Prime Find of the Week : French Mustard

If you asked the average motorist what was the first hot hatch, they would probably answer “the VW Golf GTi”, but they’d be wrong. There is in fact a case to be made for the 1967 Simca 1100Ti as the first hot hatch, but there’s little doubt that it was the Golf, which offered a previously unprecedented package of sparkling sports car performance and handling in a small family-sized hatchback that really lit the blue touch paper for the segment, and its popularity encouraged other manufacturers with models in the sector to try to emulate the formula, with varying degrees of success. 

Perhaps the most successful competitor to the Golf was Peugeot’s 205GTi – indeed, there are some who believe the Pug to be a better car than the Golf – but it was far from the only rival. Vauxhall came up with the Astra GTE, there was the MG Metro Turbo, FIAT’s entry into the segment was via the Uno ie Turbo, and Ford threw it’s hat into the ring with the Fiesta XR2i. Let’s not forget last week’s Prime Find, the Lancia Delta Integrale, and there were also a few Japanese alternatives, including the Nissan Cherry ZX Turbo and Honda’s Civic 1.5 GT. But the 205GTi was not the only French entry in this race…

Renault had launched the Renault 5 into the super-mini sector in 1972, the start of a production run that didn’t end until 1996, and for much of that period, was the best-selling car in France.  For the first few years it was a three-door only, with a five-door version not added to the range until 1979. Engine choices to begin with were either a 782cc or 956cc unit, according to price. A 5TS/5LS with the 1,289 cc engine from big brother the Renault 12 was added from April 1974. The base level Renault 5’s were given a larger 845 cc engine in 1976, and the top of the range later models got 1,397 cc to pull them along.

But back to hot hatches…the first breathed-on version of the R5 was the R5 Alpine, which actually went on sale two months before the Golf GTi. In the UK the R5 Alpine was sold as the R5 Gordini, since Chrysler owned the rights to the Alpine name. The Gordini name already had strong associations with Renault, so was well-suited to being used as the company’s GTi equivalent. The Alpine/Gordini was substantially quicker than the standard R5 TS – the regular model couldn’t reach 100mph; the Alpine/Gordini had a claimed top speed of 110mph and could reach 60mph from a standing start in under ten seconds.

Performance was further enhanced with the introduction of the Alpine Turbo in 1982, which Motor magazine managed to coax to a maximum speed of almost 112mph, with a full second taken off the car’s 0-60 time, thanks to a power output of 110bhp generated by the still only 1.4-litre engine. The Alpine/Gordini Turbo was sold until 1984; in that year, the second generation R5 was launched, and just a year later the Alpine/Gordini Turbo’s successor was put on sale.

The body and platform for the new R5 were completely new, being based on the Renault 9 and 11 (the original R5 was based Renault 4 and 8 mechanicals) and was styled by Marcello Gandini – designer of other such humdrum models as the Lamborghini Miura and Countach, De Tomaso Pantera and the Alfa Romeo Montreal, among many others.

From the same pen as the Renault 5!

As with the first generation, the second began life as a three-door only, and engines started at 956cc, rising through 1108cc and 1397cc, with a 1.7-litre unit shoehorned into the car in 1987 in some markets, including the UK.

The hot hatch version of the new R5 was added to the range in early 1985 and offered a significant performance upgrade, thanks to 113bhp that had to move a car weighing only 850kg. Motor magazine road tested the R5 GT Turbo in March 1986 and recorded a maximum speed of 123mph and a 0-60 time of just 7.5 seconds, making it quite a bit faster than its most direct rivals. The magazine showered praise on the car, calling it a “spectacular successor to the old Gordini”, offering “fringe supercar performance with grippy, well-balanced handling, a supple ride and fair refinement”. The tester also praised the interior and gearchange, reserving any criticism for the amount of plastic in the car and its thirst for fuel. As if this wasn’t enough, the facelifted version now pumped out 118bhp, with external revisions o the bumpers and wheel-arches, and in 1989 the interior was also revamped.

This potted history brings us to our Prime Find for this week, which is a late facelifted R5 GT Turbo from 1990, making it a Phase II car and like the Lancia Delta Integrale that we featured last week, goes under the hammer with CCA Auctions on March 19^th at the NEC.

Our car is finished in Panda White, with grey and red go-faster stripes above the sills. The interior has grey and red seats and red carpets, and black GT Turbo floor mats. Based on the photographs – some of which we have borrowed from the auctioneer’s website – it looks very smart, I have to say, and has been give a “condition score” of 109/135 (coincidentally, the same as they gave the Integrale).

It’s passed through the hands of just three previous owners, and has a warranted 70,200miles on the clock. The paperwork includes a full service history and it seems the car is completely original except for an after-market exhaust, so it still looks like it did when it left the factory, not always the case with this kind of car.

There are 315 on UK roads and another 1233 SORN, so there are a few about, despite there only being a couple – including our Prime Find – currently on sale here. The estimate range is £15,000 to £18,000 – there is one other currently on sale in the UK, one of the late-model Raider special editions – with an asking price of just under £23k, so it’s possible that our Prime Find represents decent value if it stays within or just over the estimate range.

You can see the full lot entry here and as usual, should this Gallic hot shot pique your interest, we recommend arranging an inspection before you raise your bidder’s paddle (virtual or otherwise) if you can.