Renault Revives Forgotten Sports Car For 2024

Renault’s had great success lately in reviving its classic models as electric cars. The new 5 E-Tech is soon heading to production, and it’s set to be followed by reimagined versions of the 4 and original Twingo. Now, the company has rummaged through its back catalogue again for more inspiration, and found it in the Renault 17.

Produced between 1971 and 1979, the 17 was a small two-door coupe based on the humble Renault 12 (a car that would live on for decades as a Dacia). It’s nowhere near as fondly remembered in the Renault canon as some other cars, although it did claim a World Rally Championship victory in 1974.

It’s nevertheless the model Renault’s chosen for its latest rose-tinted concept, although this one’s far less likely to progress past the concept stage. It’s been designed in collaboration with French designer Ora Ïto, apparently using the concept of ‘simplexity’. Righto.

“My aim was to add style and flow, but without altering the character of R17. You can still see the original Renault 17 and its sports coupé looks. I wanted to add my own design codes, accentuating some of the characteristics with a futuristic touch to give them a more timeless look,” said Ïto.

We’d say job done, to be fair. The 17’s unconventional shape is very much intact, as are details like the original’s C-pillar louvres, but it features retro-modernist touches like that full-width LED light bar at the rear. The same goes on the inside – distinctive features like the 17’s quartet of dials and two-spoke steering wheel are recreated in a very 21st-century manner.

Renault calls it a restomod, and it is indeed based around the structure of an original 17. However, that’s where the commonality ends. The chassis is now carbon fibre, and while the original car was front-wheel drive and had a maximum of 107bhp from a 1.3-litre petrol engine, the concept gets a 270bhp, rear-mounted electric motor powering the back wheels.

Unlike the other retro Renault concepts we’ve seen in recent years, this one’s likely to stay just that – a concept. What other classic Renaults would you like to see the company revisit? We’re holding out hope for a Safrane Biturbo restomod.