Le Car

In France it was known as the Renault R5 – a benign hatchback designed to compete with the Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit. In the U.S. it was sold as Le Car. I test drove one in the early 80s and observed that it had worse-than-normal front-wheel-drive tendencies – understeer, which means the front end plows ahead despite your insistence on going around a corner. The Golf of that period was so much better, so that’s what I bought.

But Renault, determined not to relive the Maginot Line in rallying, retooled the car, putting the engine in the middle and making it rear-wheel-drive. But then the car had the Porsche 911 problem – severe snap oversteer because the weight of the engine/drivetrain was nearly hanging out the back. This meant the rear end would come ’round the driver’s side window and put you firmly into a ditch. Or over a cliff. At least you got to see a bit of your fancy sports car before plunging to your death. Similarly, the R5 Rallye:

Drove a mid-90s Porsche 911 once – it nearly handed me my ass. Much more so this car.

Steve in Manhattan
9:00 pm • Thursday • June 19, 2014
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Autopia

When the Internet Comes For You …

First State Chevrolet in Delaware sold John and Debbie Hooper a new 2o12 Camaro ZL1. After they had put 10k miles on the car, there was a paint issue that still had not been resolved. Tom dropped the car off at the dealership for a bit of a respray and, when he returned, the car looked like this:

original

Seems an employee of the dealership came in on a Sunday when it was closed and took the car out for a little joy ride. And wrapped it around a phone pole. Totaled.

Steve in Manhattan
5:00 pm • Sunday • January 12, 2014
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Autopia