I’d long given up on finding an R10 in the wild. But then I hadn’t ever explored the wilder and woollier back streets of Creswell, a little hamlet about ten miles south of Eugene. I was early for an appointment, so I took a little exploratory drive. And nearly hidden behind a Citation and Tempo, I saw its unmistakable boxy outline. One more to cross off on my “To Find” list.
That’s not to say we haven’t covered the R10 in considerable detail here (full list at bottom). But none of them were a genuine curbside classic find, like this fine example resting with the bikes and some other detritus.
There was a woman building an improvised shed of sorts (right behind the R10’s front end), and I asked if I could shoot this rare object of French desire. She said there had been ten of them here at one time! And that this one, the worst of the bunch, was the last one left. Seriously? Jeez; someone must have been trying to corner the market on R10s; in Creswell, no less. I would have loved to see the better ones (if she wasn’t mistaken; maybe she meant Tempos or Citations). If there had been a nice one, I might have been tempted too. It’s not quite a Peugeot, but it does have a number of the classic Gallic charms, like a supple suspension, and wonderful seats.
The seats in this one are bit worse for wear (and time), but that high quality latex foam rubber is probably still fairly comfortable. The dash in these is a bit…minimalist.
It’s being used as a portable storage shed itself.
I can’t help but wonder if there really were ten R10s here. Hard to imagine. On the other hand, cars like this do tend to congregate. When I needed parts for my Peugeot 404, I was told to go see Ernest Light in Asuza, CA; the 404 Man. He had 404s jammed all around his house. His living and dining rooms were like a very cramped parts store, with ceiling-high shelves jammed with carefully sorted Peugeot parts. And then we went a couple of blocks to his storage yard: row upon row of 404s, including more than one Cabrio, all slowly frying under the hot inland California sun. Amazing, but sad. Whatever became of them all?
I would have liked to get a look under the hood at the 1108 cc water-cooled four, but the release must have been in the passenger compartment, and I wasn’t feeling all that overly welcome.
But I had to get a couple of quick shots of its companions, as the trio makes for a rather unusual collection. This Tempo coupe has the rather unusual (fake)alloys, with the center cap missing here.
It’s an early model, with the non-composite headlights.
Citations are getting a bit thin on the ground even here in Curbsidelandia. There was a kid that showed up in town two years ago with a silver one like this, and I saw it quite often, but now it seems to be gone. Hopefully it didn’t break down seriously. This one looks like it did so a while back, and no one seems in much of a hurry to so something about it.
The mud must get soft here in the winter, because it looks like the Chevy has sunk in up to its wheel cover centers in it.
Well, it was a memorable trip to Creswell, but I sure wish I had done it sooner. Ten R 10s; the thought still haunts me.
Some other R10s at CC:
CC R10: When Being A Better VW Isn’t Good Enough  PN
Vintage C&D Road Test Comparison: 1967 R10 and VW 1500
Automotive History: 1976 Cadillac Eldorado vs. R10: An Unfair Comparison Thanks To A GM Deadly Sin PN
Seeing the R10 next to the Citation and the Tempo shows how much things changed size wise with American cars between the 60s and the 80s. Put the R10 next to the Fairlane from yesterday and the Renault size really stands out. Next to a Tempo you just think they sure used to use a lot of chrome in the 60s.
Can’t recall the last time I saw an R10, is there an official CC hunting list?
Those alloys on the Tempo aren’t alloys, they’re probably polycast wheels. Steel wheels with molded on plastic to look like alloys. Bleah!
The “fake” wheel trend is still around. Take a look at a current generation new Highlander Limited – what looks like a chromed or polished 5-spoke wheel is actually an alloy wheel with a plastic chromed cover that is glued/bonded to the wheel beneath and non-removable or fixable if scratched.
Not an official list; just my own. Others have posted R10s at the Cohort and such.
Your list would be as official as any. Maybe a future article asking for ideas?
