A 4x4 Master-based B90 truck ran the 1987 Paris-Dakar Rally, the rough-terrain test its round door handles never suggested.
Lead trim: Master 2.5 Sofim diesel
Renault Master first generation1980–1997
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Renault Master 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.
FactA 4x4 Master-based B90 truck ran the 1987 Paris-Dakar Rally, the rough-terrain test its round door handles never suggested.
The original Renault Master was launched in September 1980, replacing the Super Goélette light trucks, at Renault's then-new SoVAB plant at Batilly in northeastern France, distinctively styled with a sliding-door design and unusual round door handles similar to those of the Fiat Ritmo/Strada. It was originally launched with the 2.4 L (2,445 cc) Fiat-Sofim diesel and from 1984 also with the 2.1 L (2,068 cc) unit; in 1990 a marginally larger 2,499 cc version of the Sofim diesel replaced the earlier one, and in rare cases the Master was sold with a 2.0 L or 2.2 L Renault petrol engine. A heavier-duty version sold by Renault Trucks as the B70 to B120 (from the end of 1982: the 70 PS B70 diesel and 80 PS B80 petrol) became the Messenger in 1993, and a 4x4 version of the B90 took part in the 1987 Paris-Dakar Rally. It competed with a number of other manufacturers' products and completed Renault's commercial range alongside the smaller Renault Trafic launched in 1980.
Collectors Spotted in the Renault Master Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Renault Master yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
3 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Master 2.1 J8S diesel | 1984–1997 | 2.1 L Inline-4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Master 2.4 Sofim diesel | 1980–1990 | 2.4 L Inline-4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Master 2.5 Sofim diesel | 1990–1997 | 2.5 L Inline-4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
The new Master doesn't commit to one fuel: Renault sells the fourth generation with a choice of internal combustion, electric, or hydrogen power.
In 2016, Renault gave its big city delivery van a dirt-road side hustle: an off-road, four-wheel-drive version of the Master.
This one heavy-duty Renault van wore at least five different names depending on the country — Mascott, Master, Master LDT, Master Maxi, and Master Propulsion — all for the same truck.
This Master shares its doors and other cab panels with a rival, the second Iveco Daily, under a deal the two signed in July 1994.
A 4x4 Master-based B90 truck ran the 1987 Paris-Dakar Rally, the rough-terrain test its round door handles never suggested.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
Chevy pitched the Astro as the anti-minivan, telling buyers life was too big for one, while it rode on a rear-wheel-drive truck frame.
The IIHS rated the Astro Poor in a 1996 crash test, yet 2001–2004 Astros later had the lowest driver death rate of any US passenger vehicle.
The boxy, unglamorous Astro quietly posted one of the best real-world safety records in America: IIHS found 2001-2004 models had the fewest driver deaths per million vehicles of any passenger vehicle on US roads.
The third-generation Tourneo Connect, released in Europe in October 2021, is a rebadged fourth-generation Volkswagen Caddy, assembled by Volkswagen in Poland.
Ford beat the 25% "chicken tax" by importing the Transit Connect as a passenger van — rear windows and seats included, then stripped out and recycled once it landed in the US.
Ford spent years in federal court over the second-gen Transit Connect: in June 2019 the US won its appeal, and judges ruled the van was cargo-only — ending Ford's workaround for the 'chicken tax.'
GM sold a rebadged Nissan NV200 as the Chevy City Express for four years, then killed it in 2018, citing weak sales and the fact that its parts weren't even compatible with GM's own parts catalog.
Its name is a pun: "S-Cargo" means "Small Cargo" but sounds just like escargot — French for snail, the shape the whole van was built to resemble.