Renault Juvaquatre car range and history
Vehicle technical details | |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Renault |
Production | 1937 - 1960 |
Class | motor car |
Total production | 251,010 |
Assembly plants | Billancourt , Flins , in CKD in Haren (Belgium), Acton (United Kingdom), Haifa (Israel) |
Maximum speed | 81-100 kmh |
Body and chassis | |
Body styles | sedan discoverable, sedan, coupe , van, station wagon. |
Doors | 2,4 |
Chassis/body | steel |
Engine and Powertrain | |
Drive | Rear |
Engine Type | gasoline |
Displacement | REF 488 ( side valve ):1003 cm 3 Engine Billancourt :747 cm 3,845 cm 3 |
Engine location | front |
Engine power | 6 CV , 4, then 5 HP |
Transmission | BV3 + MA |
Brakes | Cable and hydraulic from 1940 on |
Weights and Dimensions | |
Wheelbase | 2,350 mm |
Length | 3,720 mm |
Width | 1400 mm |
Height | 1500 mm |
Curb weight | 715 - 760 kg |
The Renault Juvaquatre is a car of the French car manufacturer Renault , marketed between 1937 and 1960.
History
The political and social situation of the mid-1930s in Europe was at least tense: the countries of the Old Continent watched with some anxiety the will of some leaders to expand their "living spaces" as advocated by Adolf Hitler . Louis Renault thought that a suitable policy could maintain relaxed relations with Nazi Germany. He has been present at all the German car shows where he exhibited the models of the brand marketed in addition to the Rhine. The boss of the manufacturer of Billancourt made remarkable visits to the Berlin Motor Show of the years 1935, 1938 and 1939. It is during the show of 1935 that Louis Renault notices on the stand Opel, a car that will greatly impress him, the Opel Olympia , to the point of noting down to the smallest detail the innovative aesthetic qualities for the time and for him in particular, which has always been very conservative from this point of view. He had been admiring how the headlights were integrated into the front panel. Renault, which had until now composed its range mainly with models of middle class, high-end and luxury, with the Juvaquatre, was going to launch its first low-end model.
Competing with the Amilcar Compound , Peugeot 202 , and Simca 8 , it is the first Renault with a monocoque body (no separate chassis ) and independent front wheels, the front suspension is transverse leaf spring with hydraulic shock absorbers lever forming two upper triangles . It is the only car of the brand conceived in the time of Louis Renault whose production was continued by the Régie Nationale des Usines Renault after the Second World War .
Presented at the Paris Motor Show of October 1937 , the Juvaquatre is very largely inspired by the German Opel Olympia , which will be worth to Renault a plagiarism suit. It is marketed from 1938 in the form of a 2-door coach but the beginnings are very difficult because the customer blames him for his lack of character, his handling very imprecise and two doors incompatible with his family vocation. The car is selling very poorly while the Peugeot 202 and Fiat-Simca 8 are selling very well and at a higher price.
A utility version is quickly studied to meet demand end 1938, the front of the car being and remaining identical for all models from the beginning to the end of the 1937-1960 production.
The Juvaquatre will be available in 1939, sedan 4-door with doors hinged on the central amount called "suicide doors" and with a non-opening trunk. Some "luxury" models will come out in coupe or discoverable versions. Sales of the small Renault finally seem to start when the declaration of war stops net production, the factory having to convert to produce military equipment to satisfy the war effort.
During the Occupation , some gas generator models were produced as well as an electric prototype (BFKE). From 1940, the brakes become hydraulic on all types, the Juvaquatre is proposed in 4-doors with finally a safe accessible from the outside while remaining the only sedan in the catalog of the young Régie Renault until the arrival of the 4CV that marked the end of the Juvaquatre sedan.
The new Renault (4cv, Dauphine) being all built with rear engines, their transformations in utility is impossible, which explains the longevity of the Juvaquatre, which experienced regular improvements like the assembly of the engine of the Renault 4CV in 1953, then engine from the Renault Dauphine from 1956, which will lead to the adoption of the name "Dauphinoise". In its version break, this model will experience some popular success in terms of its attractive price and its practical qualities. Its production will end on 1 st March 1960 at the Renault Flins plant where it will be marked in 1952, the debut of the new plant. His successor will be the Renault 4 L.
If we know that the Juvaquatre was largely inspired by the German Opel Olympia , which earned Renault a trial for plagiarism whose we do not really know the result. Some rumors report an amicable "agreement" with a large compensation paid to the American giant General Motors who would not want to involve its subsidiary Opel in a trial in Nazi Germany.
The AEB1 coach version concerns only the pre-production and 34 final copies that have been entrusted to the main dealers to carry out tests in condition. 40 defective points were reported: bumper too small, humming bridge, parts that touch in the engine compartment, unsatisfactory braking, comfort perfectible .... This forced Renault to make changes and launch the final version ABE2 which will not be put into production until March 31, 1938 and marketed in the early summer of 1938.
