My first car in 1988 - a 1983 Renault 4 F4 Van - bought off the Irish Post Office where these were popular as post vans. So many great memories of days spent renovating one of these. Reliable and never let me down, resprayed with cheap Zetor red tractor paint! Thought I was so cool at 22 years old! Still have a special affection for the R4 - best memories in my life when I drove one of these -anytime I see one at a vintage show I still recall those good old carefree days in my '20s! Such a true green car - easy to maintain and good on fuel.
My first car was a Renault 4 and my wife also had one as her first car. A few years later when we were married we bought another - definitely Renault 4 enthusiasts. I am a bit of a purist so wouldn't bother with a re-engined version and the drum brakes were adequate for the performance.
My first car. 1968 model. I bought it in 1978 for a pittance. Worked like a charm for 3 years. I had to replace the wheelhouses but that was easy because they were bolted on. Since then, I have had lots of cars at various levels of luxury but the R4 is the only car I miss…
I owned a late model R4 850, quirky little car. The timing chain tensioner failed and the chain jumped the sprocket putting the valve timing out. Luckily the valves had clearance to the pistons on that engine and as happened less than a mile from home I was able to drive it home. The way the gear shift went 90 deg bend then through the dash over the top of the engine another 90 deg bend to operate a gear stick that stuck up from the gear box (that was in front of the engine) lick a normal one, was weirdly French . It had tremendous body roll, was very slow (just about did 70) but the large fabric sun roof was great, to this day I remember driving very early one summer morning with the sun roof rolled back playing “Mr Blue Sky” by ELO, still a great memory of simpler times in my youth.
I overturned one once as a four year old in 1967. My Mum parked it on a steep incline in the driveway and quickly ran inside to fetch her purse, that is exactly when I managed to dislodge the parking brake. The car ended on its side and no one was injured in the process. It was righted and served us for another couple of years.
Lovely car. It was the first car our family bought when I graduated from senior high school in 1971 and har got a driver's licens. It was a 1968 model. We had so much great fun with it despite it often had a bad habit of having to visit a garage arter the weekends. For some reason, something, usually electric, broke
I had one during varsity in the mid eighties at Sporthochschule Cologne . I loved it 🤠 It was build in 68 , had had quite a few owners , some of the wiring was isolated in clingfilm, I used to park with the nose downhill if possible, the starter motor / Lichtmaschine and I were not friends . This thing could be push started like a motorbike ❤ Sigh .
Yes, this brings back a lot of memories. I had a Renault 4 in London - quite sufficient power to keep up with traffic in those days. I even drove that one to the south of Greece (from London) - it is so practical and great at dealing with roads which are less than perfect - e.g. in eastern Europe. Not really a motorway car - but it will keep up 60 mph for ever. As a friend of mine said, it is like riding in a blancmange! I had been brought up with the R4 - my mother had perhaps six of them over the years and I drove one of them to the south of France (from Scotland). For Mum, it replaced a Morris Minor which was (sadly) junk in all sorts of ways. The Renaults are marvelously reliable, a low cost, ever eager simple form of transport. I did eventually move "up" to a Renault 16 - one of the most gloriously comfortable cars ever. It would be good to see your review of a R16.
I had one pretty much like that way back.... I passed my test in 1977 and bought a 1967 Renault 4 gtl. Mine didn't have the bench seat but it did have a two colour paint scheme. I wish I still had it.....I used to be able to get my drum kit easily in the back because I could take out the back seat....
