Renault's Backwards Car
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- čas přidán 11. 10. 2020
- Renault’s Project 900 is certainly an odd-looking car, but it’s also a car designed to break new ground. It used innovative new materials and gave class-leading visibility to try to leapfrog the competition. It also seems they were trying to beat their competition in the “weird” category as well, which given they were up against Citroën was no mean feat! So, what happened to Renault’s backwards car, and what echoes of this strange but innovative design are there in today’s cars?
Link to the Autoweek video seen in this clip (in Dutch): • Renault Scenic ontmoet...
Thanks to Patron Barry Fairbrother for suggesting this fascinating car!
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#bigcar - Auta a dopravní prostředky
I like the rear lights - they'd make some good headlights.
Shut up?
How did you comment a week ago?
Interesting Elements Patreon may get videos early
@@aliabdallah102 stfu
@@GB-dp5bs yeah how? Video was released 5 days ago...
"Is that the back or the front?"
"Yes"
Yoi really tried
BIT LOT that's an old saying when you we're driving back then in 1947 when Studebaker came out what the champion people be asking that question are you coming or going.
I had to sell mine after receiving 534 tickets for parking on the wrong side of the road.
Underrated comment right here lol
With the money you paid the tickets?
I got a bunch from driving backwards down one way streets...
😂
Police: we're chasing a car reversing on the high way.
Little did they know...
They would probably just catch it in 2 seconds lol
@Conrad Ali I messed this up and now I own facebok. what do I do??
"The French copy no one, and no one copies the French." Now we know why.
Oh really? And what about the ‘hatchback’, what about compact diesel cars, what about front wheel drive, what about mpv (big, medium and small), what about hothatches, driveshaft, turbo?? And so many more things that have been copied by the worldwide car industrie from the French.
@Lassi Kinnunen LOL that's a solid argument there. "we didn't copy you, we just reinvented what you did"
You'll win a lot of debates with that one boy!
@Lassi Kinnunen Citroën is one of the most innovative and important car makers in history, even Rolls Royce and Mercedes paid them for a licence for the suspension system. Note, this was all 100-50 years ago, in the past decades they are nothing special .
@@UTopia-eg7gm avantime a lost cause i would love one renault 4 citroen ds gs cx and the list goes on
Hh Zz Citroen ruled
This is not a regular car. It has a frack, and it has a bont.
and at the rear, you find a bonnoot.
Therefore in the US I suppose the car would have had a trood and hunk....
Calum Baxter 🤣
Allo Allo
indeed, it has a hoot and a bood
Clearly during the sixties everyone was on acid. I can't see otherwise how so many people thought that cars that hurt your brain just by staring at them, with no legroom, boot, or safety space, and which probably felt like driving a bus when cornering would be the future of the industry.
I know. I wish I was there !
i was,
@@paulhammersley4562 I was only there for 8 months . Missed the moon landing and Woodstock. Bloody incubator lol!
Lol
This was designed in the fifties, long before hippies and psychedelic trips. It's just French creativity :-)
That is insane. Would have actually looked decent if they had reversed it.
You would probably be pulled over by the cops, evertime you drive in the road
It's difficult to get much speed up in reverse though.
Scary car to be seen heading toward you. You would think someone was driving the wrong way on the road.
😂Very true, I simply wouldn't know which way to run or jump if I saw this car coming at me!
Ha ha, yes you would.
The only time you would be fine with the car is at night, because you can't see how ugly it is, and you see the rear taillights
Considering it being backwards, should have been called "tluaner 006"
derdnuH eniN tluaneR
.efil rof noissaP
That would be 006 tcejorp tluaner.
duol tuo hgual isht si ynnuf gniredisnoc eht rac
not gonna lie, that's a better use of the body and cool name as well, Spyhunter623.
The Renault Frigate " A boat of a car"
American car industry: That's cute.
True, My 1971 Buick Electra could have used the Renault "Frigate" as a dinghy! 😃
@@jamesslick4790 So could the 73 Galaxie, or 77 Mark V, that I used to have. "Frigate" would have probably been the better name for the 76 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Station Wagon, that I learned to drive in... though, we just called it "The Gun-Boat".
My nephews called my Dodge "the aircraft carrier".
@@guylarawayjr571 Lol... Chrysler put out a few different massive automobiles.
