Renault Caravelle... anyone familiar with these cars?

dang

dang

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The guy I bought the CS parts car from is getting rid of a 61 Renault Caravelle. I hate to just crush the car without trying to see if anyone wants it. It has a convertible hardtop that you'd think would hard to find, but who knows. Anyway, if someone has a suggestion let me know. I'm hauling it away for him on Sunday and will park it at the yard where I work for a little while before crushing it.

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That is an extremely rare car, even in France. They were built between 1964 and 1969 (You say a 1961 which might be right and I am wrong) and it should have a 1108cc engine, in France they were track raced and rallied quite a bit during that time
It is difficult to put a value on it, but the prices in the UK magazine Practical Classics put the value between £700 for a basket case to £4000 for a good but not concours one, roughly between $1400 and $8000
To a collector of Renault and other French vehicles that is a find and a half! From your pictures it looks in reasonable shape and most of it appears to be there even if the interior is "tired".
I would suggest that you try and post it on any Renault website you have in the USA and Canada and failing that the dreaded fleabay

I would have it myself just for the rarity value, but it's rather too far away to come and collect on a weekend trip.
Please try and pass it on to somebody rather than squashing it
Malc
 
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That is one tiny, tiny engine. You could stand in the engine bay while you rebuild it.
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For it's size it could be tweeked to put out lots of power. It was in the very early Renault Alpines. There was a famous tuner in France would could do amazing things with this engine.
Malc
 
Malc said:
For it's size it could be tweeked to put out lots of power. It was in the very early Renault Alpines. There was a famous tuner in France would could do amazing things with this engine.
Malc
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Imagine if you put a Hayabusa or S2000 engine in there. They probably all have similar dimensions.
 
Renault Tuner Gordini

Amalee Gordini was the tuner who massaged various Renaults of that period, he being to Renaults what Abarth is to Fiats. However, not much came of the Caravelle performance wise, as the 1108 is the "big engine" that appeared in later versions, believe it or not. Gordini only got his hands on the 845cc unit in early models, and it apparently had little potential as he only managed to coax 40 HP out of it. The last Gordini on these shores was the Renault 17 of 1974, during the AMC/Renault era.
 
Gordini - thats it!

I was thinking of the Renault 5, Le car in the USA? There were some hot and very hot Gordini versions available in Europe, right up to the absolutely mental mid engined turbo version
Malc
 
Don't crush this car! The French much more typically burn their cars, especially when asked to work 40 hours per week. Ship this car to France so it can be used during their next labor riots to make a political point. :lol:
 
I noticed a Carvelle in a scene while watching "Day of the Jackal" the other day.

I would have never known what type of car it was w/o your post.

Thanks...
 
Renault Caravelle

Kind of a neat car--a little mindful of the BMW 700 in several ways--

My younger son Jeff who is prone to bring home unusual or rare pieces--he is a talented sculptor with a liking to interesting shapes--had a fairly solid and complete example--albeit with a disabled motor--had it around for a few years with the plan to put it into good operating condition--paid a chunk to get the motor re-built--but poorly done do to parts scarcity--unfortunately spun a main the first time running it--found an enthusiast somewhere in the Palm Springs area who paid a small amount to cart it off.

I can check with him to see if he still has the name of the Caravelle admirer.
 
I remember hearing long ago that you had to jack them up with the doors closed or they would fold. Probably just some francophobe rant. A friend offered me one back in the 60s but I took a pass. Once you got it in gear you could move the shift lever all around without having any effect.
 
An update on that Renault... I was able to find someone who wants to restore it so it was saved in the nick of time! We're crushing on Monday and he picked it up on Friday. :cool:

Dan
 
An update on that Renault... I was able to find someone who wants to restore it so it was saved in the nick of time! We're crushing on Monday and he picked it up on Friday. :cool:

Dan
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Good to know a rare car has been saved :)
 
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