The R4 of today?

[djoptix]

What do you think is the Renault 4 of today? Apart from the obvious answer of "a surviving Renault 4".

I think the R4 is a good car because it's simple and easy to work on, cheap to run/insure/mend, and has a kind of workhorse charm.

I've just bought an AX diesel and realised that in all these areas it's remarkably similar to a Renault 4; frugal, simple and cheap (I just bought a complete set of seats for it - cost; 99p).

Post your suggestions!

 

[malcolm]

The Citroen AX is hardly modern these days, though it's a very nicely designed car. Nice and comfy and 65-70mpg in the real world for the diesel? You won't find a modern equivalent for that.

Renault 4 is the same in my view. It was a car designed a long time ago to address a need of the time. The thinking behind it was one of putting the masses on the road. Something cheap and practical seemed to be the way forward, and with it being the 5th highest volume car ever made Renault might have got it right.

These days the masses are on the road in the west. If you want practical you buy a van, a people carrier, an off-road car. If you want cheap you buy them second hand from the masses.

We'll not see the likes of the Renault 4 ever again. But didn't they do well

PS - I'm in the middle of fitting a HA1 box in a 4. PM for a chat it it's helpful.

 

[djoptix]

Good points Clementine... I guess in my head I set the R4 apart as being SO utilitarian, basic, tough and cheap that I've always thought there's nothing else like it at all - Mini, too small; 2CV, not a real car; etc.

However, when I got the AX I realised that there are some cars made since that are similarly basic, and come somewhere near the R4's blend of simple design and usability. I just wondered if there are any cars being made now that have the same aim, because I feel like there are few if any. For example, the Toyota Yaris is very basic and usable but manages to be horribly plastic-y. It seems that all of today's really really cheap cars are nasty grey things which are practical but incredibly boring (Hyundai Accident, 3 cylinder diesel..? Why?!), and will collapse into rusty heaps in a few years.

I suppose the AX isn't that modern, but it's more of a R4, in a funny kind of way, than I thought any mid-90s car would be.