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Ed Higginbotham
Ed Higginbotham Associate Editor
11/28/17 9:05 a.m.
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Somewhere in Michigan there's a Renault Le Car sitting on someone's porch held in place with blocks of wood. They say the only known issue is a gummed-up carburetor. It comes with a roll bar, too. Who's ready to have fun with a terrible car?

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RossD
RossD MegaDork
11/28/17 9:14 a.m.

Two questions. First how much fun can you have with a terrible car? And, second, how terrible is a Le Car with a roll bar?

LanEvo
LanEvo GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
11/28/17 9:55 a.m.

I wouldn’t call the R5 a terrible car. They sold a billion of them in Europe. Like the Peugeot 205 GTI, they’re very well respected for their handling. 

LanEvo
LanEvo GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
11/28/17 9:58 a.m.

^^^ Having said that, I don’t know much about the “LeCar” version sold in the USA by AMC. I know the Alliance and Encore models were quite different from the “real” Renault 9 and 11. 

trucke
trucke SuperDork
11/28/17 10:05 a.m.

You can change wheels quickly as they have only 3 lug nuts.

jstein77
jstein77 UltraDork
11/28/17 10:21 a.m.

They also have long-travel, soft springs that made them great for potholed city streets.

pinchvalve
pinchvalve GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/28/17 10:31 a.m.

Assuming the body is in good shape, I would think that with a reliable drivetrain from Japan, that thing would rock.  I would rallycross it, but only in this outfit.  

 

noddaz
noddaz GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/28/17 10:45 a.m.
RossD said:

Two questions. First how much fun can you have with a terrible car? And, second, how terrible is a Le Car with Le roll bar?

I fixed that for you..

Grizz
Grizz UberDork
11/28/17 10:59 a.m.

In reply to RossD :

Many people lose their licenses with terrible cars doing stupid things. So lots of fun.  

Pete Gossett
Pete Gossett GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/28/17 11:17 a.m.
RossD said:

Two questions. First how much fun can you have with a terrible car? And, second, how terrible is a Le Car with a roll bar?

I've been fortunate enough to flog Dan Marx's former Renault Cup car around the autox course a few times, and it's a riot to drive. Not really competitive, but definitely not slow. 

WildScotsRacingCampbellCougarSeed
WildScotsRacingCampbellCougarSeed Dork
11/28/17 11:19 a.m.

In high school, even the kids with no money and the crappiest of hoopties made fun of LeCars.

2002colossalfailure
2002colossalfailure Reader
11/28/17 11:36 a.m.

Tailor-made for the upcoming 24 hours of LeMons Rally: "Retreat from Moscow".  

2002colossalfailure
2002colossalfailure Reader
11/28/17 11:38 a.m.

This car is over near Flint, Michigan and I considered taking a ride over just to check it out.  Seller seems motivated, but I decided to pass since I know nothing about most cars and even less about these.

ssswitch
ssswitch Dork
11/28/17 12:25 p.m.

I think you can have an almost infinite amount of fun in a crappy car. That's what they're for.

LanEvo
LanEvo GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
11/28/17 2:19 p.m.
coexist
coexist Reader
11/28/17 3:17 p.m.

How much fun?

LOTS OF FUN

 

 

irish44j
irish44j UltimaDork
11/28/17 3:31 p.m.
coexist said:

How much fun?

LOTS OF FUN

 

 

I'm not sure that's the video to convince anyone to get one, lol.....

Those appear to be really poor handlers, wow. Looks as if they go directly from "terminal understeer" to "terminal oversteer" in any braking turns...

RossD
RossD MegaDork
11/28/17 3:57 p.m.

Well to be fair, there were at least 3 different cars that all look the same-ish. The 2nd gen has a fwd transverse engine/trans and I'd wager they handle slightly different from the 1st gen with the longitudinal mid engined front wheel drive. Even more different is the mid engined rear wheel drive ones with the wide body bits out back.

irish44j
irish44j UltimaDork
11/28/17 5:44 p.m.

Good point - I'd venture to say that almost all of those in the rally vid were the RWD versions. Still, some awful turn-in under braking!

DoninMedford
DoninMedford New Reader
11/28/17 6:25 p.m.

The Archer Brothers Gt4 cars that won the 1980 SCCA Runoffs are sitting in the rafters of a warehouse here in Oregon. They were factory sponsored cars with pallets of parts. 

https://www.flickr.com/gp/134252471@N07/U4eZ2k

 

 

snailmont5oh
snailmont5oh HalfDork
11/29/17 2:53 a.m.

Wouldn't that be "Le Rally Car"?

akylekoz
akylekoz HalfDork
11/29/17 5:18 a.m.

That video, now I really want it.

DeadSkunk
DeadSkunk UberDork
11/29/17 6:02 a.m.

The thing to remember in any rally crash video compilation is that any car will understeer into the tree, or oversteer into the tree. If the handling remains neutral the car made it safely through the corner and got overlooked for the crash video.smiley

Patrick
Patrick GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/29/17 6:32 a.m.

Call me when you find a 5 speed fuego turbo.

MadScientistMatt
MadScientistMatt PowerDork
11/29/17 7:34 a.m.
Patrick said:

Call me when you find a 5 speed fuego turbo.

Here you go, from the same thread the Le Car was originally posted in.

Fuego Turbo!

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