Text: Tony Vos - Photos : Aurélien Piot

Photo: Aurélien Piot is proud of his Twingo Lecoq. Its purchase in 2021 inspired him to delve into the history of this particular version and find out how many and which ones still exist.

This special and exclusive version made its debut in early 1995 at Rétromobile in Paris. There, this most special Twingo took centre stage on the Lecoq stand between a Bugatti and a 1958 Corvette. Despite the huge difference in allure between these cars, there was indeed a link between the compact Twingo and the sporty classics of yesteryear. This was manifested by the two tone colour schemes of all these cars.

Photo: On the outside, the large coloured areas on the sides of the bodywork in particular make the Twingo Lecoq stand out.

Each Twingo Lecoq was black and stood on 14-inch Bugatti type BBS alloy wheels. The bumpers were finished in satin black. However, the most striking feature was the contrasting colour of the lower side panels, reminiscent of a 1930s Bugatti 57. The same colour was used on the wheel centres and also for the interior stitching. In total, Lecoq offered five different contrast colours: red, silver-grey, blue, yellow and green. The usual three-part air intake on the bonnet with its distinctive caps, gave way to an aluminium grille, while the Twingo name disappeared from the tailgate and was replaced by a Lecoq badge on most cars.

Photo: La voiture de Aurélien's car has plenty of red details, including the interior.

Most of the Twingo Lecoq modifications were to be found inside the car. Upon opening the doors, the leather upholstery immediately caught the eye. In almost all cases, it was black leather with stitching matching the body colour. Lecoq did not simply drape the noble material over the Twingo's existing seat frames, the seats were considerably modified and supported passengers significantly better. Between the seats was an armrest that was also finished in black leather and opened up to the passenger seat. The steering wheel was also in leather as too was the gear lever gaiter with its coloured stitching as a contrast. The whole dashboard and the door panels were in black, adding to the look. But the people at Lecoq went a little further in their detailing. All buttons and other originally blue knobs were finished in black. Even the big, normally red, hazard lights button was black.

Photo: Dashboard and buttons are in black. The centre console carries a numbered brass plate.

Walnut trim was fitted to the door panels around the window switches and the warning light cluster. There was more walnut trim around the outer air vents as well as on the centre console around the heating, ventilation and air conditioning switches and the ashtray directly below. These features served to increase the interior ambiance. Lecoq fitted brass plating behind the dials which displayed not only the functions but also at the bottom, the number in the series: “Renault Twingo par Lecoq no...... .  The final touch from the famous restorer was leather-edged floor mats.

The additional price the clientele had to pay for the Twingo Lecoq was around 3,950 euros circa 1995. In today's values, that would easily be double.

At the time, publications about the Twingo Lecoq spoke of the intention to build around 50 to 60 units. But practice proved otherwise. We spoke to Aurélien Piot, an enthusiastic 23-year-old Frenchman who found his Twingo Lecoq on Leboncoin in late 2021 after posting a search query on the site.

Photo: Red is also the colour of the centre caps of the BBS Bugatti wheels.

Because of my interest, I delved further into this particular version. And what I found does not always seem to make sense. For example: normally every Lecoq is based on a second series Twingo (from late 1994 to mid-1996), but I discovered that a third series Twingo was also converted. That car bears the number 13, which again does not match the order of construction. Perhaps nobody wanted number 13 in the beginning and it was later assigned anyway. Also, the seats are different from all other examples."

Anyone searching the internet for a Twingo Lecoq will come across Aurélien's example, among others. "My car was sold by auction house Artcurial in 2011 and again in 2016. At those times, it had 60,000 and 110,000 km on the odometer respectively. When I bought it five years later, the car had covered less than 120,000 km. Personally, I drive it sparingly too."

Renault Classic has a yellow Twingo Lecoq with black leather and yellow stitching. On that car, the Lecoq nameplates are just in front of the rear wheels on the sills but they are missing from Aurélien's car. As this issue of Losange Magazine goes to press, there is a yellow Twingo Lecoq for sale by Lecoq themselves. This is the previously mentioned number 13 with different seats and based on the third series. With 96,000 km on the odometer, the asking price is 25,000 euros. A second yellow Twingo Lecoq, or the third if Renault Classic is included, is for sale in Nice. This is an Easy, bears serial number 8 and has covered 45,000 km with an asking price of 19,990 euros.

In the case of Aurélien's red car, the brass backing around the dials bears a special engraving: Twingo Lecoq no 25 édition Aubrun. This refers to the exclusive American marque whose production came to an end in 1937. Aurélien: "I have not found such a special entry on any other Twingo Lecoq. The production number also raises doubts. Number 25 is the highest number I have come across so far, so I estimate that not many more than 30 examples were produced in the end.

Obviously, this red Twingo Lecoq was given very special treatment, probably specified by its first owner. No black leather with red stitching, instead full red leather, while the black/grey carpets and the edges along the roll-up roof are also finished in beige, partly in Alcantara. This can also be found on the parcel shelf. So the luxurious feel has been taken to an even higher level. Following that, the people at Lecoq have covered the door panels in red leather. The door pockets also neatly match this as do the rear passenger grab handless. The wood cappings on the doors have been omitted and are simply black. However, the red gear lever gaiter cover does catch the eye.

Finally, this car is characterised by its aluminium trims and the red painted grille on the bonnet. Aurélien's Twingo originally came with an Easy semi-automatic transmission but this was later replaced by a normal five-speed gearbox. Mechanically, he has not had to do much to it. However, he has replaced the radio with a more modern one. "To begin with it had the Grundig radio with the coloured buttons, but it did not match the Lecoq's chic interior," he says. A second option in the Renault Boutique was a Philips radio with a classic look which I have in this car."

En détail…

Engine:

Type C3G-A700, 4 cylinder petrol, 8 valves, bore x stroke 74 x 72 mm, displacement 1,239 cc, compression ratio 9.2:1, monopoint injection. Power 55 hp (DIN) at 5,300 rpm, torque 92 Nm at 2,800 rpm. Environmental standard: Euro 93

Gearbox:

Type BJ1, manual with 5 forward and 1 reverse gears, fully synchronised. Speed in km/h at 1,000 tr/min (air-conditioned version): 1st - 6.87, 2nd - 12.50, 3rd - 19.37, 4th - 26.49, 5th - 32.21.

Suspension: front independent MacPherson, coil springs and vertically mounted hydraulic shock absorbers, rear semi-independent, coil springs and hdraulic shock absorbers. Tyres: 145/70R13S. Brakes: front discs (238 mm), rear drums (180 mm). Top speed 150 km/h, acceleration 0-100 km/h in 14 seconds, consumption 5.1/7.0/7.4 litres/100 km (90/120 km/h/city)

Dimensions/weights:

Length 3.433 metres, width 1.630 metres, height 1.423 metres, wheelbase 2.347 metres. Front track width 1.416 metres, rear 1.374 metres. Weight: 790 kg, payload 385 kg, luggage volume 169 - 1,096 litres. Tank capacity 40 litres, cooling system 6.3 litres, oil sump 3 litres.