By Mark Bradbury
2024 review by Autolycus
After his superb book on the Renault 4 in 2022, also reviewed lower down in this column of our website, Mark Bradbury has turned his attention to the Renault 5. Once again, Mark has given a masterclass in how to write a small book on a single model of car.
His first chapter rightly gives a concise background on the history of Renault, culminating in its realisation that it needed to develop small family cars for the more austere market after World War II. The 4CV and then the Renault 4 were the result.
Chapter 2 gives a fascinating insight into the competitors that put pressure upon Renault during the late 50s and early 60s, from BMC with its Mini, through Simca and Peugeot to the Italians Autobianchi and Fiat.
Chapter 3 tells the story of Renault’s clever approach to finding a challenger to those competitors: letting even the most junior Renault designer put forward proposals. This led to a remarkable set of sketches from the young Michel Boué, whose design was ultimately developed into the Renault 5. What your reviewer had forgotten was that the car used the longitudinal engine from the Renault 4, a decision that saved an enormous amount of time and cost.
Chapters 4 and 5 cover the launch in January 1972 and the spread of manufacturing and sales beyond France, explaining the highly creative marketing used by the company (just as smart as that for the Renault 4, as related by Mark in his earlier book).
Chapters 6 and 7 reveal how Renault was forced by the ever-growing competition from makers such as Peugeot, Fiat and VW to make dramatic impro0vements to the 5 and how it met that challenge with the radically redesigned Renault Supercinq, launched in September 1984 – “Only the Name Remains the Same” – and the reaction to the new car.
Chapter 8 naturally covers the sporting side of the Renault 5, including the outrageous Turbo and its saner cousin the Renault 5 GT Turbo. The book finishes with Chapters 9 and 10 on other quirky versions of the 5 and the modern legacy of what Mark correctly describes as the first real supermini.
As in his previous book on the Renault 4, Mark makes excellent use of the captions to inform and amuse the reader: features of the cars in the beautifully sharp images are explained with Mark’s typical sense of humour.
This book on the Renault 5 matches, and perhaps even surpasses, the quality of writing, layout and production that Mark and his publisher achieved in his Renault 4 book. At only £15.99, this is a must-have for any motoring enthusiast’s Christmas stocking.
Publisher: Amberley Publishing www.amberley-books.com
Price: £15.99 plus postage (discounted on some sites). Also available as an e-book.
Description: softback (234 x 164 mm), 96 pages; black & white and colour images.
ISBN: 978-1-3981-1865-2
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