@@truckertriesfarming9792 I call my 1972 Newport "the 747 " and my 1995 Ram "the aircraft carrier"
Oh, so that's how they've shot those scenes in Tenet.
That bus like thing with the rear patio would probably have actually been a big seller. I want one...
I’ve been looking at this car for 15 minutes and every time I think I’m about to see it correctly, my brain rewires itself and I’m back to thinking the back is the front.
The struggle is real......
My uncle had a Renault 16 TS. It was the most comfortable car I have ever ridden in, in 1975 when I visitted
"Its a boat of a car"
*laughs in Cadillac Fleetwood*
😄😄😄😄😄
Legend has it 'it went backwards faster than it did forward'.
If they oriented the interior the opposite way around, it actually might have been an attractive design.
Yep, a short wheelbase rwd car for city with 4 doors
NON...!
@@PistonDriven its 2 against you dude
@@polentusmax6100 Tiens ma bière..
If you were part of the design team, the 900 may have been a commercial success.
Dam. I thought it was James May who thought of this when he made that limousine
LOL. i was thinking the same thing
Def inspired his Salfa Romeaab.
Haha yea it really does look like something this old child man would come up with. No way actual engineers did this ..
@@nocensorship8092 Calm down mate
@@MattysCars whats your problem, ..
Renault: so you know our country's been going backwards lately right?
France: right
Renault: well chill cause we've got the solution! *rips blanket off, revealing car*
So it has red headlights, what's that supposed to do? Wait, that's the back?
Well its still technically going backwards unless you reverse...
Vel Satis and Avantime seem to have channelled Project 900's weirdness several decades on...
Certainly the avantime.
At least the Avantime looked good.
Renault can't do posh like VW or nice looking like Peugeot so they go for ugly. How's that working out for you Regie?
@@torpedience Talisman Looks pretty good.
@@Ce0ammer yes, one of the good designs, especially the rear.
“vive la différence” took on a whole new meaning! Thanks for sharing BigCar!
That is one of. The coolest cars I ever seen. If you reverse the interior and eliminate the so called front doors. You actually would have one of the most unique coupes on the market. Even a tiny 1.7 V8, it would have been a good seller.😀
Teacher: the test isn't confusing
The test:
i love the renault 16 a car ahead of its time
… and it was counterfeit Citroen prototype
@@akronymus How was the R-16 a Citroen, it doesn't share anything with Citroen design from the early '70s.
@@trespire
Citroen indeed had a prototype very similar to the R16. Design by Citroen was a bit more futuristic.
Citroen's answer was the GS as a luxury small car. I had one for some time, do not know anything better.
On fact, the CX was Citroen's end. Fine car with e loud 1940s' engine.
My ather bought a BX 19 diesel later, not quite as comfortable as a GS, but a work-horse built to last.
@@akronymus My first car was an '83 GSA in green. The 1.3 flat four was quick but it only had 4 gears and the air conditioning was bust.
I now own 2 CX's, a '75 CX2000 which need total restoration but all the bits are there except the front seats which are out of a BX. And an '87 CX 25 GTI in metallic maroon. Just need to replace the tires which I can't find, rims are 390mm alloys.
The GS came in a similar family hatchback body style as the R16, but it came with a smaller albeit lively 1.2 flat four, looked more aerodynamic and had those wonderful suspension.
Frankly I don't see much in common between the two designs other than them both competing for the same market.
@@trespire
The first GS came with a 1.0 l 4-cyl boxer, and it was great. I had and loved one.
The Citroen prototype I was talking about has nothing to do with the GS. Renault took up the concept and put on the ridiculous base of the R4 torsion spring design.
There really were a number of rear engined cars, even here in the USA. My grandfather drove a Renault Dauphine and my dad owned two Chevrolet Corvairs. An uncle drove VW Beetles exclusively (including one that he clobbered a deer with and straightened out again, this the Deerslayer - He took the deer home, prepared it and his family ate it.) This Renault takes the cake though. I can't help but think that the seating position so far in front of the wheels might be a bit awkward and the lack of a real trunk/boot would be a problem. But it looked neat if nothing else, as did the Avantime, at least in my opinion. And lest we forget the Corvair Greenbriar van, which shared its engine with the standard Corvair and put the driver ahead of the front wheels. It was a neat vehicle too. Great videos sir, and enjoyed the smeg-ups at the end!
my aunt had an Renault Aventine, sadly it was a company car and she had to return it for something else after a few years. It would have been a valuable collectors item now I think. edit: after checking it seems you can still pick them up quite cheaply , maybe I should buy one
@catmodelt The UltraVan was cool. Forgot that my ex father in law drove a VW Squareback wagon for most of my ex's childhood. Neat cars all the same.
