‘Fourgonnette’ is French jargon for a clever, fuel-efficient, and comfy compact cargo van. Famous classic examples are the vans based on the characterful Renault 4, known as the F4 and F6.
Here’s a quartet of R4 fourgonnettes, caught at the 2024 and 2025 edition of the Renaultoloog Meeting & Market in the south of the Netherlands, close to both the Belgian and the German border.
FASA-Renault from Spain made this 1989 F4, owned by a German visitor from Stadt Remscheid. Spanish built, which means that the van is a furgoneta, rather than a fourgonnette.
A market vendor’s 1984 F4, showing off. Perfect!
The van’s Dutch registration doesn’t specify the engine displacement, but given the position of the radiator -all the way up front- I’d say this must be a 1,108 cc Cléon-Fonte engine.
A 1983 Renault 4 F6. The F6 has a longer wheelbase and a longer rear overhang than the F4, resulting in 20 cm (7.9”) extra length of the cargo compartment. It’s a genuine 1/2 tonne commercial vehicle, as its registered payload capacity is exactly 500 kg (1,102 lbs).
Thanks to the optional raised roof, the business end of a classic R4 commercial van doesn’t get any bigger than this. And mainly thanks to the Alpine wheels, it also must be the fastest classic R4 commercial van. The three-tone, Renault-themed F6 was driven to the event by a Belgian visitor (with some sort of Spanish connection).
Related article (with multiple links to other related articles):
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: 1982 Renault 4 F6 – Allez Le Blue!
So cute ! .
I wonder if the rear cargo area is long enough to sleep in .
-Nate
It sure looks like a good way to transport my dog for a walk. I am quite obsessed with the idea of a tiny van right now of the type that Europe has. Nice pictures
Nice fourtet Johannes. The 1983 example loses that lower side flourish which makes the body line more cohesive but less evocative. Loving those Peter Stevens designed Alpine wheels on the service van.
Agreed Don, the F6 ranks a bit lower on the 1 to 10 scale of the fourgonnette-o-meter than the F4.
I think your rating was foregone conclusion hehehe
I had forgotten about the two distinct versions; thanks for refreshing my memory. I’m a fan. And yes, the F4 is more evocative.
Thanks for the guide. Is there a quick or easy way to spot a Spanish built example?
In this case, yes. An official windshield document:
A Renault 4 built in Spain can be identified by the marking “FASA-Renault” (Fábrica de Automóviles Sociedad Anónima) on type plates, stickers or in the vehicle documents.
Furthermore, the chassis number system for FASA vehicles differed from that of French Renaults.
Type number 1125 identifies the Renault 4 (FASA-Renault) built in Spain. Other type numbers, such as 1120, 1121, 1122, etc., represent French variants (R4 Berline, R3, R4 Super, etc.).
Different type numbers apply to Fourgonettes yet again. However, I do not have access to these.
Indeed, the Dutch license plates indicate the age of the vehicle, in a sort of roundabout way. And BH-91-LS looks like its original registration, indicating late eighties, which is also shown by the flat-face, large rectangular taillights.
Gosh, it’s always so nice to see these little bricks, or cookie-tins as we used to call them. I still remember so well how you could see grass-green ones all over the place here in the Netherlands as the PTT, the postal service, used a whole fleet of these.