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Wikipedia: Renault 8 and 10
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History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Renault 8 and 10 page on 24 May 2016, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Renault 8 (Renault R8 until 1964) and Renault 10 are two rear-engined, rear-wheel drive small family cars produced by the French manufacturer Renault in the 1960s and early 1970s.
The 8 was launched in 1962, and the 10, a more upmarket version of the 8, was launched in 1965. The Renault 8 ceased production and sales in France in 1973. By then the Renault 10 had already been replaced, two years earlier, by the front wheel drive Renault 12.
They were produced in Bulgaria until 1970 (see Bulgarrenault), and an adapted version of the Renault 8 continued to be produced in Spain until 1976. In Romania, a version of the 8 was produced under license between 1968 and 1971 as the Dacia 1100. In total 37,546 Dacia 1100s were built.
The 8 design looks very similar to the Alfa Romeo front-wheel drive prototype tipo 103 (1960), because Alfa Romeo and Renault had a business relationship in the 1950s and 1960s. Renault was marketing Alfa Romeo cars and Alfa Romeo was building the Renault Dauphine (1959–1964), Ondine (an up-market version of the Dauphine) (1961–1962) and R4 (1962–1964) under license in Italy. In total 70,502 Dauphine/Ondine and 41,809 R4's were built by Alfa Romeo.
Renault 10 (branded in some markets as the Renault 1100)
In September 1965 the Renault 10 Major (branded in some markets as the Renault 1100) was launched, replacing the Renault 8 Major. This was a lengthened version of the Renault 8 with an increased front overhang and a much enlarged front luggage compartment, its capacity increased from 240 to 315 litres. The dimensions of the central passenger cabin were unchanged, however. The 1,108 cc engine, which for some markets had already appeared in top of the range versions of the Renault 8, came from the Renault Caravelle. In the French market the Renault 10 found itself struggling to compete with the successful Peugeot 204 introduced in the same year.
Early R10 had round headlights, but just two years after launch the 10 itself was facelifted, rectangular headlights now further differentiating it from the Renault 8.
Alongside the Renault 10, less powerful versions of the Renault 8 continued in production at the Flins plant with the existing shorter body.
A larger unit, the 1289 cc engine from the new Renault 12, was fitted to the Renault 10 for the Motor Show in October 1970, giving birth to the Renault 10-1300. Although the engine mounted at the back of the Renault 10-1300 was in most respects identical to that fitted at the front of the Renault 12, the unit in the older car was effectively detuned, with a lowered compression ratio and a listed maximum output of 52 PS (38 kW; 51 hp) SAE (48 PS (35 kW; 47 hp) DIN) whereas the unit in the Renault 12 was advertised as providing 60 PS (44 kW; 59 hp) SAE (54 PS (40 kW; 53 hp) DIN). In effect this placed Renault in the bizarre position of offering two competing models in the same market category, but the older rear engined design came with a listed price 1,000 francs (approximately 10%) lower and a top speed of 135 km/h (84 mph) as against 145 km/h (90 mph) for the entry level Renault 12. The 1108cc version of the engine was also offered for 1970, but now only when combined with the Jaeger "button operated" semi-automatic transmission which had been offered in earlier versions of the car since 1963.
French production of the Renault 10 ceased at the end of summer 1971, by which time the model had been selling for a year in parallel with the commercially more successful Renault 12.
Use in films
The Renault 10 was a particular favourite among French film makers as the rear-engined layout allowed a camera tripod to be fitted in the front boot in front of the windscreen to film people talking to each other while driving.
The end
Although production of the Renault 10 ended in 1971, the 8 was still sold in France as late as 1973. FASA-Renault, the company's Spanish arm, continued to produce models 8 and 8TS (similar to the French-built 8S) until 1976 for the Spanish market, and components for the 8S and 8TS assembled in Mexico.
| Date | Document Name & Details | Documents |
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| 23 February 1967 | NHTSA Recall 67V020000 Renault 10 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration | Recall Page - 1 page |