Monday 16th May 2011

PH Carpool: Renault Sport Spider

When window shopping goes bad (...or should that be good?)

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Alex, trapped in a Spider's web. Groan...

PH devotee Alex Forster (aka C6NTO) offers his thoughts on a saucy French alternative to the Lotus Elise:

*****

"No doubt a large number of us have spent many a lunch break flicking through the pages of a motor mag, though this seemingly innocent time-killing exercise is responsible for my forking out a considerable sum on this little French beauty. Seemingly content with my humble 106 XSi, I stumbled across this particular example in the pages of Top Marques. Tempted by the attractive price tag and spurred on by fond childhood memories and fascination at this slightly bizarre Elise alternative, within days I'd committed myself to four years of finance. But it was worth it!

"Looking back at some of the oddities produced by Renault over the years - the Renault 5 Turbo, the Clio V6, the Avantime - it is by no means out of character for them to introduce a niche model with a very limited market; even in this financial climate they didn't hesitate to unveil the extreme R26.R.

"Unleashed to an unsuspecting public at the Geneva Motor Show over 15 years ago, the Spider boldly launched the Renault Sport brand. Not one for playing things safe, Renault neglected to equip the Spider with any creature comforts; no roof, no windows, no heater, not even servo-assisted brakes, though thankfully for us Brits, cars destined for UK shores were blessed with a windscreen. For me it is this total lack of goodies, the back-to-basics concept, that give the Spider its almost unique appeal, especially when you consider that such a product emerged from a mainstream manufacturer. Thanks largely to these facts, ownership of the Spider has proven really quite uneventful in terms of annoying niggles and dramatic failures. Sharing its 150bhp power plant with the iconic Clio Williams, maintenance and servicing is reassuringly inexpensive.

"Bearing in mind the Spider's impracticality, to have covered in excess of eleven thousand miles in five years of ownership can rightly be considered something of an achievement. Given the temperamental British weather, rarely am I faced with an opportunity to use the car with total confidence that the heavens won't open leaving me sat in a puddle of rainwater. Call me crazy if you wish, but isn't that part of the fun? Add to that the liveliness of the tail end in even remotely moist conditions and it all makes for a rather interesting experience.

"Twice has the Spider accompanied me on a continental adventure, the most recent of which saw us covering a distance of almost 3,000 miles passing through 9 countries and taking in some of the most spectacular Alpine mountain passes. With a third trip planned for this summer, the fun looks set to continue.

"There's something about this car that makes it impossible to part with, perhaps it is its character, its charm, or possibly just the fact that for the money nothing comes close to attracting the attention, the glances, the stares, and the questions from onlookers. One thing that remains indisputable is the grin stretching from cheek to cheek that results from driving one of the most distinctive and unforgettably audacious models ever to leave Dieppe."

[Frimley111R]

I see you've got a 'roof' and wind deflectors. You've gone soft

I was at Renault when these came out, we struggled to sell them mostly because the Renault brand wasn't considered sporty and the car was less practical than a Caterham. I do like them for their basic appeal and rarity.

[Frimley111R]

Schnellmann said:

Great looking car but I seem to recall the reviews from car magazines being luke-warm.

Yep, the styling over delivered but the chassis did the opposite. Even when I was at Renault none of the staff liked driving them. Shame really. The last one we had kicked around the dealerships for months and months. We used it more as a promotional tool.