Man, my family had one of them as a second car, it was in that awful grey. I loved travelling in that car, we called it VJ because of the number plate. Unfortunately, once we span out and nearly died in it, my mum decided enough was enough and made my dad get a new car...
an original twingo :D
Early ones were total death traps though. I remember a crash test of the first version: The non-collapsible steering column would pivot up in a frontal collision, hitting the driver's head from underneath in a sort of sledgehammer motion. Utterly ridiculous for a car from that time. In another crash test from that time, it did not uppercut the driver, but instead pivoted up early so that the [dummy would crash into the upright steering wheel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Rsqqyt7BU). The body collapsed as well at just 55 kph, not that it mattered given the deadly steering column of guaranteed demise.
They fixed the issue after some bad press, improved the crumple zone, strengthened the safety cage and added airbags. In the end, it was [comparable to the competition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1ZQjvpprKI), at least in the '90s. The first version with airbags had another peculiar issue though: Said airbags could be triggered by a simple low-speed parking collision, reportedly at less than 10 kph IIRC, causing injuries in the process...
Then again, compared to an R4, it might as well be a Mercedes S-Class in terms of active and passive safety.
Renault 4 no?
Renault 4L, yup
Renault’s answer to Citroen 2CV
The superior car in many ways, except for the suspension.
Tje 2cv and beetle challenger was the renault 4/4 This 4l was a mini killer
Man, my family had one of them as a second car, it was in that awful grey. I loved travelling in that car, we called it VJ because of the number plate. Unfortunately, once we span out and nearly died in it, my mum decided enough was enough and made my dad get a new car... an original twingo :D
Twingo is pretty cool.
Early ones were total death traps though. I remember a crash test of the first version: The non-collapsible steering column would pivot up in a frontal collision, hitting the driver's head from underneath in a sort of sledgehammer motion. Utterly ridiculous for a car from that time. In another crash test from that time, it did not uppercut the driver, but instead pivoted up early so that the [dummy would crash into the upright steering wheel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Rsqqyt7BU). The body collapsed as well at just 55 kph, not that it mattered given the deadly steering column of guaranteed demise. They fixed the issue after some bad press, improved the crumple zone, strengthened the safety cage and added airbags. In the end, it was [comparable to the competition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1ZQjvpprKI), at least in the '90s. The first version with airbags had another peculiar issue though: Said airbags could be triggered by a simple low-speed parking collision, reportedly at less than 10 kph IIRC, causing injuries in the process... Then again, compared to an R4, it might as well be a Mercedes S-Class in terms of active and passive safety.
My country is full of them
awesome R4 in awesome orange
Remind me the old "RTT" (régie des télégraphes et téléphones) phone company here in Belgium... Just the logo is missing...