No fairy tale about the 14
Renault 14 was born in the early months of the year 1976. As a stylistic
variation of 5, uncontested success of Renault, the 14 innovated in its
range, with a transversal engine coupled with a gearbox sharing the
same oil carter. A solution adopted for the first time in 1959 for Mini
Austin. The engine of Renault 14 was designed jointly by Renault and its
Peugeot competitor. The 1,2 liter will be also found under the cap of Peugeot
104, which will lead the detractors of the model to deny to it its statute
of " true Renault ". Partly by the fault of an awkward communication (the
publicity campaign compared the 14 with a pear!) and in spite of its real
road qualities, Renault 14 never met success, at the point to see its career
curtailed in 1982, when it is replaced by Renault 9. Today, 22 year after
its output and 16 year since the stop of its production, Renault 14 has
disappear of the French, automobile landscape, even if it's still possible
to of see some, seldom in good condition, in the countryside or the small
cities.
The 18, from European roads to African
tracks
Renault 18, released in... 1978, cannot disavow its direct filiation
with Renault 12 which it has to replace in the long term (the 12 surrendered
in 1980). In ten years of automobile stylistic evolution (12 was born in
1969), the lines softened and the sharp angles rounded. The setback of
the custode towards the trunk remains always also characteristic, and from
the technical point of view, the famous rigid back axle is always faithful.
The motorizations evolve carefully with the adoption in input of range
of one 1,4 L, of one 1,6 L into top-of-the-range, then in 1980 of a 2,1
liter diesel, before a turbo diesel in 1984. A Turbo version of 125 CH,
with the engine extrapolated of that of Renault 5, will cap soon the range.Made
during eight years in Europe, until its replacement by Renault 21 in 1986,
the 18 was assembled until the beginning of the Nineties in South America.
It was also sold in the United States and Canada at the time of the American
adventure of Renault. If this car is not extremely any more frequent today
in traffic, twelve years after the end of its European career, it continued
for a long time a honourable course on used cars. Today, it continues
to cross the roads of France, but also those of the Maghreb and Black Africa,
especially in version station-wagon where its remarkable robustness confers
it a statute almost equal to that of legendary Peugeot 504.