Thanks to Dimitri Urbain, the Renault Twingo Tintin will appear in issue 35 of Classic.Retro.Modern. as one of six of the best European special editions. Cars that were denied to us Brits, more's the pity.
You'd be forgiven for having no prior knowledge of the Twingo Tintin, even if you're reading this in France. Sales were limited to Belgium and Luxembourg, where 900 (300 of each colour) were launched in 2001 to celebrate the release of the musical, Tintin – Le Temple du Soleil.
It's easy to spot a Twingo Tintin; simply look for Tintin's face peering out from behind the back number plate, passenger-side door pillar, passenger-side sun visor and driver's seat. Not to be outdone, Snowy's face appears on the driver-side door pillar, driver-side sun visor and passenger seat. The original owner also received an exclusive Tintin keyring.
Of the three colours, two were exclusive to the Twingo Tintin, while the velour trim was also unique to the model. It was based on a high-spec Twingo, so standard equipment included grey leather steering wheel and gear knob, airbags, power steering, electric windows, remote audio controls and central locking.
Options included a CD player, sat-nav, air conditioning, electric panoramic glass sunroof and alloy wheels.
While searching for photos to use in the mag, Dimitri discovered a few facts about the Twingo Tintin, relayed to him by a chap involved with the development of the car.
It turns out the project was completed in Belgium without the knowledge of anyone at Renault HQ. That said, the Hergé Foundation's Nick Rodwell, known as the ‘ferocious guardian of the Tintin legacy’ approved the Twingo special edition as long as the Tintin name didn't appear on the car. Louis Schweitzer, Renault's chairman and CEO, loved the car so much, he sent his congratulations to the team in Belgium.
The seat patches were affixed with an iron because, to quote Dimitri, “they didn't have time to sew them on and nobody knew how to do it”. Whether they last as long as the 3M exterior decals is anyone's guess.
One thing's for certain: one of the coolest Twingo special editions wasn't created in France. Does the Twingo Tintin qualify as a famous Belgian? Answers on a postcard to the usual address.
Visit the excellent I Want a Twingo website to check out the Tintin brochure, and check out issue 35 of Classic.Retro.Modern. magazine to read Dimitri's article on Euro specials.
