There were no straw hat wearing judges at the 2025 Renaultoloog Meeting & Market to methodically examine the surplus of patina -or whatever it was- on this 55 years old R12. We might as well carry out a visual inspection ourselves then.
Still purring like a kitten, the 1.3 liter Cléon-Fonte engine. For the time being anyway.
Parked right next to the 1970 TL, and much higher up the concours d’élégance ladder, this 1973 Renault 12 TS.
Door ajar warning!
Related Reading
Cohort Sighting: Renault 12 Hard At Work In Medellin, Colombia by PN
COAL: The Cars Of My Father – His Renault Period (R12, R18) by Xtalfu
I saw a lot of R12’s when I was in Turkey ten years ago, but I can’t say I ever noticed that character line across the roof at the C pillars. As for the steering wheel, I’m not sure if it’s hideous, or I like it. Either way, it’s bizarre.
The steering wheel? Why, it’s French of course, so you can play the accordion whilst smoking your Gauloises croissant et cafe.
In Turkey, there was a licensed production facility. They were produced there by Oyak-Renault between 1971 and 1989 as the Renault 12 and then as the Renault 12 Toros until 2000.
They were considered a domestic product there.
And also licensed in Romania with variants then the original didn’t have, a pick-up/ute version and a 2-door coupe from what I saw on these pictures posted on this French site.
https://www.carjager.com/blog/article/dacia-1300-1310-la-renault-12-des-carpates.html
I don’t remember if this car was sold in the US during its early years. Surely there were some, but I don’t know if it was sold regularly like the Dauphine, the 128, the 124, and other European models like the Peugeot 504 and 505.
Yes, it was sold here, but not exactly with great success. And the survival rate was poor. I have never found one since starting to shoot cars 20 years ago.
They were sold in the US, though I feel that sales were slow, even by Renault standards. I can’t remember ever seeing one – I think most of the US Renault 12’s ended up in the condition of this Anti-Trailer Queen by about 1976.
Below is a US Renault 12 ad from 1972:
Just saw that Paul and I posted the same thing at the same time!
What IS that bizarre bumper they put on these? They did the same to the US Renault 16 too.
Sort of like the ‘towel rail’ bumper setup on Beetles, no? Perhaps they realised the 12’s bumpers were so much lower than normal for US cars.
Prolly necessary to meet US-DOT minimum bumper height regs. Also reminds me a bit of the “ladder” bumpers that Fiat X1/9s got here for some years.
And yes, R12s were indeed sold here; when I was growing up in the ’70s, a member of my church had a somewhat ratty one he was devoted to for many years.
Now thats a rare car, I know they built plenty but where did they go?
To rust heaven – as most French cars do.
I’m sure they still can be found both on- and off-road in southern Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and quite possibly also in South America (see link at the bottom). And at events in the NL, aimed at the anything-Renault-crowd.
Speaking of South America, the Renault 12 have a distant cousin named the Ford Corcel. Renault and Willys do Brasil beginned to work on a version of the Renault 12 for Brazil until Ford acquired Willys do Brazil and inherited the project who’ll became the Corcel.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1969-ford-corcel-gt-the-confusing-history-of-a-multinational-brazilian-classic/
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-1981-ford-corcel-ii-l-a-renord-a-forault-a-car-to-remember/
Thanks for that!
These rather glum Froggies still pop up here from time to time, though one as outdoorsy as this would have a dash top and seats utterly shredded by the Oz UV. To me, they’re not Frenchly special enough to justify the soggy looks, and so one in this state just looks grotty instead of patinated. In fact, it’s how most of them seemed to look after about 10 years of use. The concours one is much better for the eyes (if still a bit fugly). Worth very little here, so you rarely see one that’s been done-up nicely like that.
Is this running on LPG? An odd thing if so, as they’re hardly thirsty machines.
And interesting to note then Wheels magazine had chosen the Renault 12 as Car of the Year in 1970 Down Under.
They’ve made a few clangers over the years. But in all fairness, they can only judge on what a car is like new, not how it holds up in service.
Technically it’s bi-fuel, gasoline/LPG. Just like many modern Dacias.
An amazing survivor / BITSA .
-Nate
I remember these as being slow and underpowered. You had to drive them hard just to keep up with traffic and the engines didn’t hold up well to that kind of driving and not many made it past 100,000 miles. I also seem to remember that they were susceptible to the tin-worm. The Renault 18i that succeeded the Renault 12 had similar problems.
Supposedly the design was comparatively aero-dynamic and I always thought it was similar to the Saab 99.
I always thought it had to have been designed as a wagon first and the sedan made by two flourishing sword cuts to a 1/3-scale clay model.
Johannes, would a car that looks like this have any trouble passing Dutch inspection? Or then again, maybe it is as sound under the skin as the TS next to it….
The car is older than 50 years, which means an APK (‘Algemene Periodieke Keuring’) is no longer required. That’s our technical and safety inspection for motor vehicles (severe chassis/floorpan and suspension rust included). The Renault has been in the Netherlands since its first registration, so everything went well over the past decades.
It may look like a fever dream, inside and outside, but that doesn’t say much about its true under-the-skin condition. Never judge an R12 by its cover…
A friend’s parents had an R12 in Halifax NS in the 1970’s. From the outside it had an econobox vibe, but riding in it felt almost like being in a luxury car. Very nicely finished and very comfortable – a surprising experience at the time.
….small and compact French cars in a nutshell.