I had a 1968. It lasted us 30 years, despite being almost totalled 3 times. My brother an I swapped engines once with our bare hands. It helped we took out the "bonnet" (hood). I so wish it was available here in the USA. I loved my R4. It was a quirky, reliable, spacious car that could almost do anything (except go fast). My motorcycle had a bigger engine than my R4, at 1000cc (the R4 I had was 850cc or so). Let me list the weird things I did over the years while driving this car in Rome: 1) Started it with the front crank. The R4 had a hole in the front bumper and the lug nut wrench did double duty as a starting crank. I'll never forget when the starter motor failed and I drove the car to get a new one from a wrecking yard. It was raining and I stalled it at a red light. I jumped out, crank in hand, inserted it, gave it a half turn and the car started without issues, jumped back in and drove away. If I had a photo of the faces of the other drivers, I'd frame it. 2) The clutch cable broke. No problem. I'd time red lights so I didn't have to stop completely, but also I extended the cable inside the car and wrapped it around a piece of doweling, so if I had to stop, I could just pull on the cable and slowly release it to get away. 3) Same with the throttle. It broke, I stopped at a bicycle shop, I bought a bicycle brake cable, joined it with the throttle cable, tied it someplace and I could accelerate by simply moving my knee away from my body. 4) Bump starting. The car was so light that if I didn't want to show off my crank work at a red light with a broken starter motor, I could just get out, push it, jump back in, thrust it in 2nd gear and drive away. A slight downhill always helped. 5) I drove it from Rome to Venice when I was in the Army, mostly steering with my knee while eating Fava beans and Pecorino cheese. I loved that car and if I could find one, it'd be my daily driver today. I bet I could have curled up in the engine compartment and take a nap if I needed to, there was so much room in there.
I always loved this car as much as the 2CV, but never rode in or drove either of the two. Also a few days ago when I was visiting my grandmother, at one point my mother drove near a mall and outside was a Renault 4 with a for sale sign on its roof.
@@lightningleaf23....you don't need any of those safety features, you're not going fast enough.....mine had a zero to 40 in fifty minutes.....and a starting handle if someone had borrowed the battery....I wish I still had it.
Indeed, bulletproof cars , timing chain every 60 k and regular basic servicing , blinky had 180000 on his when he sold it , still sweet as a nut 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇬🇧🇮🇪🇮🇪@nojnoj3069
My first cars had been renaults: 2 x R4, R5 (which i loved the most), 1 R16 and all of them died from rusty outer mounts of the torsion bars of the rear axle. Still missing "Froggy" the tree frog green R5LS with 64HP which made it a lot faster than most of the BMW 3s of that time.
My first car was an R4 van with the 845 engine. It was great. 80ish mph was max, if you had enough time to get there but even at that, it was 30+mpg economical. I’m looking forward to the EV version that’s rumoured for 2025/6. If they do the same as they’ve done with the 5 EV, I think there’ll be one outside my door 🤞🤞
"it dose roll a little bit in the corners" understatement of the review! Major part of the cars charm is the opportunity to shout " ready about , lee ho" before roll tacking it through the corners. Much loved , easy to fix, hilarious car of my youth.
I would love to drive one today in our choked full of cars commute to and from home to work! Alas, it’s only 11 kilometers each way! But at 28 C temperature I imagine the old R4 could feel stuffy!
Moi j’en ai u 7 voiture 4 L la première une F 4 et parcours 430 mille klm même roule dans la R 3 🎉🎉 trop bien comme voiture populaire ancienne conserve la bien
I'm sorry, but if you honestly start to compare a 60yo classic car with your (presumably) all-nannied auto-box lease Audi, you are missing the point all together about the ownership of one.
It was cheap it was driving comfortable. Today they have to stuff a car full of "features" which don't provide anything meaningful but just drive the price high.
I hate the Renault 4 with a passion! As a kid growing up in the 80s, our family car was a Renault 4 and when that died, we bought another as it was the cheapest car for sale in the local paper! They were awful, rubbish, so raw, so weird, windows that didn't open normally or fully, stupid gear stick and hand brake, no radio, no normal door handles on the inside, there was no trim on the inside just the metal panels which when combined with lack of headrests or anything made long journeys as a small kid a horrid experience (you try sleeping while leaning your head on the metal door panel!). The speedo needle in the first car had warped in the sunshine and was permanently stuck at 32MPH. And it was so embarrassing, with 48HP, it's official top speed was lower than the motorway speed limit. 0-60 time was nearly 40 seconds! But worst was when you came to any sort of incline, the car would slow and you'd crawl up in 2nd gear with a queue of cars behind you.
@@cjhatescomputers not always. They had a habit of breaking down. We were given a dead R4 (so that's a 3rd one we had) to use for spare parts!!! Our 2nd one had a break warning light. Seemed very prominent with it's own test button (considering it had next to nothing else on the dashboard). Turns out those cars were known to have brake failures which we discovered when that light came on one day while driving along! Horrid, rubbish, embarrassing... and dangerous.
There’s something just so likeable about the R4 !
