Renault 5

The Renault 5 is a supermini produced by French automaker Renault in two generations between 1972 and 1996, and sold in the US as Le Car, from 1976 to 1986. Nearly 5.5 million were built. The Renault 5 was first unveiled on 10 December 1971, being launched at the beginning of 1972. The Renault 5 was styled by Michel Boué, who died before the car's release, the R5 featured a steeply sloping rear hatchback and front dashboard. Boué had wanted the tail-lights to go all the way up from the bumper into the C-pillar, in the fashion of the much later Fiat Punto and Volvo 850 Estate /... Wagon, but the lights remained at a more conventional level. The 5 narrowly missed out on the 1973 European Car of the Year award, which was instead given to the Audi 80. The R5 borrowed mechanicals from the Renault 4, using a longitudinally-mounted engine driving the front wheels with torsion bar suspension. OHV engines were borrowed from the Renault 4, Renault 8, and Renault 16, and ranged from 850 to 1400 cc. Early R5s used a dashboard-mounted gearshift —later replaced with a floor mounted shifter.
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