Vintage ads are at their best when they include both period-specific graphics and an obscure product that’s all but forgotten. This ad has both. I’m not sure what stands out more here… the awkward line-drawing of a contortionist, or the photo of the equally awkward-looking Renault van. But let’s concentrate on the van, because this isn’t just any Renault van; it’s a US-market Hi-Boy, complete with a fiberglass bubble top.
The Hi-Boy and its lower-roofed sibling the Petit-Panel were the US versions of Renault’s Estafette, which was produced from 1959 to 1980, primarily as cargo vans but also in pickup, passenger van, and camper van versions. While common in France during previous decades (around 500,000 were produced), their US presence was, shall we say, slightly less. I have not come across any data indicating just how many of these vans were imported to the States, or precisely when, but Renault marketed them here in 1960 and ’61, and the Contortionist ad was a piece of that effort.
1960 had promised to be a heady year for Renault’s American operations – the French company occupied a strong second place in a growing imported car field, and sales had grown quickly after the 1958 recession, led by the bargain-priced Dauphine and later joined by the sporty Caravelle. Renault’s vans first appeared in American showrooms under such an optimistic outlook, but the good times did not last. Imports took a beating in 1960, from both changing market preferences and competition from domestic compacts, and Renault’s US sales fell by 23% that year.
It appears that the Petit-Panel (shown in the ad above) and Hi-Boy were sold Stateside in 1960 and ’61, though those vans sold in ’61 may well have been the previous year’s leftovers. Regardless, they were quickly gone, and forgotten about. Which is a shame because these vehicles did have some innovative features. For example, these were Renault’s first front-wheel drive offerings, a setup that resulted in a flat cargo floor and low loading height.
Curbsiders will like the L’Automobile issue at the bottom of the magazine rack, featuring a Facel Vega HK500.
Also of note was that the driver’s door slid back (rather than swinging out). The above image shows a French-market Estafette variant, the Zone Bleue, designed specifically for Paris’s Blue Zone central area, which had stringent requirements for the size of vehicles that could park on its streets. In the United States, where space wasn’t nearly at such a premium, the Renault’s excellent maneuverability was undoubtedly less of a selling point.
CC’s Jim Klein found this example in France back in 2014 (Writeup here).
The Hi-Boy’s most distinctive feature was the reason for its name – a fiberglass bubble top that extended the van’s height by 12 inches (this version was called the Fourgon Surélevé in its native land). Interestingly, fiberglass high-top conversion vans would become popular in the US in the late 1960s and 1970s – but even a half-century after our featured ad was published, it was still rare to see cargo vans in which an average-sized person could comfortably stand.
Renault, meanwhile, boasted that a 6 ft. tall individual could “stand up straight without hitting his head” inside of a Hi-Boy. That may have been a bit of an exaggeration because this interior height is listed at 72” (exactly 6 ft.), but still, their point is well understood. However, this didn’t translate to sales success – the fact that Renault pulled their vans out of the US market shortly after their debut likely illustrates that sales fell far below expectations. Many reasons could explain this poor showing, such as the state of the overall import market at the time, or that the Hi-Boy’s 32-hp, 845-cc engine was a bit underpowered for American tastes. Or, dare I say, that people may have found the design somewhat… frumpy. Or… maybe just folks liked imitating contortionists.
But Renault’s US van-selling experience did leave behind some enjoyable ads. And it’s entirely plausible that more people will comment on this article than ever bought US Hi-Boys when new.
Related Reading:
Renault Estafette 1000: Could Even Its Mother Love That Face? Jim Klein
Renault Estafette: Sold In The US As The “Hi Boy” Paul Niedermeyer
I love wacky French vehicles and this Hi-Boy certainly qualifies! Looks like one would need to be a contortionist to get into the drivers seat. Cant see a female in a short skirt risking swinging her legs over the high sill of the Zone Bleu edition.. Renault Flash more likely!
The first line of the Dauphine ad is interesting, “Is the Dauphine ever changed just for the sake of changing?.. No.” I was looking at Beetle ads from the same period recently and one had almost the identical byline. This was clearly a phrase which resonated with import buyers at the time.
That’s interesting about the text about the Dauphine ad. I think Renault was chasing the leader (VW) in the late ’50s Import Wars, and probably figured that if that line of reasoning resonates with Beetle buyers, it should work for the Dauphine too. Didn’t quite work out that way, though.
If I’m not mistaken…
Aside from a small handful of Volkswagen Type II vans, the van (as we know it today) was pretty much an entirely new concept in the US for 1960, with the Corvair vans – and Ford and Dodge to follow in 61 and 64, respectively. All that sort of hauling was done by Panel Delivery trucks up to that time.
Vans were used by businesses. Businesses depend on vehicle uptime. Why would anyone buy a van from a company that was already developing a poor reputation for parts and service availability?
It’s interesting to note, however, that aside from aftermarket conversions (and step-vans, which are really another category entirely) nobody offered a “stand up” van in the US until until the new millennium.