My first car in 1988 - a 1983 Renault 4 F4 Van - bought off the Irish Post Office where these were popular as post vans. So many great memories of days spent renovating one of these. Reliable and never let me down, resprayed with cheap Zetor red tractor paint! Thought I was so cool at 22 years old! Still have a special affection for the R4 - best memories in my life when I drove one of these -anytime I see one at a vintage show I still recall those good old carefree days in my '20s! Such a true green car - easy to maintain and good on fuel.
I would happily buy an R4 for use today. Absolutely fantastic vehicle and much more sensible than todays bloated barges.
I always loved the R4 . My grandfather , father , my older brother and i had one. All my life i saw the Renault 4 ♥️
My first car was a Renault 4 and my wife also had one as her first car. A few years later when we were married we bought another - definitely Renault 4 enthusiasts. I am a bit of a purist so wouldn't bother with a re-engined version and the drum brakes were adequate for the performance.
My first car. 1968 model. I bought it in 1978 for a pittance. Worked like a charm for 3 years. I had to replace the wheelhouses but that was easy because they were bolted on. Since then, I have had lots of cars at various levels of luxury but the R4 is the only car I miss…
I agree! I have a BRZ now, which is the most fun I have had in a car, but the R4 GTL in red is the one car I miss most.
@@svenolofandersson2572 me too!..
I had one in these in the early 80's, fantastic little car.
Nice piece, factual and no silly music. My dad had 2 Renault 4 s, he played music so carries his music gear in it , very handy car .
Thanks 🙏 Glad you enjoyed it 👍
@@karlhurn , Hope you do more , maybe a few fiat's or alfa romeo, or the Renault 5. Good work again
I have got nostalgia after seeing this video..my father had one till 1990s..thanks for restoring and made a video on it.
Many thanks 🙏. Glad you enjoyed it 👍
I owned a late model R4 850, quirky little car. The timing chain tensioner failed and the chain jumped the sprocket putting the valve timing out. Luckily the valves had clearance to the pistons on that engine and as happened less than a mile from home I was able to drive it home. The way the gear shift went 90 deg bend then through the dash over the top of the engine another 90 deg bend to operate a gear stick that stuck up from the gear box (that was in front of the engine) lick a normal one, was weirdly French . It had tremendous body roll, was very slow (just about did 70) but the large fabric sun roof was great, to this day I remember driving very early one summer morning with the sun roof rolled back playing “Mr Blue Sky” by ELO, still a great memory of simpler times in my youth.
I overturned one once as a four year old in 1967. My Mum parked it on a steep incline in the driveway and quickly ran inside to fetch her purse, that is exactly when I managed to dislodge the parking brake. The car ended on its side and no one was injured in the process. It was righted and served us for another couple of years.
Lovely car. It was the first car our family bought when I graduated from senior high school in 1971 and har got a driver's licens. It was a 1968 model. We had so much great fun with it despite it often had a bad habit of having to visit a garage arter the weekends. For some reason, something, usually electric, broke
I had one during varsity in the mid eighties at Sporthochschule Cologne . I loved it 🤠 It was build in 68 , had had quite a few owners , some of the wiring was isolated in clingfilm, I used to park with the nose downhill if possible, the starter motor / Lichtmaschine and I were not friends . This thing could be push started like a motorbike ❤ Sigh .
Yes, this brings back a lot of memories. I had a Renault 4 in London - quite sufficient power to keep up with traffic in those days. I even drove that one to the south of Greece (from London) - it is so practical and great at dealing with roads which are less than perfect - e.g. in eastern Europe. Not really a motorway car - but it will keep up 60 mph for ever. As a friend of mine said, it is like riding in a blancmange!
I had been brought up with the R4 - my mother had perhaps six of them over the years and I drove one of them to the south of France (from Scotland). For Mum, it replaced a Morris Minor which was (sadly) junk in all sorts of ways. The Renaults are marvelously reliable, a low cost, ever eager simple form of transport.
I did eventually move "up" to a Renault 16 - one of the most gloriously comfortable cars ever. It would be good to see your review of a R16.
Do you still have the r16
Sadly no - but it really was a GREAT car. So practical and so comfortable.
Yes,I agree about both cars,they were excellent.