Fascinating. Love to see you doing a Renault 16 appreciation. You used part of an original promotional clip for the 16 on this video so you've got a head start!
That's a good promo film for footage. I'm sure over time I'll cover it!
@@BigCar2 I'll second a R16 episode. My cousin had one when I was young and I found it quite impressive compared to my Dad's Holden HK.
Of course Renault did this, they're professionally odd and loveable. Makes my Clio look like the odd normal car in their stable.
Even the Clio V6 looks more sensible than the 900.
All they had to do was extend the roofline all the way to the back of the car and they would have had a massive luggage compartment above the engine and it would have given the design symmetry and not looked ridiculous.
They could have just had a large removable boot floor hatch for access to the engine.
The vehicles with the best access to the engine are those where the engine drops out - usually on the motorway.
You have just described the VW Combi van
@@harveysmith100 I was thinking the same :). So the real credits go to the german designers...
I must admit, you've got to give it to Renault for their out-of-the-box thinking in many cases, this and the Avantime being clear examples. Sadly, they don't always translate well into commercial success.
It’s true that out of the box thinking is not always a commercial succes. But creativity leads often to new good ideas and inventions. The Renault 16 was a spectacular car when it was launched in 1965. It was never seen before a larger car with hatchback/liftback configuration: big hatch-door and folding rear seats.
I wonder if anyone ever reversed one of these to make it go the right way and look like it's supposed to.
In the late sixties a mechanic/artist took a 1959 Oldsmoblie and reversed the body and reversed the headlights and tail lights. supposedly it handled pretty well, in spite of fins on the front, but it got stopped so many times by the police who couldn't believe the car was street legal, so it was buried in an undisclosed location.
@@johnwilson1094 What a waste of a car. Why bury it?
It’s odd that I was recommended this because I was literally just driving my car wondering what it would be like if the front wasn’t so long
Love it to bits, but then I am both a huge fan of Renault´s more wacky/unconventional cars and wacky cars in general.
Around 1985 someone built a backwards Citroen 2CV. I remember seeing it round Birmingham and it made local TV news. Because the 2CV was separate chassis he unbolted the body and turned it round before bolting it back again. See link czcams.com/video/wF88ohYfhhw/video.html.
Great video. Quickly becoming one of my favorite car channels.... And I only discovered you last week!
I would totally crap myself if I suddenly found myself driving up behind this thing at 120 km an hour in the freeway.
Me: trust me, this is the front. He just told us.
My brain: hell no think the other way around
This that car they show you when they tryna make you have a stroke.
You really tried
I saw the backward car title and had to see the video. Your video comments are funny and educational.
Wow... never heard about this car. Great video, thanks for making and sharing it.
It's as if they designed the car the normal way forward but, at the last second, flipped the interior to the back.
I'm a relatively conservative guy when it comes to cars ( my love of the '59 Cadillac, notwithstanding..) But, I kinda dig this! No..Not kinda, I just dig this!
You and I both mate
1.7 V8! - I'd love a small V8, but I'd settle for a small I6. The V8 used to be available as small as 2.4 and I6 as small as 1.6. My first car was a 2.0 I6, and I loved it.
Its always rewarding to watch these videos. Thank you.
Glad you like them!
Ferdinand Picard was an ancestor of Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise fame.
Hello fellow Trekkie! 🖖
That explains a lot about the design!
Thanks, brilliant, I had no knowledge of this. Ah the Renault Dauphine, I remember it well, not favourably.
A 1.7 V8, only the French could come up with that. Finally, I remember my first time in an Espace and the feeling of being so far forward, as you say, a result of the 900 project.
Thanks again for your well researched content.
1.7 liter V8. smooth as a sewing machine and about as much power?
