With the Paris Motor Show just a month away, Renault is pulling out all the stops: the diamond brand has just unveiled a show car that pays homage to one of its legendary models, the R17. A four-seater coupé, a sporty version of the R15, with a design typical of the 1970s. Both models were produced between 1971 and 1979.
A revised R17 restomod
But what would this model look like in our time? This is the experiment that Renault has tried by asking the French designer Ora-ïto to revisit this R17.
A unique model presented this Wednesday, September 4th in House 5 in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, the ephemeral showroom where the brand exhibits different versions of its new Renault 5 until September 15.
This R17 “restomod” will only be present until September 11, as it will then take part in the Chantilly Concours d’Elegance from September 12 to 15. It should then be one of the stars of the Renault stand at the Paris Motor Show, from October 14 to 20.
A new tradition at Renault
But what is a “restomod” model?
“The term ‘restomod’ is a contraction of restoration, to restore an old car, and modification, which brings back codes of modernity,” explains Arnaud Belloni, marketing director of the Renault brand.
A small tradition now at the diamond brand, which since 2021 has been offering a creation inspired by its historic models, giving carte blanche to a designer.
“We love this approach, inaugurated three years ago with a restomod for the 60th anniversary of the R4 with Mathieu Lehanneur, which everyone now knows for the Olympic cauldron, then in 2022 for the 50th anniversary of the R5 with Pierre Gonalons and a very free interpretation of an automotive diamond and finally last year a Twingo with Sabine Marcelis,” continues Arnaud Belloni.
For this 2024 vintage, the choice of the R17 was no coincidence. “The fantastic thing about the R17 is that it has the same designer as the Renault 5, Michel Boué: the R5 was launched in 1972, the R17 a year earlier,” underlines Arnaud Belloni.
Unlike the R5, whose new 100% electric version will go on sale this fall, or the new production R4, which will be unveiled for the first time in a world at the Paris Motor Show, this “restomod” R17 is not intended for production.
“The idea is to use an iconic vehicle and project it into the present, or even the future: it is a 272-horsepower electric car, which can be driven, with a very modern interior but respecting the codes of the past,” says Renault’s marketing director.
The four digital dials behind the steering wheel reference the four counters on the original model.
A destination for the Peugeot e-Legend?
There’s no doubt that this revised version of the R17 will turn heads at the upcoming Paris Motor Show.
Which reminds us of another concept presented six years ago. At the 2018 World Championship, a Peugeot e-Legend, a retro-futuristic version of the 504, was clearly one of the public’s favourites. Despite this strong public expectation for a production version, the lion brand had not gone so far as to launch production, which was once considered.
Source: BFM TV