The simplicity, and the best ingennery, both in a little car
I had one pretty much like that way back.... I passed my test in 1977 and bought a 1967 Renault 4 gtl. Mine didn't have the bench seat but it did have a two colour paint scheme. I wish I still had it.....I used to be able to get my drum kit easily in the back because I could take out the back seat....
Awesome 👏 We all have a ‘one that got away’ that we wish we still had. Great for a drum kit the Renault 4 👍
A great vehicle, very safe and Comfortable.
Thank you for a great video
Thanks 🙏 Glad you enjoyed it 👍
Car development has gone way over the top of practicality, necessity and affordability. It´s about time to go back into the future.
I had a 1968. It lasted us 30 years, despite being almost totalled 3 times. My brother an I swapped engines once with our bare hands. It helped we took out the "bonnet" (hood). I so wish it was available here in the USA. I loved my R4. It was a quirky, reliable, spacious car that could almost do anything (except go fast). My motorcycle had a bigger engine than my R4, at 1000cc (the R4 I had was 850cc or so).
Let me list the weird things I did over the years while driving this car in Rome:
1) Started it with the front crank. The R4 had a hole in the front bumper and the lug nut wrench did double duty as a starting crank. I'll never forget when the starter motor failed and I drove the car to get a new one from a wrecking yard. It was raining and I stalled it at a red light. I jumped out, crank in hand, inserted it, gave it a half turn and the car started without issues, jumped back in and drove away. If I had a photo of the faces of the other drivers, I'd frame it.
2) The clutch cable broke. No problem. I'd time red lights so I didn't have to stop completely, but also I extended the cable inside the car and wrapped it around a piece of doweling, so if I had to stop, I could just pull on the cable and slowly release it to get away.
3) Same with the throttle. It broke, I stopped at a bicycle shop, I bought a bicycle brake cable, joined it with the throttle cable, tied it someplace and I could accelerate by simply moving my knee away from my body.
4) Bump starting. The car was so light that if I didn't want to show off my crank work at a red light with a broken starter motor, I could just get out, push it, jump back in, thrust it in 2nd gear and drive away. A slight downhill always helped.
5) I drove it from Rome to Venice when I was in the Army, mostly steering with my knee while eating Fava beans and Pecorino cheese.
I loved that car and if I could find one, it'd be my daily driver today. I bet I could have curled up in the engine compartment and take a nap if I needed to, there was so much room in there.
One of the most popular cars in Colombia in the 1970’s-1980’s.
I always loved this car as much as the 2CV, but never rode in or drove either of the two. Also a few days ago when I was visiting my grandmother, at one point my mother drove near a mall and outside was a Renault 4 with a for sale sign on its roof.
Lovely little car thanks for your time.
Interesting how a car like that has better gas mileage than new cars.Oh wait a minute am I a conspiracy bum ?
Yes you are. No safety features light weight doors that offer no protection etc keep weight well down and economy good just don’t crash
@@lightningleaf23....you don't need any of those safety features, you're not going fast enough.....mine had a zero to 40 in fifty minutes.....and a starting handle if someone had borrowed the battery....I wish I still had it.
Indeed, bulletproof cars , timing chain every 60 k and regular basic servicing , blinky had 180000 on his when he sold it , still sweet as a nut 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇬🇧🇮🇪🇮🇪@nojnoj3069
@@nojnoj3069 Nothing like the one I had then !
Not surprising,as it was not one of today’s ridiculously powerfull ,complicated,heavy and bloated offerings.
Great review if a rare little classic.
My first cars had been renaults: 2 x R4, R5 (which i loved the most), 1 R16 and all of them died from rusty outer mounts of the torsion bars of the rear axle. Still missing "Froggy" the tree frog green R5LS with 64HP which made it a lot faster than most of the BMW 3s of that time.
Great review 👏 thank you for making this video
Many thanks 🙏 Glad you enjoyed it 👍
My first car was an R4 van with the 845 engine. It was great. 80ish mph was max, if you had enough time to get there but even at that, it was 30+mpg economical. I’m looking forward to the EV version that’s rumoured for 2025/6. If they do the same as they’ve done with the 5 EV, I think there’ll be one outside my door 🤞🤞
Yes, the new Renault 5 is great 👍
I love this car it was my first car in 1996 it took me every were easy cheap to maintain ❤
"it dose roll a little bit in the corners" understatement of the review! Major part of the cars charm is the opportunity to shout " ready about , lee ho" before roll tacking it through the corners. Much loved , easy to fix, hilarious car of my youth.
