Renault has revived one of its iconic sports cars from the 1970s with a restored electric model, but the French brand has no plans to bring it to market.
Based on the 1971 Renault 17, the R17 is an electric vehicle (EV) built on the original’s monocoque structure, but with a rear-mounted electric drivetrain and a redesigned body that remains faithful to the classic coupe.
The manufacturer appointed French designer Ora Ïto for this project, and although it is 17 cm wider than the original for improved driving dynamics and a more rugged appearance, it retains the cabin, doors, windows, gaskets and underbody of the 17.
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“We retained the most distinctive design features of the Renault 17, starting with the front end,” he said. Ito said.
“My goal was to add style and grace, without changing the character of the R17. You can still see the original Renault 17 and its sporty coupe look.”
The original Renault 17 was a three-door hatchback coupe with four round headlights, frameless doors and shutters on the rear windows.
The car has no B-pillars and the rear side windows open completely.
Unusually, this car is front-wheel drive but has a longitudinally mounted engine.
Over 92,000 were produced between 1971 and 1979.
Designed in collaboration with Grandfather Designed by Renault’s in-house design team, the R17 features four rectangular headlights and a full-width taillight bar.
The rear-mounted electric drivetrain provides 201kW of power and the carbon fibre chassis contributes to the car’s light kerb weight of 1.4 tonnes.
The R17 is also painted in Galactic Brown, developed specifically for the show car.
Like the exterior, the R17’s interior is designed to maintain the 1970s theme.
The car is upholstered in a combination of brown Merino wool and beige bouclé wool, while there are four geometric displays behind the steering wheel inspired by the Renault 17’s instrument cluster.
There’s a screen in the centre stack, giving the appearance of an old-school radio setup but still offering “the current Renault graphics environment”.
“We have teleported the Renault 17 into the future, making a few subtle changes that give it a completely new look,” he said. Ito said.
“Renault has a strong identity and I like that. You recognise a Renault when you see one, and this restomod is no exception.”
Despite efforts to recreate the original Renault 17, the brand says the R17 is “a unique model and not the precursor to a future production model”.
Although Renault has revived its classic 4 and 5 series as mass-produced electric vehicles (EVs), with classic styling.
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Renault 17 -
The R17 is reminiscent of other in-house restomods from brands like Hyundai, which has previously introduced restyled versions of both The Greatness of 1986 And Pony Coupe 1974 idea.
While these models won’t make it into production, Hyundai’s classic N Vision 74 – first revealed in 2022 as a futuristic hydrogen-powered version of the original Pony Coupe concept – will be unveiled. into production as a high performance EV.
Opel also introduced an electric rebadged version of the Manta rear-wheel-drive sports car in 2021, called the Manta GSe. It is reported that Opel will revive the Manta sign to have a sleek electric crossover this decade.
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