Its designer Michel Boue died of cancer within a year of the launch, having sketched the car in his spare time.
Median 60 hp across 164 similar cars
Lead trim: 0.8 B1B (37 PS) · up to 108 hp
Renault 5 / Le Car first generation1972–1985
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Renault 5 / Le Car first generation yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactIts designer Michel Boue died of cancer within a year of the launch, having sketched the car in his spare time.
Styled by Michel Boué (who designed it in his spare time and died of cancer at the end of 1972), with first details published on 10 December 1971 and the launch on 28 January 1972, a three- or five-door hatchback with a steeply sloping tail and a longitudinal front mid-engine driving the front wheels through a Renault 4-derived torsion-bar chassis. It narrowly missed the 1973 European Car of the Year (which went to the Audi 80), and was France's best-selling car from 1972 to 1986, with a total production exceeding 5.5 million over 14 years. Sold in the US and Canada as the Le Car from 1976 to 1983 (in the US also as the Lectric Leopard), with a four-door saloon variant, the Renault 7, made in Spain from 1974 to 1984, and built in Iran by SAIPA and Pars Khodro as the Sepand. The mid-engined rear-drive Renault 5 Turbo rally car, catalogued separately, won the 1981 Monte Carlo Rally on its first outing with Jean Ragnotti; the front-drive 5 Alpine came second and third in the 1978 Monte Carlo.
Collectors Spotted in the Renault 5 Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Renault 5 yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
6 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.8 B1B (37 PS) | 1972–1985 | 0.8 L Inline-4 | 36 hp | — | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1.0 C1C (42 PS) | 1972–1985 | 1.0 L Inline-4 | 41 hp | — | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1.1 C1E (45 PS) | 1972–1985 | 1.1 L Inline-4 | 44 hp | — | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1.3 810 (64 PS) | 1972–1985 | 1.3 L Inline-4 | 63 hp | — | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1.4 C1J (63 PS) | 1972–1985 | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 62 hp | 76 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1.4 C6J turbo (110 PS) | 1972–1985 | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 108 hp | 108 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Its charging port sits behind a bonnet-mounted flap styled to look like the original car's air intake.
The Supercinq-era Renault 5 GT Turbo holds a rally record nothing has matched since: its 1989 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire win remains the only outright WRC victory ever taken by a Group N (showroom-spec) car.
Its designer Michel Boue died of cancer within a year of the launch, having sketched the car in his spare time.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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