Is The Renault Twingo 133 One Of The Last True Hot Hatch Bargains?

The UK's always had a strange relationship with the Renault Twingo. We never got our hands on the bug-eyed original version, although young enthusiasts are importing them in increasing numbers as they twig what a fun, brilliantly designed little runabout it was.

We all got a bit excited about the third generation, which broke with the hatchback norm with its rear-engine, rear-drive layout, but any hopes of a mini 911 were quickly quashed when we drove it. Lacklustre sales led to Renault dropping the RHD version in 2019, although it sticks around in other markets as an EV to this day.

And then there’s the upcoming fourth-gen, one that riffs off the design of the original in a brilliant way. But that, too, may or may not make it to the UK. No, the Twingo we’re the most familiar with is the second gen car, which stuck around in Britain for its entire life from 2007 to 2014.

On the surface, it’s the least interesting Twingo. Its engine was where you’d expect, and it didn’t have a face like a friendly cartoon frog. The endlessly grey interior was more reminiscent of a winter Monday in Milton Keynes than the effects of a peyote trip. It was just a very normal small hatchback.

However, it did bring us arguably the dying breath of a type of car that the French have always done better than anyone else: the very small, simple hot hatch. That would be the Twingo Renaultsport 133, which launched in 2008, a year after the standard car.

As was Renaultsport practice, that 133 referred to the engine’s power output in PS – 131bhp, in old money, backed up by 118lb ft of torque. Very modest numbers, then, but obviously, they don’t tell the whole story.

That engine was a 1.6-litre four-pot, free of turbocharging, meaning it would fizz up to 7000rpm, breathing through a four-into-one manifold developed just for the 133. Hooked up to a five-speed manual, the Twingo’s lithe 1049kg kerb weight meant it would hit 62mph in 8.7 seconds and would go on to a 125mph top speed.

This was a small French hot hatch through and through, for all the good and bad that brought. It was agile, endlessly chuckable and egged you on to drive it ever harder and faster, but was let down by a cheap, plasticky interior, bone-crunching ride and seating position that felt like you were piloting the car from the roof like a Hollywood stunt driver.

Flaws aside, though, it was hugely fun, very easy to love, and very cheap when new, starting at £11,550 in 2008 – around £18,500 today. The good news is that it’s stayed cheap. We’ve jumped on Auto Trader and found this tidy 60,000-miler from 2010 for all of £3,995.

It’s been through four owners, the more recent of whom seem to have lavished more love on it than the earlier ones, at least based on MOT history. All four wheels look clean, and the tyres seem pretty fresh (although the presence of a single cheaper Joyroad among the three Hankooks sends an eyebrow skyward).

Most importantly, though, this is a Twingo Cup. That means it benefits from the harder, firmer Cup chassis, tightening up the handling even more (at the expense of an even more tooth-shattering ride), plus a few weight reduction measures – mainly the deletion of air-con, so be warned before setting out on a toasty day.

So it’s very small, not very nice inside, and would be pretty horrible on a long run, but in the right moment, there’s not much else around that’ll put such a big smile on your face for so little money. With Peugeot 205 GTi and 106 Rallye values long ago reaching Sillyville, and the likes of the Citroen Saxo VTS and Renault Clio 172 firmly on the way there, the Twingo 133 could well be the last opportunity to enjoy a proper French hot hatch for absolute buttons. Cool as the new electric one looks, we’re definitely not going to see another Twingo like this.