Those alloys/fauxlloys were fairly common on later Tempos. This is the first sealed-beam one I’ve seen with them. I wonder if they were retrofit from a later car or if they were simply a less common option earlier in the model run.
These were definitely a retrofit from a later model, I believe that style of wheel came out for the 1988 refresh, they were certainly a lot more common on the final 1992-94 models to be sure.
The early models came with a ‘fauxlloy’ wheel, but it was more of a flat surface with notch outs along the outside of the rim and a centre cap in the middle.
According to Ford sales literature, these are the 14″ Polycast aluminum wheels. They were first available when the Tempo received it’s mid-cycle refresh in 1988 (#18 in the attached photo). In 1988, they had a black center cap. The full aluminum center cap didn’t come until 1990 (#19 in the attached photo). They were available all the way through the end of 1994.
Wheel #5 is the one I was thinking of… the early Tempos rode on those ‘fauxlloys’ in 1984-85 as an upgraded wheel option. The early Topaz had wheel #4 as the upgrade only those were actual alloy wheels, not polycast.
A very nice find, Paul, and so close to home too! Imagine what else is within a 10-mile radius of home…I saw an R17 at a Cars and Coffee event last month and was amazed at how small it was, my main recollections being of seeing them when I was a kid (so everything else looked bigger), although seeing it there is sort of cheating in my opinion. Better to find these in the wild to be a true CC as you did with the R10.
I clearly recall seeing exactly 1 R10 in the metal, at my Junior High graduation, June 68.
My friend had one in 1985 as a high school senior, a hand-me-down from his dad. It was rudimentary but as his (and by extension, his friends) first taste of vehicular freedom it was dearly loved.
Don’t think I’ve seen one since.
I mulled over an R10 for sale locally on eBay quite a few years ago now; I think it went for $800, and I couldn’t pull the trigger. Around Christmas last year, however, I bought a 1/24 diecast R8 Gordini, and that’s close enough for me. This R10 is a cool car, almost certainly with spotty U.S. parts availability.
Paul, I think everybody here is looking forward to the COAL on whatever new/old French car you end up buying.
*cough* Ford pickup replacement…
Paul, I think everybody here is looking forward to the COAL on whatever new/old French car you end up buying
I’m pretty content that his purchase would be a Pug. My taste runs to a Fuego or R17 Gordini, but practicality raises it’s head here as they are now largely made of unobtainium.
This rather handsome European spec 505 is on offer in Vegas.
Allegedly less than 8,000km.
I think the only R10s I’ve ever seen were in junkyards or sitting outside foreign car repair shops.
Even during travels (courtesy of the U.S. Navy) to Spain, Sicily, and Italy in the 70s, I can’t recall seeing any Renaults.
Spain, Sicily, and Italy in the 70s, I can’t recall seeing any Renaults.
You should have tried Appleton, Wisconsin around 1980, I distinctly recall seeing an R16, several R12s as well as herds of then current R5s. Maybe a 15 or 17 in the mix as well.
Steve, I am in Appleton as I write this. Born here and live a few miles north up HWY 41 the last few years.
I am in Appleton as I write this.
I didn’t live in Appleton, a sales rep for the company I worked for did. I spent a week riding with him on sales calls in Stevens Point, Rhinelander and a few other places.
It was late 79 and, thanks to the hookup with Renault, AMC dealers were selling a lot of LeCars. What struck me about Appleton was the large numbers of earlier models running around, so someone in that town had been successful selling Renaults for a long time.
