Real Road Test: Renault 4 - tested by a 2CV fanatic!

The third most-produced car in the world is the Renault 4 (after the Ford Model T and VW Beetle), and it comfortably outsold the Citroen 2CV. But what does a seasoned 2CV fanatic make of it?

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[HJR]

The Renault C OHV engine is one of the most bulletproof engines and was used until the 90's in the first Twingo.

[jorgesantoine]

My dad bought one of these in about 1970, and we went all over the place in it, mum, dad, three kids and our dog. No car will ever measure up to that Renault 4 in my eyes. A truly wonderful car, reliable, and with character all its own.

[alasdairfinlayson]

Very practical car. Many years ago, I was parked in a dusty car park in my local town on a beautiful sunny day. I'd parked nose in, next to a space that everyone used to avoid as it had a diagonal steel telegraph pole support cable in it.
An R4 passed behind me, stopped, and reversed into the adjoining space, and with a loud clang hit the cable, accompanied by the telegraph pole rocking back and fore in its foundations. My window was open, as was hers, and she just looked across at me, said, " that's far enough", jumped out, grabbed her bag, and disappeared.
Didn't even lock the door!
I got out to see the damage, and noticed that the sturdy little car showed lots of evidence of this parking by ear. I was most impressed!

[Dreyno]

Every rural postman in Ireland had a Renault 4 van. I grew up with them. Eventually they started using Citroën C15 and Renault Extra vans. It was strange when the Renault 4 vanished.

[clonmore]

This guy is superb. Simple, accurate, dry humour and examines cars we have all likely seen on the roads over the years. Thank you. Keep them coming.

[andersfalck]

..."And the French absolutley love hiding door handles".... :D Great presentation of another little big footprint in the automotive history!

[grahamariss]

Favourite choice of teachers at my Comp in the late 70s, including two married teachers in the language department that had his and hers Renault 4s. They were so popular you would have thought that Renault gave NUT members a discount.

[PaulioBee]

Liked already, before I've even watched. I've been waiting to see a Renault 4!

[MuddyDuck...]

Just come across your channel - and thanks for the trip down memory lane👍
My uncle used a Renault 4 on his Devon farm throughout the 70’s & 80’s. He stripped out everything but the drivers seat, which he covered in plastic. He then had the perfect utilitarian vehicle for road or more commonly across fields. Anything and everything went into the back, including small livestock - and I can well remember bouncing around in the back with his sheepdog. Or having to cling onto pregnant ewes, or newborn lambs during lambing season whilst he sped them back to his barn. To clean it out he would occasionally just hose down the inside. When he retired in the late 80’s he bought a Mercedes with the money he had saved with his Renault 4. Genius...

[kennethwilson]

These were assembled in Rkhodesia before it became Zimbabwe. Hush Hush since it broke sanctions. Must have been produced in the 100s. Expeience a tropical thunderstorm with the little wipers struggling to cope....the whine the wiper motor made was somehow comforting. ... as rain splashed up from the floor. Loaded a whole disco into an R6 including the speakers, brother stuck his feet out of the passenger window as there was no space. Got stopped by the cops for that but more from amusement than the need to punish! R6 was also assembled there. My Mum (RIP) had it as her 2nd car, after selling a Fiat 600. Should have kept both. Your video will inspire me to do something about the R4 sitting in my garden with dead shocks.

[hedydd]

The Renault4 was and is an absolutely superb car. Back in 1976 I worked up in East Lothian and the estate ran several of these. The owner either drove his Rolls Royce [an old one] or a Renault 4 car or van. The car was canary yellow. The gearbox in front of the engine, controlled by the big rod over the top of the engine was superb. In a different league to the similar age Morris 1000 vans [fairly new] they also ran at that time. Superb ride on rough unpaved roads.

[jacquesdehue]

When I was little, my parents had a 2cv4 (newly bought in1974), apple green with mosaic seats. My sister and I loved it. Almost 30 years later my wife and I moved for two years to France for work and then a second car was needed there. From the beginning it was clear to me that this had to be an affordable and practical French motoring icon. Preferably a 2CV. But it turned out that good ones were already terribly expensive even then, so the choice eventually fell on a Renault 4 which was still reasonable affordable. In the Dordogne, we found our gold metallic 1981 Quatrelle GTL (with 1108cc engine but still the small dashboard, drum brakes front and rear and handbrake on the front wheels). It turned out to be a good choice: the car was reliable and practical in daily use and on all our trips. We even once helped French friends to move house with it (by removing the back seat you get you get a surprisingly large loading space). From Lorraine, where we lived, we made trips to the Netherlands and to Switzerland and eventually drove it in one go from France to Poland (where we still currently live). In this latter country, where the R4 was not available through mainstream channels during its production period, the car is relatively unknown and is often mistaken for the 2CV that Poles know from Louis de Funes films. Nevertheless, a Renault 4 club exists here today. We joined and took part in many classic car events and club excursions (including trips to the Czech Republic and the Baltic coast). The car continued to serve us faithfully, also for daily driving, until two years ago, when it due to rust on the bottom and undercarriage, failed to pass the local MOT. Having it fixed up proved too expensive and I couldn’t do the welding myself. The car was parked out of use for some time then, until last week, when we finally said goodbye to our Renault. My wife's cousin is the new owner and he possesses the knowledge, skills and equipment to make it tip-top again.

[vincentdelacroixvaubois]

Hello,
The Renault 4 was a good car, this is my first car in 1990. Now Dacia Sandero is the same idea low price and good quality and modern motor.
Excuses me if my English is not good because it i am French people.
I like your video.

[osvaldovidela]

The Renault 4, very reliable and cheap to maintain, very popular here in Argentina along with it's brother the Renault 6, last Renault 4 models received front disc brakes and some the 1.4 litre engine from the Renault 12

[Fubar_The_WEF]

They were also made here in Colombia and they're still a common sight around Bogota.

[jacquesdehue]

11:11 min. If the gear lever rattles, it is a good idea to put a new rubber ring in the eye at the end of the rod. This will also make shifting smoother and more precise. As I couldn't find a well-fitting rubber ring for my R4, I slipped a piece of garden hose over the stem of the gearbox. that also did the trick.

[jfv]

The 2CV was introduced when 4 lane motorways were not a thing yet. The R4 was probably the answer to those motorways. You could take your young family on a summer holiday to the mediterranean sea because it was better at doing long distance motorway travelling.
Excellent review, i enjoyed that very much!

[richardwallinger]

I used the Renault 4 cylinder liners on my one litre hillman imp 1980 Donnington championship winning GT car .

[dougowt]

When I was living in Italy, a neighbouring farm had a very tidy looking Renault 4 parked up. I regret never asking about it! Simple, comfortable motoring.

[MsPtolomy]

Love how Ian always manages to send me on a nostalgia trip, maybe that's why I'm such a fan of the channel ;)