The steel body of the Juvaquatre was subject to a license fee that Louis Renault failed to circumvent. Renault was forced to pay a $ 2 fee to Edward Gowan Budd for each saloon produced and $ 1 for each convertible manufactured by SAPRAR.
Some of the Juvaquatre features provided
- There are, for example, two ventilation hatches in the bodywork, to ventilate the feet of the driver and the front passenger,
- For cold rolling, in winter, simply pull on a ring, under the dashboard, to unroll a remote screen in front of the radiator; this screen, mounted on a reel, folds on demand when the engine is hot.
- On the entire production, there has never been a key lock on the driver's doo
- Box 3 speeds plus one reverse
- Consumption: about 7 liters per 100 km
- Speed: about 95 km / h
- Power: from 21 to 26 hp SAE
- Brakes: cables then hydraulics from 1940
- Self-supporting" box. In reality it is a chassis with longitudinal members with a built-in platform on which the body was welded.
Body Types
- sedan: AEB3, BFK2, BFK3, BFK4, from 1939 to 1948 and in 1951
- coach: AEB1, AEB2, BFK1
- cut: AEB2, BFK1, BFK2, BFK3, BFK4
- break: AHG2, R1080, R2100, R2101
- van: 250 kg AGZ1, AHG1
- van: 300 kg AHG2, R2100, R2101
- Dauphinoise: R2101, rejuvenated model released in 1956 with the engine of the Dauphine 5 CV
- Service: bare van version launched in 1952, removing all superfluous equipment: passenger wheelchair, chrome, hubcaps ...
Related
Technical
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Renault Juvaquatre Technical characteristics
Model
Factory code
Body
Engine
Cylinder capacity
cm³Power
Ch at rpmbrakes
Empty weight
(kg)Max
speed (km / h)Consumption
(l / 100 km)Dates of sale
Product copies
Pre-production
Juvaquatre
AEB1
Coach (or 2-door Sedan )
Renault Type 488
1003
23 @ 3500
Mechanics controlled by cables
750
100
7.0
06 / 1937-07 / 1937
12
Versions for the continental European market
Juvaquatre
(6 HP)AEB2
trainer
Type 488
1003
23 @ 3500
Mechanics controlled by cables
760
100
7.0
21/09 / 1937-19 / 10/1937 (pre-production) and 31/03 / 1938-16 / 01/1940
22098
Chopped off
750
03 / 1939-12 / 1939
30
discoverable
760
1938-1939
500 1
AEB3
4 door sedan
760
04 / 1939-12 / 1939
4751
discoverable
1939
BFK1
Coach & Coupé
Hydraulic
750
1939- 44
54
BFK2
4-Door Sedan & Coupe
760
1939-1943
1248
BFK3 2
04 / 1940-05 / 1940
4
BFK4
4 door saloon
760
01 / 1946-11 / 1948
36.597 3
07 / 1951-11 / 1951
60
Chopped off
750
12 / 1945-01 / 1946
13
Juvaquatre van 250 kg
AGZ1
minivan
Mechanics controlled by cables
895
81
7.5
09 / 1938-11 / 1939
2035
Juvaquatre Vans 300 kg
AHG1
Hydraulic
01 / 1940-06 / 1943
397
AHG2
8/11 / 1945-07 / 1949
98597
Juvaquatre Break
(6CV)AHG2
domestic
Hydraulic
945
03 / 1949-07 / 1949
R1080
08 / 1949-2 / 10/1953
Juvaquatre
(4CV)R2100
domestic
Type 662-3
747
21 @ 4100
945
02 / 1953-02 / 1956
12153
minivan
895
20.448 4
Dauphinoise
(5CV)R2101
domestic
Type 670-2
845
24 @ 4000
945
02 / 1956-03 / 1960
21045
Minivan
895
30.959 5
Specific versions for foreigners ( CKD or not)
Eight 7
BFD1
trainer
Type 488
1003
23 @ 3500
Mechanics controlled by cables
750
100
7.0
09 / 1938-06 / 1939
1237
BFD2
Sedan
760
1939
3
Nine 8
BFJ1
Sedan, Cabriolet and pickup
1939-1941
53
Derived special versions
Taxi Escoffier
AJD
People Carrier
Type 488
1003
23/3500
Hydraulic
-
-
-
03 / 1947-02 / 1949
10
rattletrap
212E1
Van
1572
-
-
12 / 1946-05 / 1948
300
Rating:
1 631 ex. according to some sources, including 297 Pourtout casings and 334 other unspecified
2 Finition Grand Luxe: the 4 copies produced are also called Juvastella (unofficial name)
3 Of the number indicated, 21 were transformed into a discoverable version to be sold in Belgium and in Switzerland
4 Including 9.901 in Service
5 finish Including 20.560 in Service
6 finish CKD mounted vehicles are included in production figures7 For Britain
8 For Oceania