CAR magazine's column archive. Russell Bulgin revisits his first car: the Renault 4. Here's why he loves it
'There is nothing more difficult for a car manufacturer to do than produce a small, simple car that turns a profit'
I like simple hire cars. When I’m picking up the tab I go category A and slum it in a cheapoid hatch. A summer’s experimentation has proved that Europe’s bargain baby is an Opel Corsa 1.0 from Avis. Piddling power, good balance on skinny tyres, OK brakes, select fourth gear and never lift: the Corsa is a Volkswagen Polo with a sense of humour.
Paint was flaking off various welds, indicating that serious pummelling had been endured in a gamut of adventures unimaginable. Two door keys suggested one chapter of its autobiography should be entitled The Sideswipe. A curious series of transverse dents reprofiled the bonnet – either a barrier, tree or determinedly acrobatic camel had smote it a mighty blow at some time in the dim and distant.
This 4 chugged from the Sahara to a pass 7000ft up in the Middle Atlas, started first time after zero-degree nights, and only failed once — wading a ford with a steep exit — when the clutch revealed its age by refusing to feed in neatly. So I reversed out. Of course, a number of companies have been trying to tart up the Renault 4 for years. Giugiaro and Fiat had a go; the result was called the Panda. There is nothing more difficult for a car manufacturer to do than produce a small, simple car that turns a profit. For a start, small cars cost as much to build, ship and sell as big cars, which eats into every margin.
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