If you don’t want to “stop and smell the roses” but are interested in cars slow enough to ensure olfactory satisfaction during normal driving, then today’s Good price or nothing Renault is for you. Let’s see how this quirky convertible fares.
After a bumpy start, yesterday $7,700 1995 Geo Tracking Unfortunately for the seller, that business resulted in a 66 percent loss for No Dice.
It has been said over and over again that history repeats itself. I even saw one PBS Video has stated that, time and time again, things tend to evolve into crabs! With that in mind—repetition, not crabs—it’s not hard to look at what’s happening in the auto industry today and draw parallels to past events.
One such opportunity is the seemingly downward spiral of Chrysler Corporation. The events were simple enough: a global recession further strained the company’s fragile budgets; it decided it needed a sugar daddy; a foreign competitor swooped in to save the day; the new overlord failed to find the secret sauce to make the brand profitable; the company ended up on life support. No one could have predicted what would happen next. But we can look back at a similar scenario that American Motors Corporation faced in the 1980s and see that the outlook could have been extremely bleak.
AMC paved the way for the company to be acquired for a spinoff and, coincidentally, was eventually acquired by Chrysler when that company, in a hot minute, had a bit of a surplus. AMC had previously been majority-owned by French automaker Renault, which tried to breathe new life into the Kenosha, Wisconsin-based company the best way it knew how. That included the foundation of the two companies’ combination, the not-so-ironic Alliance deal.
Based on the European Renault 9 and offered in the United States in two-door, four-door, and later convertible body styles, the Alliance was a hit for a while, but then its shortcomings—low power, poor reliability, and tissue-paper construction—caught up with it.
This model entered the market in the 1983 model year and left in the middle of the 1987 model year, along with AMC in general and the Renault brand’s presence in the US market. You rarely see small cars running around these days, making this 1985 Alliance L Convertible a rare duck
According to the ad, this Alliance has only covered 34,000 miles in its four decades of ownership. However, it appears to have seen some wear and tear even with those few miles. According to the seller, the car’s flaws include some fading paint, a few obvious dents and dents, and a broken plastic rear window on the convertible. Other issues include worn weatherstripping, whatever’s going on with the car’s hood, and what looks like a permanent bra.
All that aside, this looks like a solid little car. The factory alloys are intact with only a few minor dings and scratches, and the body appears to be completely rust-free. Stepping into the cabin will prove familiar to anyone who has owned a Jeep Cherokee of that era, as the Alliance uses the same pedestal-style front seats. Those seats appear to be in excellent condition, as does the rear bench. The car even has its original AM/FM/cassette stereo.
Renault commissioned the Alliance convertible to be converted into an ASC, just as most manufacturers wanted to ditch the model in the 1980s. ASC designed the convertible mechanism and reinforced the floor that each convertible received at the factory. That meant the convertible was heavier than the standard two-door it was based on, straining the 77 horsepower of the 1.7-liter SOHC four-cylinder under the Alliance’s hood. This was especially bad when paired with a three-speed automatic and running the A/C, both of which this car had. Still, driving a car slow and fast is more fun… right?
Wouldn’t it be a fun idea to buy this Alliance at its $7,985 asking price? That gets you a legal title and a quirky little car that might be the talk of the local car meet but probably not something you’d drive every day.
What do you say? Is $7,985 a fair price for this Alliance as presented in the advertisement? Or does that price create an irreversible divide in your interests?
You decide!
Delaware Craigslistor go This if the ad disappears.
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