“It’s like those French have a different word for everything”, to quote a famous Steve Martin comedy bit. This Renault 4 F6 van, or fourgonnette, is listed on eBay with an unmet opening bid of $3,399 and it’s located in Maurertown, Virginia.
If you own a coffee shop or bakery, this is your new ride. Or, at least it’s your new advertising piece whether you move it from the front of your shop or not. The Renault 4 fourgonnette, in this case, the F6, was bigger than the F4, believe it or not. It was only eight-inches longer but it could carry about 200 pounds more than the smaller F4 van could carry and it became well known in France as the go-to delivery vehicle for boulangeries, or bakeries. Again, it’s like they have a different word for everything. Ok, enough of that.
This example looks nice in the photos but the seller is honest to give the low down on the rust in the bottom end. It’s quite extensive even though it’s mainly hidden from view. They say that the “main issue with the car is- rust in the front floor, bottom of rear door. These cars have a double floor, kinda like a sealed box. A replacement can be found in France, or you can just continue to drive it.” They go on to say that “soon after buying it, I did the white patches, and used stainless rivets to hold it. Was better than nothing..”
The interior is all business, especially in the back. The unusual 4-speed shift lever sticking out of the dash will get a few raised eyebrows from onlookers and/or front seat passengers. This one has a heater but it never had a radio according to the seller.
Whoa, um, this seemingly-totally-random pile of parts is the engine. In fact, it’s Renault’s 1.1L – 1,108 cc four-cylinder which had 34 hp. The seller says that the “car runs, rides, stops, steers- all very well. I’ve had it up to 80mph. Does great on the interstate(rides really floaty!). Always starts easy. Never over heats.” As much as I like things to be original spec, I think I would paint this one in a bright color after fixing the rust and redoing the interior and anything else mechanically that needs to be done. Have any of you seen an R4 “Fourgonette”?
A fairly well-known car to many Franophiles – Renault’s version of the Citroen 2CV – even stole the 2CV’s dashboard shifter. However the Citroen “Duck’ has a Queball for a handle, vs the Vienna sausage Renault version. Just think of the shifter as an elevated floorshift and you’ll be ok – it rocks & rolls & pushes & pulls – fun to drive!
This Renault probably has torsionbars all around and the Renault ride is very close to the revolutionary hydropneumatic ride of the Citroen DS, but without the hydraulics. Having ridden in a Renault R5 “LeCar” yrs ago, and owning two R16s, all of which have full torsionbar suspensions, these cars are incredible rough road/shot pavement smoothers. Hard to beat their fuel economy also. Versus the aircooled 2CV, the F4 is water-cooled. It’s a car that’ll provide a lot of fun and garner lots of attention.
they are death traps : the brakes have no significance.
KVL – sounds like you were in one that never got serviced properly – care to fill us in?? Any car can be a trap if no one’s ever taken care of it. What’s the story?
Of the way too many vehicles I’ve owned in my life, my 67 R4 L is still my favorite. Far from being a “death trap”, the brakes on mine were excellent for the period, regardless of the make. I bought mine new in Germany while serving in the Army and toured Europe in it with my new (German) wife and baby. I then shipped it back to New York and drove it back home to Santa Barbara via Minneapolis, Yellowstone and across the Nevada dessert averaging 49 MPG for the trip. And that was a 3-speed 850. I think 65 was the top end, but maybe 70. It was a far better car than the 2 CV I owned with much more power, same fuel economy, WAY better heater and gobs of power by comparison. If it didn’t require so much work, and was closer, I’d definitely bid on this van.
Matt, that’s the same engine my two ’67 Caravelles had – so parts are easy to get. The Caravelles should have been significantly faster, either by aerodynamics, weight or fact that they were 4 speeds so your R4 was probably geared for heavy, slower loads around cities – no need for high top speed. But considering you were probably doing flat out most of that coast to coast trip, that high fuel economy is outstanding.
And that basic engine was in my ’65 Matra Bonnet Dject 5S I sold last yr – tweaked by Gordini to put out 94 hp from the same 1108 ccs with 10.4:1 compression, Gordini’s special hemi-head, tubular headers and two dual side-draft Webers! And that R4 engine was also ubiquitous in the R8/10 sedans. Just rustproof the dickens out of this F4 as Renaults seem to rust far faster than even my unibody Citroen DSs.
Although Renault made more R4’s than Citroen made 2CV’s, the 4 never captured the same love and attention in the UK as the 2CV did. Becoming increasingly rare here.
I seriously doubt Renault made more R4s than Citroen did 2CVs Daymo – Citroen made the 2CV for 40 years – did Renault make the R4 anywhere near that long?? The last 2CVs were made around 1990 in Portugal as I recall. 3.8 million sedans were made, and 1.2 million Fourgonnettes like the R4 – that’s 5 million total according to Wikipedia. Not only those, but several variants – Amis, Dyanes, Meharis and Acanadians using near identical chassis & drivetrains were made, so the grand total was nearly 9 MIllion vehicles – from 1948 to 1990 – pretty amazing total.
I can answer that as by accident found a note about it recently and double checked via Wikipedia
The (amazing still ) 2CV had a total production of 3,867,932…..and the Renault 4L is listed as over 8,000,000 ! An aunt had a 4L when current and she toured Europe twice a year in it-full of camping gear..also a colleague bought one from the back of a car lot fro approx $75.00 That one went round Europe and only died when hit by a car when parked 3 years later
It’s odd the 4L has vanished so quickly but they are as able as the 2CV
I had a 1969 R4 that I bought in Israel for $300. It had a 4 speed with first being to the left and down. reverse where first is usually. My other car, a Renault 5 had a standard pattern. I can’t tell you how many times I hopped into the R4 an took off backwards.