zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Culture
/
The Renault 5 Deserves More Accolades For This Small But Very Influential Design Detail
The Renault 5 Deserves More Accolades For This Small But Very Influential Design Detail-July 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:12:38

Image for article titled The Renault 5 Deserves More Accolades For This Small But Very Influential Design Detail

When was the last time you thought about the Renault 5, or as we in America called them, the “Le Car,” which was AMC French for “the Renault?” It’s probably been too long, and that makes me cross, very cross indeed. I want to make us all consider the Renault 5 right now to appreciate a little design detail that has become so incredibly common on modern cars that I bet you don’t even see it. Lemme show you what I mean.

I think Michel Boué’s design for the 5 was remarkable in many ways, but for the moment I just want to focus on one detail: the 5 was one of the earliest cars to use molded plastic bumpers (Pontiac’s Endura bumpers were earlier) and while that’s important, it’s not the materials of these bumpers that make them significant.

What’s significant is that the bumpers were designed in such a way that they formed the front lower part of the front wheelarches and the trailing edge of the rear wheelarches. Here, look:

Image for article titled The Renault 5 Deserves More Accolades For This Small But Very Influential Design Detail

See how the bumpers form the lower part of the wheelarches and bodywork? That’s not how cars were usually built back around 1972. Take a look at a similar competing car of roughly the same era, this Volkswagen Polo:

Image for article titled The Renault 5 Deserves More Accolades For This Small But Very Influential Design Detail

All-metal wheelarches in the usual bodywork, tacked-on bumpers. This was the norm then, and well into the 1980s.

By the 1990s, though, things were changing. And by “changing,” I mean nearly every car was becoming more like the Renault 5 in this one specific way:

Image for article titled The Renault 5 Deserves More Accolades For This Small But Very Influential Design Detail

This Honda, of course, is just one example, but by the 1990s pretty much every car was using this method of construction: the lower parts of the front and rear wheelarches are formed by the molded plastic (and, by the 1990s, usually body-colored) bumper.

Image for article titled The Renault 5 Deserves More Accolades For This Small But Very Influential Design Detail

It’s not like this innovation was just limited to small economy cars—today, it’s on pretty much everything, like this BMW here.

It’s pretty much standard practice now, and, as far as I’ve been able to tell, the humble Renault 5 was the first car produced in real quantities to come up with this extremely clever idea.

I think, for that, we should all take a moment and donate some props to the little 5, the car that changed automotive design in a huge and yet quiet way.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Culture
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I have two automotive loves: The first is the Miata, the second is off-road racing. For a while I raced air-cooled Volkswagens in the deserts of California and Nevada and I was lucky enough to co-drive in a class 11 stock bug in the Baja 1000 a few years...
Jul 9, 2025
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
closed its São Bernardo Plant in November 2023, marking the end of its first overseas production facility. The closure caps off a period of continuous car production in São Paolo, , lasting over 60 years. The plant was home to a Komatsu 700-ton press that predates itself. And now...
Jul 9, 2025
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
At long last, we are about to get behind the wheel of for the first time. Sure, , and sure, , and sure , but hey — what can you do? Anyway, before we get behind the wheel of this three-row electric beast, we want to know what you...
Jul 9, 2025
Subaru Had It Right All Along
Subaru Had It Right All Along
When first came to the United States, it sold small funky cars that were decidedly un-American. As the company grew its own identity and became more established in the U.S., it became the first automaker to offer an all-wheel-drive passenger car in 1975. Subaru was also an early-adopter of...
Jul 9, 2025
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I love tiny, of . I have a that is roughly half the size of a normal cat, and she’s perfect. I own a 2013 , which is like the miniature version of a normal-sized vehicle (at least here in Texas) — but beyond that, I also own a Hot...
Jul 9, 2025
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
MotorWeek’s is some of the on the internet. The long-running automotive news magazine has a treasure trove of tests after being on the air for over 40 years. Where else can you find detailed instrumented testing of long-forgotten cars like the or a ? MotorWeek’s recent Retro Review upload is...
Jul 9, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved