Renault Model PI18/24HP Limousine, 1926
Renault 18
Renault 18•
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Chassis No.: 259089
US$35,840 USD | Sold
- 4,767cc, Side-Valve 6-Cylinder Inline Engine
- Single Carburetor
- 24bhp at 1,800 rpm
- 4-Speed Manual Transmission
- Semi-Elliptic Leaf Spring Suspension
- 4-Wheel Drum Brakes
- Luxurious Renault from the Roaring Twenties
- Well-patinated/aged car
Through the 1920s, the company offered a range of products, topped by its luxury six-cylinder models of which this is an example. There were three models offered, the massive 40 CV, an 18/24CV, and a 15CV. The refined six-cylinder engine was said by Renault to be without any vibration, all models benefited from servo-assisted four-wheel brakes and the transmissions were described as 'simple, but robust'. In contemporary advertising here in France, they were marketed as 'Les 6 cylindres de luxe' – and playing strongly on the quality of their aviation origins, they reminded customers that 'since the beginnings of their aviation engines they were dedicated to high precision engineering.'
Naturally the market for luxury cars reached beyond the continent and in America, advertising in The New Yorker magazine, the luxury Renault was marketed as 'A French Car that interprets in mechanical terms, a brilliant heritage of art and culture – A Twentieth Century expression of the French Civilization'.
Renault's distinctive 'coal scuttle' bonnet design, which was present from the very earliest days of the company's production, never looked more in vogue that in the Art Deco time of the 'Roaring Twenties'. It was at once avant garde, aerodynamic by definition and completely individual. By this stage, the scuttle mounted radiator was able to be blended into the overall styling of the car and allowed an almost exclusive purity of line for coachbuilders, its only tell-tale being louvers on the side of the body.
THE MOTORCAR OFFERED
In 1925 the company adopted the diamond shaped badge for the front of their cars, which this car proudly sports confirming that it is of that era along with the date lozenge on its radiator states that was built on 26th March 1926. On the same lozenge to its right are the letters PI suggesting that this is an example of Renault's PI Model, the mid-range 18/24hp car, although from the sheer scale of the car one could be forgiven for thinking that it was their famed 40hp NM. Regardless, the regal Renault has the same physical presence of all of its major six and eight cylinder contemporaries and it is easy to see how these cars competed on level terms in their day. In every respect this is a handcrafted machine of exceptional quality.
The car is clothed by the carrossier Felber et Fils, a company that today are less well known, but must have been of some stature in the roaring Twenties as their showroom was based a few doors down from Renault's own premises on the prestigious Champs Elysees in Paris.
Nearly a century has elapsed since the car would have left the Billancourt Works, and Felber's workshop, yet its course of trajectory is unknown throughout until it was offered for sale at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction in 1986. It was there that Frank Spain was able to purchase it, a fitting addition to his growing and broad ranging collection.
In more than 30 years of storage and then display, the Renault is not known to have been run or refurbished in any fashion and as it would appear today it seems to be an extremely original and untouched example. Its tires are dry rotted and disassemble themselves when moved, but from their condition it seems likely that they may date from even before the war and that the car has been unused at all. The interior cloth fabric has similar age to it.
There can be very few of these cars in the USA today, this rare Renault seems remarkably complete and has the potential to make quite a statement at any car gathering.
Cost
131,623 AED
