Fuego is Spanish for Fire, and Renault hoped the Renault Fuego, like the American Pontiac
Fiero, would inflame customers desires in the 1980s.
Its unique styling, with black louvred panels and bubble glass tailgate turned heads when
it launched.
Yet in just 6 years the Fuego disappeared from Renault showrooms across Europe.
Why did a car that was the number 1 selling European coupé for two straight years end
production so soon?
This is the Renault Fuego Story.
(music)
Robert Opron worked for many years at Citroën
where he designed the SM, the CX and the GS.
But with Citroën’s 1974 financial collapse and eventual sale to Peugeot, he was left
looking for a job.
He found it working for rival Renault.
The company was looking to replace the outgoing, and relatively successful Renault 15 and 17
coupés with an updated model, so Robert’s first major undertaking in 1976 was creating
its successor.
Coupés were selling well, with the Ford Capri being a hot seller in the early 1970s and
the Volkswagen Scirocco and Opel Manta selling well as well.
Before this, Renault had asked for a design from Bertone in 1974, possibly as a Renault
15 & 17 restyle, but it had been rejected.
Renault also considered moving the new car upmarket with a larger V6-powered engine based
on the Renault 30, but they decided they’d focus on the mass market.
They also felt a larger coupé would step on the toes of its Alpine performance sub-brand.
To save money the new car should use existing parts.
The chassis and rear suspension came from the upcoming 1978 Renault 18, which had itself
been based on the Renault 12.
However, for a better handling car, it was found the suspension from the larger Renault
20 would be a better choice.
This front suspension choice would be so successful it would be used in an update of the Renault
18, making the 18 and the Fuego’s underpinnings virtually identical.
Renault’s new coupé would use several engines from their range.
The 1.4L would be lifted from the Renault 5, the 1.7L from the Renault 18, and the 2.0L
from the Renault 25.
But unlike other cars of the time, none of the engines would have fuel injection.
Robert Opron knew great fuel economy comes from cars with low drag, and the Fuego would
be no different.
But the honour of styling the car fell to Michel Jardin.
Rather than the fashionable square lines of the Renault 18, he bucked the automotive trend
and produced a fantastic rounded, aerodynamic yet practical shape that could hold 4 adults
and all their luggage.
A 5-door version was investigated, but was ultimately rejected.
It had some wonderful design touches as well.
To make it look like it had a lower stance it used a louvred black plastic strip that
went the length of the car and accentuated the rounded bubble tailgate that made it look
a little bit like the 1976 Porsche 924.
As the 924 was the “poor-man’s Porsche”, was this the poor man’s poor-man’s Porsche?
The interior would be created by Francois Lampreia.
It was a simple, clean design that put everything important to hand.
The layout was well received, and like the front suspension it would be used on the Renault
18 update.
Production of the car, dubbed the Renault Fuego, began in 1980 at Palencia in Spain,
Billancourt in France and at Renault’s Maubeuge factory also in France, near the Belgium border.
It’s a town I’m very familiar with as I visited a pen friend there many times from
1980 onwards, and until I looked into this video I wasn’t even aware the Fuego had
been produced there!
(80's music)
After its launch at the Geneva Motor Show, the car was well-received, and with it being
cheaper than the competition sales were strong, although over time it was seen as a little
underpowered compared to those same cars.
With no fuel injection the 1.4L base model with a manual choke – remember those?!?
- produced just 65hp (48 kW).
Like the 1.3L Ford Capri, such an insipid engine was a bit of a let-down after its sporty
looks promised so much.
The most powerful engine at launch was the normally aspirated 1.7L, although a 2.0L engine
would arrive the following year.
By 1982 a 2.1L turbo diesel would also be available.
Diesel was a popular fuel in France, and the country invested heavily in biodiesel produced
from rapeseed oil.