I had both the saloon and the van and don’t remember them rolling excessively.
my dad used to bring me back from school with one of these
Great film. Thanks. Really enjoyed that. Always loved the quaterelle. Is there a UK a enter of excellence for them?
What do you mean by Centre of Excellence?
A place that specialises in them?
Oh right! Not sure, but I’d join the Renault 4 Facebook group. Someone on there is bound to know. 👍
@@karlhurn Ok. Thanks.
La Quaterelle ! Nice rewriting of the 4L ❤
This Quillery tortoise steering wheel is pure nostalgia.
90hp in a 4L. That thing must be quick 🤯 has 10hp more than my Clio 😎
Ok. thanks so much.. see you. València Spain.
Some people say that the Renault 4 was the first hatchback but I see it more like a small wagon. I think the Renault 16 was the first true hatchback.
nostaligia for me. The only thing is that the steering wheel is on the wrong side :)
I would love to drive one today in our choked full of cars commute to and from home to work! Alas, it’s only 11 kilometers each way! But at 28 C temperature I imagine the old R4 could feel stuffy!
My first car, WBV 539R, good car, hated starting in the damp
You used to see lots of them in the 1990s in Edinburgh.
Moi j’en ai u 7 voiture 4 L la première une F 4 et parcours 430 mille klm même roule dans la R 3 🎉🎉 trop bien comme voiture populaire ancienne conserve la bien
Bristol Bordeaux exchange family had Renault 4 with push pull gear change in dash.
Hi, Thanks for sharing this. How can i get the original spare parts? I am based in Kenya
Thanks glad you enjoyed the video. No idea how you would pick up parts in Kenya to be honest. Donor car?
My local Catholic priest had a 197O H reg and still in use 20 years later.
Is there a way to find out paint color of this car? Do you know what paint color code is this?
You can check out the whole build at this website. It might mention the paint code 👍 www.renault4.co.uk/renault-4-restoration.htm
Hello, I've got RENAULT 4, would wish to have it refurbished
Is the steering wheel made from bakelite? That's what it looks like to me.
Looks like it 😂
Our neighbour bought one of these all because it had that nice hook for her handbag
I'm sorry, but if you honestly start to compare a 60yo classic car with your (presumably) all-nannied auto-box lease Audi, you are missing the point all together about the ownership of one.
¡Hermoso!. 🥰
👍 nice car 👍
It was cheap it was driving comfortable. Today they have to stuff a car full of "features" which don't provide anything meaningful but just drive the price high.
I hate the Renault 4 with a passion! As a kid growing up in the 80s, our family car was a Renault 4 and when that died, we bought another as it was the cheapest car for sale in the local paper! They were awful, rubbish, so raw, so weird, windows that didn't open normally or fully, stupid gear stick and hand brake, no radio, no normal door handles on the inside, there was no trim on the inside just the metal panels which when combined with lack of headrests or anything made long journeys as a small kid a horrid experience (you try sleeping while leaning your head on the metal door panel!). The speedo needle in the first car had warped in the sunshine and was permanently stuck at 32MPH. And it was so embarrassing, with 48HP, it's official top speed was lower than the motorway speed limit. 0-60 time was nearly 40 seconds! But worst was when you came to any sort of incline, the car would slow and you'd crawl up in 2nd gear with a queue of cars behind you.
but it got you there
@@cjhatescomputers not always. They had a habit of breaking down. We were given a dead R4 (so that's a 3rd one we had) to use for spare parts!!!
Our 2nd one had a break warning light. Seemed very prominent with it's own test button (considering it had next to nothing else on the dashboard). Turns out those cars were known to have brake failures which we discovered when that light came on one day while driving along!
Horrid, rubbish, embarrassing... and dangerous.
I wonderful car.
Too much changing gear. Why? Nervous? Ok ok you done well. I like it.
Am I the only one here because of need for speed nitro?
Eh? 😂
So it’s not really a Renault 4 in anything but body shape.
I would imagine that a Renault 4 with a Renault 5 engine and gearbox is still pretty much a Renault 4.
Crxp in their Day and nothing has changed.
All that cleshe music is dump.
Sp
I had one in 80s.
worse car I ever had.Sold it after 2 years, never bought renault again