A Gordini would probably have had a 2.0 l V8 with 4 Webers. And we know from Alfa and Ferrari what such an engine is capable of !
This is very interesting. Thanks for creating this video!!
That car's design is definitely the most aerodynamic. Especially at 3:16 those cars looks like the most aerodynamic thing ever: a water drop.
I'd love to have that 1.7 liter V8 and transaxle- for my [Suzuki] Geo Metro!
Omg I have to stop & make a comment . When your daughter said, "I can't look at it anymore, it makes me feel weird." That line just cracked me up to no end, because I was thinking of how many things in daily life that saying could be applied to! Wonder if I could sell t-shirts with that printed on them?? Just too funny.
I'll have her make her first million selling them on the street!
Great off-the-wall subject which is well delivered. Good for you, Mr BigCar, another interesting documentary.
Glad you enjoyed it Simon!
You outdid yourself with this one! Thanks tons!!!
*"Oh fk I placed the steering wheel at the back"*
"ill just pretend at the meeting that it was intentional so I don't get fired for drinking on the job, at least my sketch is black and white nobody can tell that im calling the front lights the rear"
Puttin it in reverse hit different
Love this find. Thank you Sir!
Splendid as usual! Thank you!!!
I'm the backwards man, the backwards man, the backwards man, I can walk backwards as fast as you can, I can walk backwards as fast as you can.
Very strange. I'll watch the video then come up with a suitably derogatory response
The back lights don't look out of place in a modern car
Sergio: *Smoking joint with his coworkers*
woahhhh, i just had an idea
*what?*
what if we take the cabin and the lights.... and reverse them?
*holy shit dude, you're a genius*
I love the way you pronounce the names of the people behind the car, it's super impressive and one of the many things that make you my favourite car channel on CZcams
Watching it again, I think I got the pronunciation of "Selene" wrong. Oh well...
This seems quite dangerous since it would confuse other motorists
I'm French and thank you for this video. Nothing so good has been done in french, about this car. Well done.
You’re welcome Henri
I'm not surprised at the bloopers 😆. Looking at that car....... I bet that will have caught out a few 🍻 drivers!
Now my head is spinning..... time for a beer lol. Nice upload. Cheers 👍
Teacher: the test isn't that confusing
The test:
Only Renault could come up with something like this! My Dad had a rear engined Renault 10 back in the day and that was awful too!
The 8 and the 10 were damn fine cars, in their day
Look up Soviet NAMI-014 and NAMI-A50.
@@user-oh2kt8lf6g Some great futuristic desighns😀
What do you mean: that was awful "too"?
🙂
@@stevenvanhulle7242 Maybe he meant "awesome"?
Interesting and well presented thanks.
Wonderful! Thanks. Please do one on the R16.
“Like a pregnant fish” 😂😂😂
"like a pregnant fish" 😂
This is the first time I've heard about this car, also I'm really hoping that you will do the history of the Hillman Avenger.
What a brilliantly strange car, it would be fantastic to drive one just to confuse other motorists and make them doubt which way up the road they're driving!
Until one was a cement truck
@@JTA1961 Haha! No risk, no fun 😉
I quite like this design, like a surrealistic painting with so many things going on in it that you don't know where to start or end. Much more preferable in my mind than the scores of Big Three barges my country had to deal with at the time.
I'm looking at a whole new world when I'm staring at this French beastie. One where nothing makes sense but I'm enjoying it too much to care. Viva la difference just got a whole new meaning!
Renault is weird!
But it has a really decent engine: the "CHT" engine or "Cleon Fonte" remastered engine (in Brazil)
Looks a little like a 500 multipla but more ouththere.
Fiat 600 Multipla?
Wait to see Vilbrequin's Milltipla (1000 hp in a Multipla !).
In the 1990’s a friend had a Espace diesel. It had a oil level gauge that activated when you first turned the key on. It burned so much oil it was important to know the oil level. Most companies would have solved the oil burning problem, Renault instead provided a gauge!
i love this channel's content, more power
British English for Innovative: “Innivitive”
Yeah that shit is driving me crazy
Renault should have been the first to use the term "Think Different" instead of Apple.
*Stare citroënly*
Their slogan unfortunately was, "Think Differently." They came up with truly different stuff. Apple's slogan while grammatically inaccurate brought out unusual products still within the mainstream.
