Car parts RENAULT 16 models

Info on RENAULT 16 model - the right selection of spare parts

Renault 16 is the big five-seater hatchback produced by the French automaker from 1965 to 1980. Assembling of this car was carried out at plants in France and Morocco, Canada and Australia also. In 1966 it was recognized as the best European car and became the first representative of the French automotive industry who got this prestigious award. It is the first serial hatchback.

In the early sixties the Renault company aimed to release the family car to replace Renault Frégate model that was not really well on sale. Renault 16 achieved great success and had been steadily on sale practically in all the European countries for 15 years of the production. At the same time the Citroën company designed extremely similar car to fill in the existing blank in the Citroën model range. Having learned about Renault 16 release, the Citroën company cancelled release of its own model. Because of similarity of designs many hearings about the industrial espionage from Renault went, but they were not proved.

Demonstration of a prototype took place at the Parisian motor show in 1964. The serial Renault 16 model was presented at the motor show in Geneva in March, 1965. The body of the new car was innovative: the designer Philipp Charbonneau found the extremely successful balance between a sedan and a station wagon, and, while the term “hatchback” was not injected yet, journalists described model as the big family car. Renault 16 had one more interesting technical feature. It was the different length of the right and left-hand wheel base (70 mm of a difference) because of features of the torsion suspension. It provided to the car the smoothly varying course even on the irregular road. Renault 16 did not have any significant competitor up to 1969 when Austin Maxi was released, but it did not gain distribution outside Great Britain.

In March, 1968 the serial equipment of Renault 16 included two-speed screen wipers. Window electric regulators of the front windows became an additional option for the first time in the history of the French automotive industry.

In 1971 Renault 16 received minimum changes: round rear headlights were replaced by the rectangular ones and instead of the chrome plated finishing on the bottom of a back door there was a wide black strip. In 1974, besides new engines, Renault 16 had window regulators of front windows, the central lock and chrome plated railing on the roof in the basic complete set. A set of attractive additional options was also introduced - an automatic transmission, toning of glasses, the conditioner, leather compartment, the hatch on the roof, aluminum disks and metallic colour of a body.

In 1980 the termination of release of the Renault 16 model was declared, and it was replaced by Renault 20 and Renault 30. In only 15 years of production Renault 16 more than 1,8 million copies were released.