Clean sleeper wakes up

Text & pictures: Didier Rabaud

In 1948, fifteen examples of the Renault 4CV rolled out of the factory on a daily basis.  That number had already risen to three hundred and seventy-five units in 1950.  Up to 1956, the 4CV was the best selling car in France.  The Dauphine later took over that role.  On July 6 1961, the model's long career was over.

The history of this particular car, which carries the registration number 59 BQ 34 is astonishing in many ways.  It is one of the oldest surviving examples of this model in a completely original condition.  And that, after 34 years of retirement.

The Renault dealer in Montpellier registered this Renault 4CV on 11 May 1948 and delivered the car with the registration number 6510 GP7 on October 14.  It is a Type R1060, bearing the chassis number 1.196.628 (on the diamond plate), the production number 5892 (on the oval plate) and the body number 293.  Over thirty-four years, this Renault has had four owners. The first one came from Frontignan in the Hérault and he sold the car six years later  (on 08 November 1954).  The small Renault moved to Vendargues, near Montpellier.  There the car received a registration number, according to the then new system : 59 BQ 34.  The Renault 4CV stayed in the neighbourhood, when it moved on 23 October 1956 to the third owner, who enjoyed it for four years. The fourth owner lived in Montpellier and kept the car for twenty-three years!  Up to 1980, the Renault remained in active use and ended up on a pavement in that French city.  Life came to an end.

Waiting to be scrapped, the car was noticed by Daniel Dussutour, who had co-founded the Golfe du Lion branch of CAR (Club des amateurs d'anciennes Renault) six months earlier.  He was a connoisseur of the model and became interested because of the surprising right-hand steering, the seats with metal frames, the dashboard with the central, horseshoe shaped instrument , the semi-curved roof, the sliding windows in the front door frames, the horizontal number plate at the rear, the microscopic rear lights and the bumpers, which were specific to the first series.  The historical potential radiated from the car.  Even forty years ago, it was exceptional to discover a 4CV from the early production years.  According to Daniel, this car had to be saved.

And that is just what happened.  The 4CV spent thirty-four years under a shelter in Vias near Agde, still in the Hérault départment.  In March 2016, Daniel entrusted the car to Gaël Bretagne, also a member of the CAR Golfe du Lion.  It was the end of retirement for this 1948 model!

Motivated and enthusiastic, Gaël brought the Renault 4CV back to life in three weeks, with a precautionary lifting of the cylinder head, a total overhaul of the brakes, of the cooling system, of the lever-arm shock absorbers, and changing all fluids and fitting new tyres. On Monday, 11 April 2016, after thirty-six years, the Renault came back to life and drove!  The Technical Control did not throw up any problems and on 26 May, Daniel saw his beloved 4CV driving for the first time in his life.  For its first club event, it covered a total of one hundred kilometres without any fault.

Via stretches of the mythical Routes Nationales 6 and 7, a second 4CV, starting from Auxerre, met up.  The cars visited the museum of the Route Nationale 7 in Piolenc.  The beautiful adventure led, via an old historic roadside restaurant on the RN6, to the final destination, the circuit of Dreux, for the fifth edition of the above-mentioned event.  The 4CV added a further 1045kms to the odometer, with the only problems being a failure to start the warm engine in Nîmes and a broken headlight during the first stage.  Also, the Estafette did not finish problem-free, its fault being a broken alternator. The first day was also the longest, with a distance of no less than 525 kms.

At LPI, the public was amazed.  How was it possible that this car had been driven to Dreux completely on its own and over such a distance?  Yet, under its own power the 4CV also returned back south.

In Burgundy, Laurent and his 'young' 4CV said goodbye.  From there two more stages lay ahead.  On Tuesday, 22 May half an hour had to be driven with the bonnet propped wide open, because of ignition problems.  Everyone was worried, except for Gaël, who drove on imperturbably.  During a visit to the Petit Comptoir in the Puy de Dôme, with friend Dominique Martelet, the problem was solved.

The Allier department was exchanged for the Puy de Dôme.  Not far from Clermont-Ferrand, the men spent the night. Then there remained 313kms to the finish.

It was raining, but that did not stop the team from reaching the final goal, without any problems, via the A75, especially with those buffettings caused by passing trucks.  The trip took them all the way along the Massif Central.  The brave little car even went over the 2,460 metre long Milhau suspension bridge, which had not seen many 4CVs in its life!  It was almost the end of this wonderful adventure, covering a total of 1990kms and creating countless memories.  Impossible is not in the French language, as the saying goes, especially in old Renaults.

It is interesting to learn that, out of a total number of 1,131,618 4CVs (excluding the R1063 competition variant), exactly 141,618 examples were produced of the type R1060 and 43 examples of the pre-series model, Type 106-E4.  The last R1060 left the factory in October 1950.  After that, Renault launched the R1062 with a domed roof, with a smaller engine (747ccs) and a different instrument cluster on the dashboard.  Between August 1947 and September 1948 (the 1948 millésime) exactly 10,615 units of the R1060 were built, including this one. The first 804 copies rolled off the assembly line in 1947. In model year 1948 there was only the Normal version, but, from the 1949 model year onwards, Renault also offered the Luxury version.

En détail...

Renault 4CV 1948

Spécifications (R1060)

Engine:

Type 662-1, four-cylinder, petrol, 760ccs capacity (bore x stroke 55 x 80 mms).  Power output - 17bhp at 3,500 rpm; torque 47 nms at 1,500 rpm; compression ratio 6.7:1.  Twin choke Solex 22 AIC carburettor.  Manual three-speed, Type 3A gearbox, with synchromesh on second and third gears and ratios of 3.7:1 (first), 1.85:1 (second) and 1.07:1 (top) plus 3.7:1 (reverse).

Suspension:

Coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers on four independently suspended wheels. Hydraulic Lockheed brakes,acting on drums, front and rear. Tyres: 135 x 400 or 5.0 x 15.

Dimensions:

Length 3,630 mm, width 1,430 mm, height (unladen) 1,470 mm, wheelbase 2,100 mm, track 1,190 mm (front and rear), ground clearance 0,200 mm. Cooling system capacity 5.8 litres, engine crankcase capacity 2 litres, gearbox 1 litre.  Turning circle 8.0 metres. Weight: (unladen) 560 kg, payload 320 kg.  Fuel tank capacity 27.5 litres.

Performance:

Top speed 90 kph.  Consumption 6.0 litres per 100 kms.