Renault and French designer Ora Ïto have designed a restomod of the R17, a coupe from the 1970s. The 2024 version is of course equipped with an electric motor.
A strong wind of nostalgia has been blowing at Renault for a few years now. The brand has continued to offer modern reinterpretations of former glories. After the R5 and the 4L, the R17 is back! But while the first two have served as sources of inspiration for new production models, this neo-retro R17 is a concept that is not intended to make it to series production.
This style exercise is in fact a new collaboration between Renault and a renowned designer outside the company. In this genre, for example, there was the Suite N°4 in 2021, a 4L in the style of a nomadic hotel designed by Mathieu Lehanneur, to whom we owe the basin of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
This time, Renault has teamed up with designer Ora Ito. The choice of the R17 may come as a surprise, as it does not seem to be one of the most striking old Renaults. This choice is not really explained, except that there is a common point between the car and Ora Ito, the 1970s. The designer was born in 1977, the car was sold from 1971 to 1979.
More than a neo-retro version, this project is a restomod. The base is thus an original vehicle. This concept takes the cabin, the doors and even the glazing of the R17. The width has however been increased by 17 cm (to ensure better road holding).
The designer has thoroughly revised the front and rear sections. Ora Ito explains his approach: “I wanted to drape Renault 17 in a second skin to magnify it and bring it back into our time with my own grammar: fluidity, dynamism, rationality and my signature: simplexity. I wanted to simplify complex elements.”
If we find four optics at the front, these are no longer round but thin and rectangular. At the rear, the lights are reduced to a thin strip of LEDs, placed above slats with a very seventies spirit. The body is made of carbon, with a specific galactic brown tint.
Inside, the work is similar. We find the broad lines of the R17 dashboard, but revised with a modern twist. For example, the four needle counters facing the driver give way to four small screens. The central console integrates another screen.
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The original “petal” seats have been reinterpreted and adorned with 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”.
On the technical side, Renault limits itself to saying that there is a 270 hp electric motor, installed at the rear. We don’t know anything more, for example about the battery. But this is clearly not the important aspect of this prototype.
The car will be on display at Maison 5, a temporary showroom dedicated to the new R5 in Paris, until September 11. It will then be seen at the Chantilly Concours d’Elegance from September 12 to 15, and finally at the Mondial de l’Automobile, from October 14 to 20.
