Renault 16
Encyclopedia
Hatchback
A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...
produced by French automaker Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
between 1965 and 1980 in Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, France. The reviewer in the May 1965 edition of the English "Motoring Illustrated" said: "The Renault Sixteen can thus be described as a large family car but one that is neither a four door saloon and nor is it quite an estate. But, importantly, it is a little different."
The Renault 16 was voted European Car of the Year
European Car of the Year
The European Car of the Year award was established in 1964 by a collective of automobile magazines from different countries in Europe. The current organisers of the award are Auto , Autocar , Autopista , Autovisie , L'Automobile Magazine , Stern and Vi Bilägare .The voting jury consists of motoring...
by a board of European motoring journalists in 1966. It was the third year of the accolade's existence, and the Renault 16 was the first French winner of the award.
Over 1,845,959 R16s were produced during a production which lasted for some 15 years.
Series production started in March 1965 at the company's recently completed Sandouville plant, a few kilometers to the east of Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
. The car sold well in most of Europe, winning praise for its spacious and comfortable interior. Equipment levels were also high for the price. Initially, Renault sold the R16 with just a 1.4 L gasoline engine in GL specification for which 55 PS was claimed; in March 1968 there appeared at the Geneva Motor Show the 1.6 L I4
Straight-4
The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....
TS which could top 100 mi/h. An automatic transmission version, designated the Renault 16 TA, was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show early in 1969. The top-line model was the TX, was launched at the Paris Motor Show in October 1973, featuring a 5-speed manual transmission. Equipment included power windows for the front doors and central door locking, features previously unknown on family cars in Europe.
Production of the Renault 16 lasted until 1980 when it was finally replaced by the less successful Renault 20. Even by this stage, when it was nearly 15 years old, the Renault 16 was still one of the most popular and highly rated family cars on sale in Europe. Retired Renault styling chief Patrick le Quément
Patrick le Quément
Patrick G. M. Le Quément is a retired French car designer, formerly chief designer of Renault.Born in France but brought up in the United Kingdom, Le Quément holds a BA Hons...
made no secret his admiration for the R16 — and incorporated a subtle tribute to its "bird-beak" grille in the corporate look he devised for models such as the Laguna
Renault Laguna
The Renault Laguna is a large family car produced by the French manufacturer Renault. The first Laguna was launched in 1993, the second generation was launched in 2000, and the third generation was made available for sale in October 2007....
, Mégane
Renault Mégane
The Renault Mégane is a small family car produced by the French automaker Renault since 1995. It is offered in 3- and 5-door hatchback, saloon, coupé, convertible and estate bodystyles...
, Scénic
Renault Scénic
The Renault Scénic is a compact MPV produced by French automaker Renault, the first to be labelled as such in Europe. It is based on the chassis of the Mégane small family car. It became 1997 European Car of the Year on its launch in late 1996...
that the company launched in the 1990s.
By the time the Renault 16 ceased production most other European manufacturers had at least one hatchback on sale. At the time Renault had six hatchbacks on sale, the R4, R5, R6, R14, R20 and R30.
One peculiarity of the R16 design is that the two back wheel shafts were not in-line. The left wheelbase was 70 mm (2.76 in) longer than the right wheelbase, to accommodate the torsion bar suspension. This and the soft front seats gives this car a fantastically smooth ride even over big bumps. Pull the handbrake and put in reverse. The rear bumper will raise about a foot, it's the longest suspension travel of a car this size. Very special.
A second peculiarity, though one that would by 1965 have been familiar to Renault 4
Renault 4
The Renault 4, also known as the 4L , is a hatchback economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 1961 and 1992. It was the first front-wheel drive family car produced by Renault....
drivers, was that the engine was mounted north-south in the front, behind the gearbox/transaxle. This contributed to the excellent handling and balance of this car by keeping the weight closer to the centre of the car. Traditional front drive layouts are either east-west or in some cases north-south but with the engine to the front.
