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Last Gasp: 1987 Renault Alliance GTA

040316 Barn Finds- 1987 Renault GTA- 1

Barn Finds writer, Jamie, wrote about a couple of Renault GTAs thirteen months ago that seemed like great deals. This 1987 Renault GTA, found on eBay in Quebec, Canada, is about as close as a person will probably ever get to finding one in almost new condition. The asking price is $6,500 US dollars, or click on the “Make Offer” button and give it your best shot.

040316 Barn Finds- 1987 Renault GTA- 2

If a person was trying to complete their collection of Renault Alliance cars this would be one to check out. Wait, you say that there aren’t any people with a collection of Renault Alliances? Hmm.. well, in any case, this one is about as perfect as you’re likely to ever find. This car is in Quebec so if you’re not in the beautiful country of Canada you’ll have some extra shipping costs related to getting this one delivered to the center pedestal in your carpeted garage. We all know that AMC and Renault joined forces in 1980 and by 1983 Renault controlled the company. But, it didn’t last long, in 1987 Chrysler purchased Renault’s controlling interest in AMC and Renault went back home. The rest is history, unfortunately. I’m a huge (HUGE) AMC fan and to see such a great company trickle down to that sorrowful ending is still painful.

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This is one perfect-looking car. The GTA was the performance version of the Alliance, sort of a GTI to a Rabbit, although not really as successful either performance-wise or sales-wise. This car has 38,500 miles on it and was owned by a Renault collector for the last two decades and was stored in a heated garage. It shows, it looks like it just rolled off the line in Kenosha, WI. 623,573 versions of the Alliance were built, either in 2-door, 4-door sedan, or convertible bodystyle. A little over 5,500 GTAs were made. The GTA was available only in Metallic Sterling (silver), Olympic White, Classic Black, or the Sebring Red shown here and they all had the same 2.0L 4-cylinder with about 95hp good for 0-60 times about 10.5 seconds.

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The interiors on a GTA were a step above the regular Alliance with sport seats and a steering wheel from the Renault 5 Turbo! These cars started around $9,000 and then you had to add options on top of that, making them pretty expensive for the time. That didn’t help sales either. I don’t know if I’ve seen one of these on the road in a couple of decades or more. Are you an Alliance GTA sort of person or would you stick with a VW GTI instead?

Comments

  1. Avatar jim s

    seller needs to work a lot harder, text and photos. i like the VW gti better but would take this for a fun daily driver and autocross car. nice find.

    Like 0
  2. Avatar Jeff Staff

    I love these things, and really any car that came with Marchal fog lamps as standard equipment.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Jamie Staff

    I’m with you, Jeff–I love these and they are a nice alternative to the usual VW/Japanese stuff. But then again, I am from the era of “box flares”. Those who follow our race team should pay attention to that last sentence…

    Like 0
    • Avatar jim s

      what are the tracks and dates you will be racing in 2016? thanks.

      Like 0
      • Avatar Jamie Staff

        Hi, Jim! I’m in the middle of moving, so we are missing the usual spring Carolina Motorsports Park race (I’ll be driving a teammate’s car, though). That’s April 30-May 1. We’re going to try to run the fall race there September 17-18, if we can get the car modified by then. We also have plans to run ChumpCar at Sebring New Years Eve. Next year we’ll be racing more; the move and putting our shop together has taken up a lot more time than I thought it would…

        Like 0
      • Avatar jim s

        thanks for the information. have fun. please update us with your race results. thanks

        Like 0
  4. Avatar AMC STEVE

    Auction ended already

    Like 0
  5. Avatar MikeH

    Makes one wonder when the pics were taken. The trees ain’t green in Quebec in early April.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar don comfort

    A friend of mine has an 86 Alliance convertible that was never registered. It still has the window sticker on it.

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  7. Avatar Blueprint

    I’m in Quebec and indeed these pics aren’t current! People here are huge Renault fans, and, hard to believe for Americans, but the Renault 5 was a top 10 seller up here. I owned an ’86 Alliance DL coupe winter beater while in college. Lots of brittle stuff, but many parts like window winders were direct swaps with Cherokees. Mine had the 1.7 liter and it scooted pretty well. Great heater, and 155 series tires helped in snow. The AMC designed two-door shell had huge structural issues though and you could hear the body wobble !

    Like 0
  8. Avatar AMC STEVE

    Ok so seller relished it. This guy is in dreamland at $6500
    http://www.nadaguides.com/Classic-Cars/1987/American-Motors/GTA/2-Door-Sedan/Values

    Like 0
  9. HoA Howard A Member

    This car actually looks pretty cool. My brother had an Alliance, and it was just a ho-hum car, but nothing like this. This looks like a fun little car, but what about parts? Alliance collection? Don’t laugh, I’d bet this laptop someone out there has a bunch of these, and it’s already gone.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar The Chucker

    My sister purchased one of these new, although it was a few years older than this and a sedan. IIRC, it ate clutches like Mama June eats BonBons. Due largely to a manufacturing flaw that allowed an oil seal to saturate the clutch when it leaked.

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  11. Avatar Alan (Michigan)

    I almost bought one of these when they were new, but decided on another car. A big motivation was that the factory had already done most of the tricks to improve performance, and that would mean a disadvantage as-classed for SCCA autocrossing.

    A friend took a test ride in one and was impressed by the handling. He reportedly scared the riding sales-person into a sheet-white pallor by screaming through an industrial park and barely slowing for the corners. He liked the car a lot, but didn’t buy one either. He was working at a VW dealership at the time….

    Like 0
  12. Avatar don comfort

    Found a pic

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  13. Avatar joel chateauneuf

    still available…. this is my father’s car. You can reach him at 1-819-477-5405

    Like 0
    • Avatar CarNut from Winnipeg Member

      Still available? I happen to be in Quebec City this weekend.

      Like 0
  14. Avatar KMB

    I bought one just like this in 1987, off the show room floor. The interior was black.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Mike

    Are those Jeep xj seats or do xj’s have Renault seats lol

    Like 0

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