My Dad had an R10 he bought new in 1968 (he sold it in 1974 so it has been awhile)…he bought at Almartin motors around the corner from the Airport in Burlington Vt… I don’t think it had an inside release for the engine compartment, I think it was just a push button on the outside (maybe with lock cylinder, don’t recall). The seats were very comfortable (vinyl)…I just missed driving it, as I got my license in 1974 right about the time he (sold it or traded it in, I don’t recall). I think it only had 20k miles or so on it, as it was just the car he drove to work, didn’t take any long trips in it, except maybe when we moved to northern Virginia, but I may be wrong, its 1800 lbs probably was added to the moving van and we drove in our Ford Country Squire. Ironically I think he sold it around the time of the 1st gas crisis, because he wanted my Mother to be able to drive something that got better gas mileage than the Ford Wagon, but the Renault had a manual (my Mother drives manual, but is never comfortable with it)….so the next car was an automatic economy car. My most vivid memory of the R10 was driving home to Virginia with my Dad taking me to a Washington Senators game and the clutch went out, so he was timing the stoplights to try to avoid using the clutch…probably really hard to do now with all the traffic, but in 1971 or so, I think the population where we lived was a lot less than it is now, so he got it home OK. The R10 replaced a ’59 Beetle that was totaled when one of the teenagers down the street plowed into it as it was parked in front of our house (not too big a loss, the VW was pretty rusty by 1968 going though quite a number of Vermont winters by then).
Also ironically, they have another car my Mother owned, looks like a 2 door ’88 Tempo…it has the distiction of being owned for the longest duration in our family of any car (1988-2009)..though it wasn’t much of a car, it was a good backup car, I borrowed it many times to use as a parts runner when working on my own car.
Our family never had a Citation though…I admired them (in 1979 when they first came out) but as everyone, didn’t realize what a poor job they did developing them. I think I looked at a Pontiac Phoenix in 1981 when I ended up buying my Scirocco, but I guess I wasn’t sold on them at that point (plus I wanted something sportier…got that out of my system at a younger age).
Yes, the engine lid release is a push button with lock. It was missing on this one Paul found. The front trunk release is a pull-knob under the dashboard, next to the gas pedal.
Almartin is still in business selling Volvos – they lost Renault early, to Willie Racine’s (also still around under the same name/family ownership as a Jeep-only store) not long after the AMC merger, although they’ve moved to Route 7 across the street from The Automaster.
Good deal..It’s been a long time (25 years) since I’ve been back to Vermont though my niece lives in South Burlington and I guess I’m overdue for a visit. I do remember Racine’s and the Automaster (back when they were selling AMC in the 60’s up on Spear St). When we moved back to Vermont in 1975 we lived in a neighborhood behind the Shelburne museum, and one of our neighbors was Jack DuBrul, I went to high school with his sons…I think I remember their yard backed up to the museum, and you got a good view of the Ticonderoga (sidewheel paddlewheel ship on the grounds) right from the house.
One other neat thing about the Renault 10 (and reason for the oddly shaped front bumper) was that’s where the spare tire was stored, in a front opening compartment that was underneath the front trunk. I think it was the first car my Dad had that came with Michelin radials, and he was a fan of them from that time (despite having a set of Firestone 500’s on our new Ford Ranch Wagon that had the tread separation issue within a few hundred miles…fortunately found by inspection, rather than accident.
The last Renault 10 I drove was about 1969, when my father, my brother and I found a lightly used one on a local car lot. My memory is of superb seats – I really think Renault did seats best of all the French. I also remember a rubbery shifter, and being awfully cramped with four cornfed ‘Muricans packed in there. But it was a nicely finished little car, and attractive in a functional way.
We had these in Israel but they were never as popular as the competition, the Simca 1000 for some reason. Renault was very strong on the lower (Renault 4) and upper (16) segments.
Could be used as a start for a Gordini replica though…
“cars like this do tend to congregate”
They do it quietly and gradually, you barely know its even happening.
An upcoming move to the country has forced me to take stock of all the Peugeot 504 parts I have accumulated- 3 water pumps, 2 spare radiators, 5 rims, 2 spare alternators, 3 bumpers, etc – where did all this stuff come from? And I only have a small garage. If I had a big field, oh boy. Its a slippery slope. And a rare car like an R10 makes it only worse.