Gear changing was performed by means of a column mounted lever which allowed for a more spacious front cabin, although column mounted gear changes were by this time becoming unfashionable in major European markets.
The rear seat could be reconfigured into several positions, or removed completely. The car was thus remarkably spacious, as described by Vicar in Motoring Illustrated in 1965.
The 16 had no major competitors until the arrival of the Alec Issigonis
Alec Issigonis
Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS was a Greek-British designer of cars, now remembered chiefly for the groundbreaking and influential development of the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959.- Early life:Issigonis was born into the Greek community of Smyrna ...
designed Austin Maxi
Austin Maxi
The Austin Maxi was a medium sized 5-door hatchback car from British Leyland for the 1970s. It was the first British five speed five-door hatchback.-History:...
in 1969, but the Austin Maxi was almost unknown outside of the UK.
When the Renault 16 was launched, rumours of industrial espionage on Citroen
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
's project F abounded but were unproved.
Timeline
- August 1964 - First official pictures of the R16 are released to the media.
- December 2, 1964 - The first R16 is completed at the factory in Sandouville, near Le Havre, a facility purpose-built for the R16.
- January 5, 1965 - The Renault 16 is introduced to the world and the press in a presentation on the Côte-d'AzurFrench RivieraThe Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
. - April 1965 - The R16 is made available to the public, in two specifications: Grand Luxe and Super, both powered by a 1470 cc engineInternal combustion engineThe internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
- 1967 - Ventilation and heating are both improved, and the dashboard is redesigned. An automatically operated chokeChoke valveA Choke valve is a type of valve designed to create choked flow in a fluid. Over a wide range of valve settings the flow through the valve can be understood by ignoring the viscosity of the fluid passing through the valve; the rate of flow is determined only by the ambient pressure on the upstream...
is also made available. - 1968 - The 16 TS is introduced. It features a new 1565 cc engine, an all-new instrument panel that includes a tachometer and water temperature gauge, and many other new features including two-speed windscreen wipers, rear defroster, passenger reading light, and optional powered windows.
- 1969 - The other R16 models get the wheels and brakes of the TS. Reverse lights are installed as standard on the TS, placed under the taillights (they are optional on other models).
- 1969 - The R16 TA, with an automatic transmissionAutomatic transmissionAn automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...
, is introduced. The TA is effectively a R16 Super with some features from the TS. - 1970 - Front seatbelts are installed on all R16s.
- 1971 - The R16 undergoes a mild revamp. Among the most obvious changes are new rectangular taillights. The Grand Luxe and Super are replaced by the L and TL specifications, and a version of the TS's 1565 cc engine (with the cylinder head from the 1470 cc) is installed on both. The TA is discontinued and an automatic transmission is made available as an option across the whole R16 range.
- 1973 - An upmarket 16 TX model is introduced at the Paris Motor Show, equipped with a 1647 cc engine (an enlarged version of the TS engine) and a five-speed manual transmissionManual transmissionA manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
. The TX was distinguishable from other R16s on the exterior by its four rectangular headlights with large turn signal lights underneath. Among the other features available on the TX were GordiniGordiniGordini is a French sports car manufacturer. The firm was founded by Amédée Gordini nicknamed "Le Sorcier" .Gordini competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1956....
wheels, a rear spoiler, a rear windscreen wiper, a laminated windscreen, automatic seatbelts, power windows, central locking and optional air conditioningAir conditioningAn air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
. - 1974 - The aluminium grille on L, TL and TS is replaced by a black plastic grille.
- 1976 - The automatic transmission ceased to be available as an option on the L, TL and TS; however, a TL Automatic model was launched.
- 1977 - The L and TS are discontinued.
- 1978 - Reverse lights are installed as standard on all models.
- 1979 - Rear three-point seatbelts are made standard on all models. The TL Automatic is discontinued.
- January 1980 - R16 production ends.