Whatever happened to the Renault 12?
I’d clean forgotten about the Renault 12 until approximately 8.57pm on Saturday 10th April 2010. A Twitter-based discussion over the Triumph Dolomite veered off in the direction of old Renaults. Then, a small debate over the existence of the Renault 13 led me into the virtual path of the Renault 12, a car that has long since left the filing cabinet in my head. But now it is back.
The photographer bemoaned another miserable day
It is fair to say, that I was never a big fan of the Renault 12 when I was growing up. It looked like a miserable car and everyone I ever saw driving one looked equally as miserable. I came to the conclusion that either the Renault 12 was so bad it made you feel miserable, or it was only appealing to miserable people.
Either way, I saw it as a miserable car and I’m actually feeling rather depressed writing this paragraph, so I’ll move on.
Over the course of 11 miserable years between 1969 and 1980, some 2.5 miserable, I mean million, Renault 12s were built. That’s like the entire population of Toronto, all driving Renault 12s. What’s amazing is that on the official Toronto website, they compare their city’s population to the number of Renault 12s sold globally. Allegedly.
But what of the Renault. It was always envisaged that the 12 would be what is often referred to as a ‘world car’. The new Fiesta is a prime example in 2010, but as the Swinging Sixties made way for the 1970s, this was a true ‘world car’. Away from the French homeland, the 12 was manufactured in far-off climbs, such as Brazil, Australia and Argentina.
It was also built and badged as a Dacia in Romania, with the Denem being sold as recently as 2004. Indeed, it was a Dacia Denem that allegedly found itself lodged in the front of James May’s Lamborghini on the Top Gear trip to Romania. That James – he’s always had a thing for Dacias.
But back to the 12. It is hard to believe now, but the family Renault was generally lusted over by businessmen in the 1970s. As Britain fell in love with the motorway, so the sales-rep fell head over heels for the 12, attracted by the comfy seats, soft suspension, reliability and high spec.
A little French flair in comparison to the Escort or Cortina. Yep, the Renault 12 was everywhere in the 1970s, although by the 1980s it was beginning to find itself lodged firmly within the ‘Bangers Under £500’ section of the local rags. The rot had set in. Quite literally.
Today, Renault is synonymous with making cars for the petrolhead, with the Renault Sport Clio, Megane and Twingo lighting up track days and B-roads. But all of these need to bow down and worship at the feet of one of the coolest fast Renaults of all time: the Renault 12 Gordini.
Reasons to be cheerful…
This is more like it! Introduced in 1970, the 125bhp Gordini had twin Webers, disc brakes all round, uprated suspension and a choice of pastel colours. Each had double white stripes, but it is the French Racing Blue version which does it for me. I’m suddenly not feeling so miserable anymore.
If I’d seen one during my childhood years, it would have certainly brought joy to my walk to school. I mean come on, look at it…
Reasons to be cheerful, part 2
The Gordini wasn’t the only ‘hot’ version of the 12. In South America, the locals were treated to the Alpine, a rally-inspired edition that included a fibreglass bonnet, race-spec suspension and a 1.4-litre engine generating some 108bhp. Despite being very well received by the motoring press, only 493 were sold.
The cost was one issue, with the basic price some 40 percent more than the TL version. I’m not so sure that cost was the only issue. For me, it lacks the style and flair of the Gordini, looking, as it does, like Mad Max had spent too much time in Halfords. However, an urban myth does suggest that if you squint hard enough at the picture, it does magically transform into a Lotus Esprit JPS edition. Go on, squint. Really hard. Move away from the screen if it helps. Bit further. Little more. Keep going. Getting it yet? Maybe try again later.
1979 Lotus Esprit JPS
Sadly, there doesn’t appear to be any Renault 12s for sale in Britain today. Rust has once again proved too much for the car. For a car that safely took our fathers between meetings and between trouser presses, this is a shame. It may have made me miserable as a boy. But I would let out a small cheer if I saw one tomorrow. I’d probably run over and hug the driver if it was a Gordini. Misery loves company after all.
One final thing. There is no Renault 13. Miserable lot.
Read more:
- Whatever happened to the Renault 6?
- Whatever happened to the Renault 14?