The 2.1L engine was relatively large, as could be seen from the bonnet bulge, and with the
addition of a turbo it was, Renault claimed, the fastest diesel in the world with a top
speed of 110mph (177 km/h).
Unfortunately, these never made it to the UK, being left hand drive only.
Renault had been selling cars in North America since 1906 in limited numbers, but there was
a renewed push in the 1950s as cash-strapped, war-torn France went chasing export orders.
With the help of AMC – the American Motor Corporation, and the oil crisis, Renault started
to have some success in the 1970s with fuel economical cars like the Renault 5 – dubbed
“Le Car”.
So, it was with renewed vigour that Renault launched the Fuego in 1982 as their “halo car”.
They hoped the combination of good looks, practicality, luke-warm speed and level-headed
low running costs would win the day.
It did find some success, particularly in French-speaking Quebec, but those harsh Canadian
winters proved too much for the car’s rustproofing and sales fell.
North America wouldn’t be the only export market.
UK versions of the Fuego made it to New Zealand in 1981, and it even made its way as far as Japan.
With Renault’s selling well in Argentina, Fuego production began there in 1982.
Renault investigated a convertible version through French coachbuilder Heuliez that was
shown to the public in 1982.
This was always intended for the North American market, but with lacklustre sales there, the
idea was dropped, and the Renault 11 convertible was sold there instead.
With Renault competing in Formula 1 at the time, they used Alain Prost who drove for
them to help promote the car.
However, although the car was entered into various motorsports events, it didn’t have
any notable wins until late in its life when between 1986 and 1993 it won the El Turismo
Competición 2000 in Argentina 8 times.
Renault’s 1983 update included small styling changes that further reduced the car’s drag.
It also received a revised dashboard, but only for lucky left-hand drive customers.
It got remote keyless entry – and supposedly the Fuego was first production car ever to
have this feature.
Another first would be steering wheel mounted audio controls.
But the best part of the 1983 update was the new Fuego Turbo model that finally gave the
car some acceleration.
The 1.6L 132hp (98 kw) engine could get to 60 in under 10 seconds and go on to 120mph (193 km/h),
and there were hopes it could compete with Volkswagen’s Golf GTI.
Like many cars of the time, Renault shouted its turbo credentials with large “TURBO”
graphics down the side, and in front of the passenger, so they knew why they were being
thrown around by the driver.
The car got some premium features to help it sell, such as a larger 2.2L engine, cruise
control, air conditioning and a trip computer.
One nice detail was the leather seats with the Renault logo stitched into them.
Sales had started well in 1980, but the update failed to spark interest.
The Fuego had been the best-selling coupé in Europe for the first couple of years it
was on the market.
But with poor reliability reports in North America, and the coupé market contracting
rapidly, sales dropped.
Coupés were the fashion fad of the 1970s, and the 1980s affordable performance cars
were hot hatches like the Peugeot 205 or Golf GTI.
Renault didn’t have anything to fill this gap, and the Fuego definitely wasn’t it.
Production of the Fuego ended in France in 1985 and in Spain the following year.
Although production had ended in Europe, production continued in Argentina where it was quite
popular, going toe-to-toe with the Ford Sierra XR4.
Production continued for longer than Renault probably expected.
So long in fact that Renault updated the model in 1990 with a light exterior facelift, new
steering wheel, seats and a third brake light to freshen up its image.
Production of the Fuego finally ended in 1992.
Although a Fuego II was planned with a style similar to the Renault Alpine GTA, with sales
less than stellar, and Renault’s finances taking a disastrous turn for the worse in
the mid-80’s, any direct replacement was dropped.
Customers would have to make do with a Renault 19 or 21 until Renault’s next coupé, a
version of the Renault Mégane arrived in 1995.
The Fuego was a fashionable car, but it was also the wrong car.
By 1980 the world was buying smaller fuel injected hatchbacks, and Renault was wrong-footed.
It would be several years before Renault could produce their own hot hatch – the Renault
Clio that would bring the company more success.
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