Find of the Week: 1990 Renault 4

If you're looking for something quirky and French, then we have exactly what you're looking for. It's a classic design that was in production for more than 30 years, and was designed to be even cheaper than the 2CV. It's a Renault 4, and it's our autoTRADER.ca Find of the Week.

When the Citroen 2CV launched in 1948, the low-cost, ease of service, and useful bodywork were a revelation. Sales rocketed for the new type of tiny car and Renault needed a response.

In 1956, Renault started working on that response. The automaker wanted to learn from the tiny 2CV and develop something better.

The R4 launched in 1961, with the Renault R3 sharing the platform, most of the bodywork, and just about everything but the engine. At the time, French cars were taxed based on a complicated formula. The end result was the smaller-engined 3 was taxed at 3 CV (or 3 HP) and the R4's larger engine was taxed at 4 CV (4 HP). That's despite the cars engines making at least 24 hp. The bare-bones R3 didn't last, but the R4 did. Although the R fell off in 1965, making it simply the Renault 4.

This was a bigger car than the Citroen, and it looked more like a conventional car. Not that it didn't have its share of quirks and features, but we'll come back to those. Renault advertised that it had room for "children, prams, wives, groceries, husbands, dogs, bags, baggage and room to spare besides." While that would require a full-size three-row crossover today, back then it was handled by a car that was just 3,663 mm long.

That's thanks to minimal interior trim, limited to luxury features like twin sun visors, and manually operated vents. There was an ashtray though, of course.

It was the brand's first front-wheel drive car, especially notable when the car it replaced had the engine in the back. It made the 2CV look like an antique and went on to sell more than one million cars in the first five years. When production stopped in 1994, the eight million cars sold made it the best selling French car of all time.

The Renault 4 has lots of unusual design choices and strange quirks. Like the long-travel suspension. It was designed for ride comfort on ruined roads, but the torsion bar rear suspension required a compromise. One rear wheel had to be ahead of the other. The wheelbase is nearly 50 mm shorter on the right than on the left. And look at the dash-mounted shifter. It uses a conventional pattern but has the strange motion of moving straight forward and backward instead of the usual straight down pivot point.

Despite small engines and small size, the 4 was very capable. It could haul an entire family to town, but it also finished second in the 1979 Paris-Dakar Rally, and third the next year. It was also simple, meaning roadside repairs were straightforward.

Our Find of the Week is a 1990 model Renault 4 GTL, for sale in Toronto. 1990 makes it one of the final years of production. So this is as new of a version of the classic as you'll find.

The GTL model means bigger brakes - with discs up front - and an extra front air intake. That extra intake was to help feed the new 1,108 cc four-cylinder engine. It replaced a 747 cc four and produced 30 hp. Nearly 25 percent more than the standard model. Enough for a 600 kg car to travel at highway speeds. The GTL also added the cloth seats and door panels you see in this car.

The Renault 4 was produced for over 30 years and was a staple of French motoring. The most famous Renault 4 owner is probably Pope Francis. He was gifted a 1983 model a few years back and reportedly drives it around Vatican City.

If you're interested in a motoring classic, one that's simple, basic, and sips fuel, then this 1990 Renault 4 is for you.