- Billy and the Renault 5 Gordini
Grateful thanks to Martin Bergner (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Martin.bergner) and Wurger90(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Wurger_190)for images
17 Comments
The only Renault I ever cared for was the 5 Turbo 2… The 6R4 of it’s day, I’ve only ever seen three in the flesh… One in a museum, one in a showroom near Westbourne for most of my childhood, and one at the RenaultWorld Motorsport day at Silverstone in 2008… Where the ‘pilot’ was achieving the most insane drift angles ever!
Ah, the Renault 5 Turbo. I know of countless stories of hapless drivers caught out by the turbo lag, normally mid corner or whilst overtaking. Ditch or hedge were the usual final resting place!
Just checked ‘how many left’ – there are a dozen R12 Gordinis currently licensed in the UK. Even better, this number seems to be holding steady.
Sadly, the R17 Gordini, another very worthy car, is in danger of extinction, with only two examples presently licensed and another one SORN’d.
Random thought: didn’t the R17 – or at least some later versions of it – have Renault’s rather lovely and very supportive ‘Petale’ seats?
I really must get a Renault 12 Gordini in my life…
As for the ‘Petale’ seats – I’m going to have to Google that to find the answer. I’m not sure…
What did we do before Google?! Surely we need to thank the search engine for keeping some old cars alive?
Want to see some evocative period footage of R8 and R12 Gordinis? If so, point your browser here:
http://renault.tv/en_GB/lifestyle/videos/148119/film-club-gordinissimo#/lifestyle/videos/148119/film-club-gordinissimo
The films can also be viewed on Renault TV on freesat and Sky.
Gordini porn! Thanks for posting the link.
You should go to Turkey. There’s thousands of them still there!
Right, that’s next year’s holiday sorted! 😉
I once had a Renault 12. Actually two of them, a manual and an automatic. I remember it as a great little car. The handling was crisp, steering was precise. I am sorry I sold it. The manual transmission R12, in blue, was my favorite of the two. It wasn’t super fast, but it had style.
Sorry to be a pedant, but Right Hand Drive R12 Gordinis were made, here in Australia. All still survive (all 6 that is). They were converted by Renault Australia at their factory in Melbourne and used as competition vehicles in State and Australian Rally Championships. One even went to Africa for the Safari (but crashed). They are prized, restored and expensive now. The rest of us build replicas in R12 donor shells and raid the parts bins.
cheers Keith
Renault 12’s were very popular in Spain and lasted forever. I remember getting a lift in one; around town it is possibly the most comfortable car ever with a lovely absorbent ride and soft yet supportive seats.
Wikipedia, ancient Jeremy Clarkson ‘jokes’, and time-honoured clichés. “never the twain shall meet”. Lovely stuff!
I remember first going to Turkey in the mid-90s and there were a lot of Renault 12s on the road, especially as police cars – they might’ve been rebadged something or others – and, as unattractive as they remained, made me quite nostalgic.
I have owned an original R12 , year 1978, double corp Weber carburator, It was purchased in Germany many years ago.
That car is still on the road today , with the original transmission , Engine has been rebuilt so many times, Stick shift.
I grew up in that car, my first car ever i drove. Fun to drive.
There are plenty of them in Romania, french ones. Romania has built under license a variant called DACIA 1300 &1310&1410
I drove a 1974 12TL from 1978 to 1982. It had a strange front layout. Renault turned their fore-and-aft engine around to mate with the transaxle. The alternator was back near the firewall.
For a small car the 12TL was reasonably fast and handled well. I am a big guy and had enough room. The seats were exceptional. The trunk had a lot of usable space for a small car.
Reliability was not good. I got to know my mechanic much better than I wanted to. The car had to be towed in from well out of town three times. I ate up a clutch, a transmission, CV joints, a distributor, a fuel pump and several other doodads.
At 80,000 miles the car still looked good but I sold it in search of something more reliable with more parts availability.
I rallyed a North American spec ’72 R12 in the ONRC Rallye series here in Canada back in ’79-’81. It was a very capable if somewhat underpowered contender taking quite afew first place finishes and finishing in the top 3 every year – and it NEVER BROKE on a rallye. The ride and handling were unbelievable – the long travel suspension just soaked up the bumps.
I went to Romania on a school cultural exchange in 1981, and R12’s (in the form of Dacia’s ) were everywhere. My host family had one in bright yellow. It wasn’t a patch on my Dad’s Cortina but it was a perfectly good car. The only other car you could buy in Romania then was the Lada. Even the Romanians thought they were rubbish.