So true!
The magic number seems to be 3 with any orphan vehicle. Once you have 3 on hand, you can stop looking altogether. Because they find you instead. And one day you wake up thinking, “How the heck did I wind up with 12 of these cars?!”
Creswell! That is the same name as the tiny town in eastern North Carolina where my wife grew up, and where her parents still reside. Population around 400, and declining as young people tend not to stay. Is Creswell, OR any bigger than Creswell, NC?
I’ve seen a few interesting derelict cars loitering around the eastern Creswell, but certainly not an R10. I doubt anyone would even know what one is–can’t imagine little French cars sold well in the rural South at the time.
5,031. And undoubtedly growing, as a bedroom community for Eugene. Our housing prices are making places like Creswell look increasingly attractive.
The only Renault and the only French car I have ever driven was one and the same. My then boss’s Renault 5 Turbo2. What a ride 🙂
Where do you find these cars? Are you really in the US?
The last time I saw a Renault in the US was over 25 years ago. Along a main thoroughfare in Norfolk VA, resided a Dauphine….I remember seeing it 2-3 times over the years. It resided on a modest ranch home built in the 50s. I was tempted to stop and look at it, but never did (It looked decent from 20 feet away, but it was parked off the side of the attached garage, a position usually occupied by vehicles that don’t run)
I’ve seen Citroen DSs (1 in Napa 29 years ago, talked the owner, a older woman who told us how great the car was, and 1 in Michigan last 10 years). One 2CV here in SE Michigan.
I recall seeing a few 504s and 1 505 on Long Island in the late 70s/early 80s, and the biggest surprise… 29 years ago, on a freeway just north of LA, I saw a 404.
Paul, you find all kind of amazing cars!!!!
As a child in Greece, when I was starting to recognize cars in the 70s, one day the neighbor’s ugly R9 had changed to a less ugly R10.
Thanks for sharing
Tom, The Renault 5 (LeCar) and Alliance were common in the US into the 1990’s. After Renault-AMC merged with Chrysler, the last new model we got in the US was the Medallion.
I had a LeCar for 10 years, from new in 1982. It had all the wonderful quirkiness of a 1960’s French car, wrapped up in a cow-catcher front bumper.
One question about the R10 in the photos. If the center wheel-cap is removed, would you find 3 lug nuts?
with all these French cars lately I’m (sadly) wondering where France will be in 10 years and will their masters allow modernity such as these (quirky) cars to be built?
No worries about the future of French automotive quirkiness. Best example is the Renault Twizy. I saw quite a few of these running around last time I was in Paris.
In the early ’70s, my high-school French teacher drove a grey R10.
After I got my license, I remember going to an Alexandria city car auction in summer of ’74, to bid on one of a pair of Dauphines, but a huge thunderstorm ended the auction just as I got there. Maybe that was actually a lucky thing.
I’ve only owned one French car.
In 1980, I was given a grey-market 1973 Renault R6-TL by the neighbor of some friends.
The neighbor had been given the car by a friend for his teenage son, but the kid had no interest in it. The 1100cc engine had a bad coolant leak and a shop had diagnosed the head gasket. So the neighbor just wanted it out of his yard. Turned out it was a ruptured coolant hose hiding under the intake manifold and the engine was fine. The car was a tiny, tinny, boxy, faded-red FWD four-door hatchback.
It was mechanically similar to the LeCar, but with a 4-speed manual shift-lever sticking out of the dash that looked like the end of a walking-stick. That shifter actually worked quite well – much better than the horrid, rubbery floorshifts that the LeCars got as a concession to the US market and safety regs.
To make it pass Virginia safety inspection, I had to replace the two “5 amber French headlights with a pair of used “7 sealed-beam assemblies from an early ’70s Dodge Dart.
The missing tag-light bar on the hatch got a set off a salvage-yard R12.