I'm amazed the _Frigatte_ made it off the drawing board. (I'm actually amazed it even made it ONTO the drawing board.)
Thank You for a great video - always a pleasure with your reseach and knowledge.. and humor :- )
Greetings from Denmark,
(Tesla Model S-owner.. a struggeling early adapter).
Glad you like it Mr J!
I'm more intrigued by how this monstrosity got to that stage of development,FFS!,as soon as it was pencilled the designer should have been frog marched out of the building and perhaps his mother given a slap for good measure.
Frogmarched- lol!🤣
I don't find it hideous, but my brain will not allow me to see the front as the back....it's like an Escher drawing.
I have a design fix, though. Put a roof over the engine and it turns into an acceptable van shape. No-one complains about the rear engined VW Combi!!!
Spend a few days looking at it (like I did making the video) and it sorts itself out.
Torpedience - ...and the Corvair station wagon.
I will look that one up. But I kinda lile the Corvair and other odd shaped cars. Even the Renault Alpine (original) takes a bit of getting used to.
Despite it’s popularity in fact the VW van is a horrible car: lousy on the road, unsafe, unstable, too small cargo space (due to the rear engine), expensive to maintain and from a despicable origin.
@@UTopia-eg7gm The despicable origin is the main problem if you ask me.
There was a car that had that similar design and it was called the Innovari II. It was a concept taxi cab and demo car for United Steel.
Great video, never knew that car existed.
This makes Homer Simpson's Canyonero look like a Rolls Royce.
Homer Simpson was in charge of the design of the Powell Motors Homer. And Powell Motors went bankrupt.
Yeah the Canyonero was "the only truck endorsed by a clown"
@@ahoneyman With the disclaimer "not safe for off-road or on-road use" 😁
12 yards long, 2 lanes wide,
65 tons of American pride.
Top of the line in utility sports,
Unexplained fires are a matter for the courts!
This still feels like an early/late April fool’s joke. I still find it hard to believe a big car company like Renault would put that much resource and effort into something as bonkers as this 🤔
People used to drink a lot more at work I suppose
Bravo, I only now discovered your channel, and must say very well and competent car and model introducing, with objectivity and great amount of facts. As former car seller, I can only say:" Bravo", I always liked a big part of British car(classic car) enthusiasts, for theyr curiosity to the history snd detsiled knowledge of non Britidh brands. Yhe Dauphine was also produced under the Alfa Romeo badge in Milan. Cheers.
Glad you like my videos Nino!
Were do you find this stuff? Fascinating!
This was a suggestion from a Patron.
Germany: engineering
Italy: design
US: low cost
Japan: eficiency
France: utter ugliness
They make good beautiful cars too including the Bugatti's
You mean France ugly and genius overengineering, and Germany quality.
who the hell dislikes this ??
maybe French people ?
Brilliant story as ever. And the out-takes :-)
recommended video...and I like it! :D
It's freaking me out. I hurt my knee earlier, I must of taken too many drugs.
This is just a 2cv idk why its freaking you out.
I can relate to your daughter, because this car makes me feel weird too, and a bit confused. I wouldn't know which way to run or jump if it drove at me! One thing it is not, however, is boring, and I must admit that I quite like it for its innovative design and its' designer's imagination.
Indeed!
VW got this right with the T1 (1950): The front wheelarches go below the front doors, with the cutout next to the driver/passenger footwells, and the little V8 should have been mounted between the rear wheels (with the transmission under the rear seats), giving plenty of room behind it for a proper (if rather warm) boot. This would also have allowed for a full size rear door for better rear access.
Your knowledge is commendable
It's all from the Internet.
“Ah, Phillipe! Where are the new ideas for Renault’s next family car?”
“Here they are. I am quite pleased with this concept.”
“It’s a station wagon.”
“That is ‘la derrière’. The back.”
“Oh. So there is no crumple zone to protect the passengers in a head on collision?”
“Merde!”
Deliberately typed correctly so as not to offend any French folks with the British stereotype ‘ze’ and ‘zis’ or use of other stereotyped phrases.
0:00 Make Renault Megane story
You crack me up. Like it.
May you please do the peterbilt 289/359 story ok that is a big truck so if that doesnt work out do the lada niva story
Well it's a French company what can you expect?