For a modern, trendy city like Barcelona, it’s rare to see any old classic car still puttering the streets. And when I say “classic car,” I don’t mean beautifully restored E-Types or period-patina’d Citroen SMs; I generally mean anything non-diesel built before the SALT II talks. Most people either keep their rare exotica hidden away from the bustle of city life, or generally don’t bother holding onto something so old. And why would they? Used modern hatchbacks are cheap enough to get rid of the old clunkers.
But here, hidden among the Peugeot 306 wagons and SEAT Toledo TDIs (why they would name a car after a depressing city in Ohio is anyone’s guess) is a callback to another era, a working man’s car and today either a chic fashion statement—as all city cars eventually become—or a faithful old friend, depending on how you look at it. It’s the Renault 4, which can rightfully be considered the granddaddy to all these modern-day pretenders.
There’s not much to be said for automotive longevity these days. The unloved PT Cruiser, which can certainly call this a direct ancestor, has been around since late 1999 and is now only being chased off the market. Pah! The Renault 4 has been ferrying cheese-eating surrender monkeys (and many, many other people) virtually unchanged for almost 40 years. 
From 1961 to 1994, over 8 million of these baguette-ferrying 4s left the factories of 11 countries, including Spain (Valladolid). The closest thing we have is the Ford Ranger, which only feels as old.
The drab shoebox 4 was also innovative: it was famous for being one of the first hatchbacks in production, setting the standard for the modern small city car. Like any automotive first, however, it’s a matter of debate. The Citroën Traction Avant of 1934 had a top-hinged door. But they never built 8 million of those.
And parked around the corner from the Park Güell, the wonderfully dorky Renault manages to fit in with legendary architect Antoni Gaudí’s colorful Modernist vision. Both are cartoonish, weird, and all too easily written off as goofy-looking curiosities to the unitiated. But both have become minor cultural symbols in their own right. Both have been heralded for their groundbreaking quirks (the wheelbase is a few inches longer on the right than the left, due to the transverse torsion bars). And both are designed for the masses: the world car for all people, outside the park of a world-class city.
In Colombia the Renault 4 was nicknamed the amigo fiel, or “faithful friend.”And the fact that these three are still sticking around, even when their owners could have scrapped them in favor of some diesel Skoda, doesn’t make that nickname a surprise.
- Blake Rong
(All photos by the author. Renault 4 ads from allez-y.info.)
I hope the Toledo thing was a joke because it was named after the city in Spain.
It was; if you clicked the link you would have seen it.
The 4L !!!
With the speed stick in front of your right hand in the dashboard!
Lot of memories!
My dad had one when I was born until I was 4… Still remember trips to school in the hot summer with no AC…
Your right in saying that Renault 4's are like the Ford Rangers. I still recall going to the Ford dealership with my father and the salesmen just pointed to one. Didnt say much about it just that it's a honest truck.
Fun fact: do you live in wonderful, wacky Japan? Do you own an equally wacky Suzuki Lapin? Do you have 365,000 yen and an inexplicable love of the above Renault 4? Then you can get a kit from DAMD of Japan that transforms your otherwise mundane kei car (as if a kei car could ever be mundane) into a virile symbol of chic French peasantry, complete with plaid seats!
<img src="http://media.nextautos.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/31.jpg">
DAMD Styling Effect
Renault 4: An Honest Car is Hard To Find | The Smoking Tire – great post, I think this covers most of the questions that I had about japan trendy fashion