding car and comfortable as only the French can do, at the expense of roll when cornering. Good grip however. It was a delight with the roof folded back. It turned sour as the starter needed to be replaced, and the engine/trans has to come out for that job. Yep. Other projects leapt to the fore, and it was bye-bye for the LeCar.
My first job was at a Peugeot and Renault dealer in Falls Church, VA. Learned to love French automobiles. The Renult 4 was innovative, the shifter was in the dash.
I always liked these little Renaults. Unfortunately, I never have had the opportunity to drive one. When I was a kid in the 70’s I used to call them Leee Car ( I didn’t know any better),. This looks like a terrific example and I hope its new owner drives it a bit more than its been. It absolutely is fun to drive a slow car fast and wring it out. Nice write up Scotty and really enjoyed the picture of your Dads “round eye” Leeee Car!!!!
I always liked the LeCar. You don’t see many anymore and I don’t know where you would find parts for them. I do know my cousin owned a yellow one and they do look like a good corner carving back roads car even though they got a bad reputation for quailty. The yugo makes these look like a better choice too.
Do NOT knock the Yugo, Dan’l! I’m a FIAT guy since 1958 and during their twenty-seven year lawyer-driven absence from the North American market, I made do with a couple of Yugoslavian-built FIATs, aka,Yugos; an ’84 GVL w/ AC for my wife, an ’85 GV for me. They were still going strong- and faithfully- with better than 120K miles on each. They were based on the Giacosa-designed FIAT 128 (1968 European Car of the Year), well screwed together, and a good spare parts network still exists. To top it all off, they were fun to drive and reliable as a Doberman!
I’m about to turn 90 and my wrenchin’ days are pretty much over… but I’m still driving FIATs!
I had a 77 Le Car that I got in 1983 for $500. Really comfortable seats and leaned like a sailboat in the corners. I lowered it- (torsion bars front and rear), replaced the sunroof vinyl with a junkyard item, replaced a rear window from the same junkyard; cleaned up the paint and sold it for $1700. I miss the car but the profit was nice!
Fascinating little cars. Transmission mounted ahead of the engine. Only three studs per wheel (the minimum required for stable mounting, so if one breaks, hang on). Longer wheelbase on the right side than the left due to a rear suspension with side-by-side transverse torsion bars.
Unfortunately, the LeCar got a bad rap from the get go. I feel they, like all French cars, were good, well designed cars. It had some mighty big shoes to fill, especially in the USA. I read more than a few million, like over 9 MILLION R5s, and variants were sold. If they had only marketed it by the R5, I bet it would have done better. We laughed and pointed, “the car”, how silly, as the driver, the few that there were, slunked down in the seat, in denial, as if anything would take the place of our beloved Ambassadors. These rusted quickly, and probably soured the taste for many for the upcoming Alliance, that was also a good car, okay, so-so car. Besides, Japan had a strong foothold, and Renault just didn’t have it, even with AMC, another make in poor shape, it was a recipe for disaster. A sad end to one of the greatest automakers of our time.
It’s a great find for here. I’m sure in Europe, someone has fences made of R5s. This by all rights, should be in one of Scottys hundreds of storage units around the country,(cough, I’ll hear about that one),,hey, I bet with him being tall, a French car would be perfect. They had taller roofs to accommodate the tall hats the police wore. Yes, R5s were used as,,(snicker), police cars. Probably took the place of many 4CVs still being used around the world.
In 1984, looking for my first new car, I test drove an Alliance, a Chevette, and an Escort. The Alliance was built like a tin can. I can imagine what the build quality on the Le Car was like.
In that vintage, Honda or Toyota would be a better choice.
Dad was a union crane operator for J&L Steel. There was no way in Hades that I was pulling a foreign car down our driveway.
Many years ago (decades) I saw a Le Car with the custom license plate “Le Junk”
Seemed like every other car in France was an R5 in the late 70s. I’ve always wanted an R5 Turbo.
I traded in a Pontiac Sunbird with a blown clutch for an R5 in about 1981. The dealer never drove the Sunbird and the R5 was one of several that were ordered by a company that pulled out of the purchase, so I got a good deal. Living in the Cleveland area at the time, it was great in snow compared to everything else I looked at. AMC was good about me taking it back on warranty to fix cam plug oil leaks. I loved the car and the only reason I changed cars was that I changed jobs, would be doing long distance driving and it had no AC. Ever since I’ve wanted to jump on an R5 Turbo.
