CarBrandLogos archive · Renault · 1956

RenaultDauphine

France's small-car success story abroad, until American winters found the rust.

Photo: Calreyn88 · CC BY 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Renault history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Renault Dauphine, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Renault needed something slightly larger and more comfortable than the 4CV without abandoning the layout that had worked, so the Dauphine kept the rear engine and rear drive but stretched the body into a light, elegant four-door saloon with an 845cc engine. Fernand Picard led the engineering, with Robert Barthaud and Jacques Ousset on the body, and production began at the new Flins plant in 1956.

6408-Loveland Pass COLO · Robert J. Boser EditorASC · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

It sold enormously. In France it was the family car of the late fifties; abroad, and particularly in the United States, it briefly became the best-selling imported car, undercutting the Volkswagen Beetle and looking far more modern doing it. Renault built or assembled it in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Algeria and beyond, and Alfa Romeo made it under licence.

Dauphine Alfa Romeo1964Fwp · Ligabo · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

There was a competition career to match. A Dauphine won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1958, and the Gordini versions, with more power and a four-speed gearbox, kept the model credible against faster machinery.

Renault Dauphine Drive Layout · 842U (talk) · Public domain

Legacy

The American story then went badly wrong. The bodies rusted quickly in salted winters, the dealer network could not support the cars it had sold, and buyers who had switched from Volkswagen switched back. Renault's US position took years to recover. At home the car ran on to 1967, and to 1970 in Argentina, and it remains the point at which Renault learned that selling a car overseas and supporting it are different problems.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1956–1967

Engine

845 cc Ventoux I4

Designer

Fernand Picard

Body

4-door saloon

Technical specification

The Dauphine, in detail.

Production: 1956–1967; 1959–1968 (Brazil); 1960–1970 (Argentina)
Class: Small family car or economy car
Body style: 4-door saloon
Layout: RR layout
Engine: 845 cc Ventoux I4
Transmission: 3/4-speed manual; 3-speed push-button semi-automatic
Designer: Fernand Picard, Robert Barthaud, Jacques Ousset
Assembly: France: Flins-sur-Seine; Flins (Flins Renault Factory; Flins Factory) ; Algeria: El-Harrach (:de:Construction des Automobiles Renault en Algérie; CARAL) ; Argentina: Santa Isabel, Córdoba; Santa Isabel (Industrias Kaiser
Manufacturer: Renault