Mechanically, it needed front brake-pads and one axle-shaft. The pads were availible from the local parts house. But I had to get the new shaft from the local Renault parts dealer – a grimy hole located under a building in Washington DC. When I finally got to drive the car, I do remember the comfy seats, wonderful ride, and how it cornered like a double-decker bus!
I had about $150 in the car, it passed inspection, and I sold it to a buddy of a co-worker for $350. Six months later, the buddy got drunk and rammed it into a tree!
The last time I saw an R10 was back in 1998. It was painted pink & yellow, and set up as a roadside advertisement just outside of Hickory, North Carolina.
Happy Motoring, Mark
OK…
I overlooked a few. Man I worked with one summer had an R5 (not LeCar, an early US-Spec R5). And I saw a few LeCars. I also saw a least one R18 back on Long Island, early 80s.
The R8 / AMC Alliance doesn’t count
My aunt’s slightly eccentric husband bought a ’80 LeCar, after his 76 Pacer….my cousin called it LeCrap. Both cars barely lasted 5 years each in western PA–what a waste.
That R10 isnt even rusted out like was the norm quite saveable in fact and if your lucky the others are still out there roaming somewhere, Its often the only way to get parts for obsolete cars is to wreck some, Ive done the same and now drive the remains of five assembled into one with lots of bits left over as spares.
Nice catch! Finding a Renault of any sort in the wild has long been on my personal bucketlist, but though I’ve scoured the streets of LA for the last five or so years, I haven’t managed to turn one up – which is odd, really, given that I’ve found 10 Peugeots and 7 CitroĂ«ns during the same time period. Hopefully one day I’ll see one, but until then I can continue to marvel at your incredible finds.
I’ve actually owned a couple of these and I might still if they weren’t consumed by the rust.
Pretty much the best city car you could ever hope for with a–what? 80″ wheelbase?–you could park it anywhere and 40mpg, even in town.
My dad bought a brand-new R10 when the Renault dealer in Lima, OH was going out of business. I think it was in 1971-72.
I rather liked the way it drove. And those seats! Definitely some of the best ever made re comfort.
Great find, Paul.
I would love to have that R10. However, someone should teach the owner how to use masking tape.
I haven’t seen an R10 since I was a kid in the early ’70’s. Ontario’s winters aren’t kind to old cars, and particularly imports of that era. It’s been at least 20 years since I’ve seen any Renaults, for that matter. The Alliances, R5’s and Fuegos have all but disappeared from our roads as well. That said, I saw a beautiful black Citroen DS cruising down the street on Sunday afternoon. I’m sure it’s put away in the winter. As for the Tempo and Citation…good riddance
Having been born in Eugene 65 years ago, spent the first year of my in Lowell, having family in Eugene and spending summers at my grandparents in Oakridge until they moved in 1965 I used to be familiar with the area. A lot of cars still around from the teens to the 40’s, one of them in my great aunts garage. A 1938 or 39 Pontiac 4 dr in immaculate condition. I loved the color, blue and it’s long hood. The first thing I had to do every time we visited was to go out to the garage and look at the car. Of course her house was something out of the Victorian age with lace doily’s, silver napkin rings, cut crystal ashtrays and match holders, formal garden with flowered arched trellis, a koi pond and greenhouse. The unfinished attic with old brass beds is where us kids slept when we visited. To this day I still often wonder what became of the Pontiac.
I got my drivers license in a R10! It was Grandpas and he let me borrow it for the test. It was an automatic transmission with push button shift if I remember correctly. He was an auto mechanic from the depression era and he owned and I rode in some pretty offbeat cars. I wish I had pictures of all of them it would be a good story.
What an eclectic car collection calmly decaying. Good finds Paul and you sure find some I intwresting flotsam out in the sticks.
I have never seen an R10 in real life, but there was a red one in a Herbie movie. All if these vehicles have red year stickers on their license plates, but all I can read is 1988 on the Renault.