And even if Renault had been successful in the US with this van, the “Chicken Tax” would have killed it by the mid-60s anyhow.
The VW Transporter and pickup sold fairly well in the US in the second half of the ’50s, especially from about ’57-’58 on. It’s precisely because it sold so well that Ford and Chevy decided they had to have a compact van to compete against it. They saw that it had created a new market and were at risk of losing it. The VW Transporter was a much more space efficient and fuel efficient local delivery transport than the US panel vans.
I had no idea these were sold in the US until I did my post on it some years back. Never saw one. It makes sense, of course, given how popular the VW Transporter was in the 50s in the US, and since Renault was on a bit of a roll in the later ’50s. But one of the problem was that the Estafette was introduced too late. If it had arrived in 1957, it might well have done a bit better.
And the high roof version would have been unique in the US back then. I’m quite sure that VW did not sell the high roof version of the Transporter in the US.
As to the driver’s door sliding back instead of swinging out, I’m pretty sure that didn’t apply to all of them. Maybe just an option for those doing a lot of curb delivery.
The one I found in France (and is linked/pictured here) has a conventional driver’s door.
845cc for the US… I imagine Fender spent longer on accordion r&d
You literally made me laugh out loud… LLOL, I guess.
By 1960, Renault had a bad name in America, largely due to the Dauphine, a car that fell apart and rusted faster than it could go. This van never had a chance.
Those drawings look like Hershfeld’s. He was famous for hiding his daughter’s name Nina in his weekly drawings for the NY Times Arts section. He could hide them in beards, dresses, almost anywhere in his artwork, and the little number next to his signature told you how many to look for. A long forgotten Sunday activity of my childhood.
In Melbourne (Australia) we used to have a cartoonist in the ’60s-’70s called Jeff Hook. He’d hide a fishhook in the picture somewhere. I always felt I hadn’t read the paper properly until I found his hook!
Shudder to think where Nina has been hidden in this one.
The company in Belgium we visited frequently in the second half of the seventies had a small fleet of these. In a light shade of blue, with a beige high-roof.
There were plenty of them at home too, of course. Swimming happily in a sea of Volkswagen, Hanomag-Henschel/Mercedes-Benz and Ford panel vans.
Thanks Eric, good to see them back!
These vans would be classified as “Deep Sea Creature” ugly, as opposed to “Chinese Dragon” ugly.
Since there is little to no light at the ocean depths, appearance is unimportant. And as these vehicles probably operated in the late night/early morning darkness, styling was of no concern.
On a Dauphine related note, we recently acquired a kitten. As you approached it, the cat would run a few feet and then roll over on it’s side. I wanted to name it Dauphine, but sadly, was outvoted.
Yes, definitely Deep Sea Creature!
And I think Dauphine the Cat (and that’s what her name really ought to be!) could be CC’s feline mascot.
The painting is wonderful. They should have reused it with English signs, instead of the crude drawings.
I’ve been reading old French technical books from around 1900, and their art has the same flavor. An illustration of a telegraph line or a clock is lively, almost animated, full of distinctive people and animals doing distinctive things, some of which are a bit risque.
I agree — that brochure image is wonderful to look at. Definitely a great deal of pride in marketing that the US versions seem to have been deprived of.
I didn’t even know these were sold in the US. On a slightly related note someone in my old neighborhood in Beaverton had a late 60s (bay window) VW high roof van in the early 2000s which is the only one I’ve seen in the wild.
Great ad, I had no idea what I was looking at when I found that one in France. Upon coming home I actually found one for sale on Craigslist not too far from my home here in Colorado. CC effect I guess…
At one had an acting career in the US, alas it was burned to a crisp on Adam-12 ca. 1971.
Woebegone. That’s how this thing looks. The rest of it’s okay, a bit strange but okay. Everything forward of/below the windshield – why?
I’m trying to imagine the aesthetic sense of someone who’d design a van to look like this. Efficiency doesn’t have to bring ugliness with it.
Lovely van in its day, much more practical then the VW was with its fwd and flat loading floor.
The 2 small “saloon doors” and lid to load the van were an idea: you could leave the lid open to move cargo which was too long for the van.
These doors always rattled .
This was the world’s first van with a glassfibre roof.
Engine on earlier model was Dauphine, later versions got the 1100 R8 engine and even a the 1300cc R12 engine.
Vans for America were made in Mexico by Diesel Nacional I once read .
The FWD concept was clearly based on the Citroën H vans.
Today most European made vans share this concept .
I can’t for the life of me imagine why the full-frontal view of a seated middle-aged man stretching his leg behind his ear advertising his Hi Boy whilst wearing only the bottom half of a bikini didn’t have them queueing round the block.
I suppose at least it does make the Renault below him seem attractive.
Isn’t the French painting by Regie National – he seemed to do most of Renaults artwork for years – a balm for the eyes after that?
I just bought a 1960 Hi-Boy with the mph dash, in Canada. I guess they are pretty rare ! All the drive train was modified with a V6 rwd.