Bicycles, furniture, shoes, perfume bottles, headphones, glasses, the Marseille metro, the Nice tram, automobiles… What sector could not interest the whimsical and fantastic designer? For his collaboration with Renault, Ora ïto electrifies us once again.
Since 2021, Renault has been collaborating with contemporary designers to create new and innovative concepts that reinterpret the brand’s extraordinary heritage. In 2021, Mathieu Lehanneur was chosen to reinvent the essential 4 L (The Renault 4) for its sixtieth anniversary. In 2022, it’s another anniversary, the fiftieth of the R5, and another designer, Pierre Gonalons, with the 5 Diamant prototype. The following year, it’s the Dutch artist Sabine Marcelis who tackles the Twingo for an electric show car. Electric… Is there another subject for the automobile today, despite the doubts of some and the anxiety of others when manufacturers ask themselves serious questions about their future – and especially the penalties they incur – while sales are stagnating.
This is not what can make the French manufacturer back down, which marks this vintage with a new creator, the ineffable French designer Ora Ïto, and another legend of its automobile fleet, the Renault 17 from 1971, which willingly lends itself to this transformation. Presented as a World Premiere on September 4 at Maison5 in Paris, this R17 electric restomod x Ora Ïto will then be exhibited on the Renault stand at the Paris Motor Show, from October 14 to 20.
For the manufacturer, and according to Arnaud Belloni, Chief Marketing Officer Renault Group and Brand: “ R17 restomod, reinterpreted by Ora Ito, perfectly embodies our vision of uniting heritage and innovation. A true icon of the 70s, R17 has established itself as a pop culture icon with its avant-garde design and bold character. This project celebrates Renault’s iconic design while integrating contemporary elements, offering an experience that transcends generations. At Renault, we are proud to collaborate with bold talents like Now Itoto reinvent our iconic models while remaining faithful to the spirit of the brand“.
Designed as a “restomod” by Ora Ïto, the project was developed in collaboration with Renault’s Design teams, who seem to have had a certain amount of fun. By emphasizing its history and respecting the integrity of the Renault 17, this show car combines the classic charm of the original car with contemporary technologies and materials. In this “retrofuturistic” version, as Renault calls it, this version has remained elegant and racy, like the R17 of the time. Designed on the monocoque structure of the original vehicle, it retains the cabin, doors, windows, glazing and joints as well as the technical support surfaces. Its exteriorized wings and wheels give the car a spectacular look, while its headlights in four rectangular modules with rounded corners or its rear lights simplified into a single crossing strip, add to the modernity of the whole. Its body flushall in carbon, which sports an original Galactic Brown shade, specifically developed for the show car, gives it a more than reasonable weight of 1.4 tonnes.
The restomod version retains the comfortable world of the R 17 of the time by integrating modifications to the dashboard and the original central console. The seats, redesigned around the structure of the “petal” seats, also original, are adorned with new fabrics inspired by upholstery: a mottled satin in very fine Merino wool for the brown fabric and a light and delicate, high and thick wool bouclé for the beige fabric. Finally, resolutely contemporary, R17 electric restomod x Ora Ïto is equipped with a central screen integrating the Renault graphic environment of today and four small geometric screens behind the steering wheel renewing the spirit of the period counters.
Equipped with a 100% electric 270 horsepower engine, installed at the rear of the vehicle, the car has been widened by +17 cm for better road holding. However, R17 electric restomod x Ora Ïto is a unique piece that does not prefigure a future production vehicle, we are told. Too bad! It is clear that some young people would have liked to drive it and many “oldies” to find it again! One day perhaps?