A girlfriend had one. I think it was a 1983 Dark blue, no sliding top. I remember the master cylinder went out after a year, and some other things. It wasn’t well made, underpowered, and really small…I am tall. 3 lugs on a wheel is kind of crazy, and didn’t it have 12″ wheels? A go-kart. I’d not own a French or Italian car.
My mother had a round eye and I had the opportunity to drive it and can attest to its cushy seats, soft suspension and ride. It had so much body roll I was always concerned it might roll over if a turn was taken at more than 15mph. The engine was not particularly durable and I recall it having an overheating problem at some point.
My having raced in the Renault Cup back in 1983 to 1985 with the Alliance, I can tell you that we did not have problems with the cars. Prior to 1983 the Renault Cup used the R5 and they didn’t have problems with them either. In fact I know of one Alliance that continued to race after the Renault Cup ended and entered in SCCA’s ITC class and raced regularly through 1994. It had 34,000 race miles on it after it’s last race and it had never been driven or registered to drive on the street. That’s all race miles. I then bought it and drove it for about three years when someone came along and wanted to buy it. I kinda wish I hadn’t. Pretty durable really.
Le George.
A friend of mine and myself decided to take one for a test drive. We were heavily into the autocross scene at the time. So we took it out and he would hang out the passenger side window to see how far off the street I could get the rear wheel off the ground in a hard corner. Not the safest thing to do, but alot of fun! When they race these in Europe in the modified class these are fitted with very stout sway bars to keep the body roll down and the power (strange term when talking about these) wheel glued to the pavement. When in LA one time for some special schooling for AMC, I had a rental Alliance and had exited the freeway when I noticed a pair of amber headlights catching me at a great rate of speed. Pulling up next to me was a R5 Turbo with the engine in the back and very fat tires, wheels and fender flares. It was very cool and took off in a flash.
I worked at AMC when this was being built…I never had anything to do with production of it…Worked as a milwright at the time…all I remember was seeing them roll down the line… I remember ” RENAULT – The one to watch”
I had a four-door one for a while. Mine was very underpowered; when the A/C compressor kicked in it felt like an anchor had been thrown out.
I had a 78 R5 LeCar that I bought new in 78. Gray with a red racing stripe. I had worked at the dealer, which was in Central Illinois. My only issue with the machine was that I managed to yank a ring off of a piston while driving one night. Admittedly, I tended to drive it like I stole, it was that much fun. My ex claimed that I was only in contact with the high spots on the road. The engine was rebuilt by the dealer under warranty and I drove it a little gentler after that. I did all the other maintenance, from oil changes to tune-ups to brake jobs. It was excellent in snow and good on gas. I moved to Georgia in 79 and sold it in 1980 at Fort Stewart to a soldier with a French wife who fell in love with it. That is more money than I would spend for a car of that vintage, but I was tempted for a nanosecond.
I worked for an aftermarket warranty company in the early 80’s, which was a great gig in the sense that you got true, unbiased reporting of what were good cars and what were bad. Consumer Reports and the like are skewed by owner surveys – whereas we had actual repair detail, by make, by model, by year.
We covered LeCars as an extension of the AMC dealership agreement. Wow. Egad. Run away. Quickly. And hide.
I bought a new one in November on 1981.
Silver with a black interior. Mine had some Alpine mods done to it. Fun car to drive and really good in the snow.
I was rear ended by an uninsured drunk driver in November of 1982. That’s where I learned about new car depreciation!
Yes, I had one! My daily driver for about ten years. I drove it from Iowa to Texas and back once. Very comfortable, excellent in Midwestern snow. The only time it stranded me, I had left the headlights on, so–my own fault. I may be the only person on the planet to get a speeding ticket in one. I had to part with it when the rear shock towers rusted out so badly that complete collapse was imminent. I’ve seen Le Car on a lot of “worst of all time” lists. I disagree.
A convertible Le Car may have been a fun option.
😲 Le Convertible 🇫🇷
Quick someone call Captain Ron!
Those giant speakers mounted on the rear cargo cover must be interesting…lol. Seriously, these cars, like all Renaults (my father had two in his history, a Renault Dauphine and an R10, he blew the Dauphine up coming home from Maine one night and bought the R10, had the most comfortable seats and ride qualities rivaling much bigger land yachts. The R10 was a reliable little car that got great gas mileage as well. Even $7500 is just too much for this one though. The seller is wildly optimistic.
I still own two Le Car. A 1977 and a 1984. The 1984 has 167000 driven miles and is a head turner. The 1977 is close to 90000 miles. I barely drive it without getting a purchase offer wherever I park it. These cars, when introduced in 1972 were an automobile revolution.
Auction update: this one made it to $9,500 and no sale.
That’s crazy…
That’s crazy…