On October 5, 1978, I was in prison. Well, not quite. I was a boarder at the technical high school in Chalon-sur-Saône with fairly strict rules: the only day off allowed was Wednesday. But AUTOhebdo, my addictive magazine that had been launched two years earlier, came out on Thursdays. No problem, the friendship that binds the lucky ones who are day students and the locked-up (!) boarders is not feigned and every Thursday, I give a 5-franc coin to a fellow day student so that he can bring me my weekly supply of literary drugs.
On October 8, 1978, there was no internet or cell phones, and it was impossible to know in advance what the front page of the magazine would look like. It was always a surprise. I don’t know, but a few months earlier, a surprising model designed by Marc Deschamps (above), Renault designer until 1979, took shape and was finalized at Bertone, then directed by Marcello Gandini. The latter would give this strange model an interior worthy of a Picasso drawing (Pablo, not Citroën…) with its anti-ergonomic steering wheel below…
But while I should be happy to discover the weekly and devour it during my evening study hours, the opposite is true. My friend comes back empty-handed and returns my coin to me. “The weekly has gone up to 6 Francs,” he blurts out as the reason for his return empty-handed. “What?” I say, dumbfounded. A penniless student without an exit permit, I would have to wait nearly 72 hours before finally discovering AUTOhebdo of October 5, 1978.
The torture was worth it: an incredible, body-built R5 takes center stage on the cover, it’s the “Turbo”! Renault won Le Mans in the summer of 1978 against the previously invincible Porsches, and this red R5 Turbo ball wants to fight back, as the magazine’s front page title indicates.
Fight back against what? I don’t know yet, and we’ll have to be patient because the production version of the R5 Turbo will not be presented until two years later, in 1980. Hence the number of units that Renault will produce of its brand new R5 Turbo 3E, the subject of this time travel.
In 1978, Renault abandoned endurance racing and struggled in Formula 1, a championship it had joined in 1977. With the R5 Turbo, it was preparing to play in the big leagues in the world of rallying. F1 + rallies was possible in the 1980s. Suffice to say that the revelation of the R5 Turbo 3E, first in the Amazon Prime series and now officially, has rekindled some very strong memories.
Placed in the context of 2025, the presentation of this R5 Turbo 3E seems to be another heavy blow in terms of communication and product planning. Admittedly, the 1980 units of this vehicle are not going to make Renault the world’s leading group overnight! But this announcement reinforces the impression of a steamroller of new products that the French group has become.
R5, R4, Twingo, Rafale, Symbioz, Scenic, Bigster, A290, A390: it’s been a firework display since Luca de Meo arrived and set up his teams, particularly in design with the transfer of Gilles Vidal and Sandeep Bhambra from Peugeot, the appointment of David Durand as head of Dacia design, where he has been joined by a few big names from Citroën, and the announcement of the revival of Alpine as a brand. And now here we have something unexpected, because incongruous, and therein lies its strength.
With the R5 Turbo 3E, Renault has struck a chord that is sure to appeal to some of its customers who, like me, have contemplated the R5 Turbo and other F1 Turbos. Renault was not the only one to make us dream, there was also the sensational revelation of the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (below) three years after the Renault bombshell, in 1983. While Turbo technology was the hallmark of Renault production models in the 1980s, the Turbo 16 reinforced Peugeot’s image of dynamism in those same years.
Here again, as with the next Renault 5 Turbo 3E, the 205 Turbo 16, of which 200 were produced, had a negligible impact in the Excel spreadsheets of PSA’s accounts, but it diabolically reinvigorated Peugeot’s image, along with the victories in the World Rally Championship. Subsequently, in addition to the GTI saga (Peugeot’s new boss is said to be talking about a return of this magical acronym…), the more contemporary RCZ coupe below was made possible thanks to boss Christian Streiff.
Because let’s not fool ourselves, practically all manufacturers are potentially capable of designing an R5 Turbo 3E, provided they have a history, which effectively excludes Chinese manufacturers. But few bosses are interested and, above all, willing to sign off on production, which is certainly limited, but extraordinary in terms of spin-offs and image.
I mentioned the arrival of Alain Favey, the new boss of Peugeot, who works under the responsibility of the dynamic Jean-Philippe Imparato, now director of European operations at Stellantis. This new boss undoubtedly needs no one to tell him that his brand is in need of such a shock treatment. It will come, we are sure of it, but the mess of the “e-native” platforms that were supposed to be 100% electric (below) and which have finally pulled the handbrake to (re)become multi-energy has caused some delays in the launch of the new products. There is a good chance (or risk, depending on your point of view) that the new hybrid Clio will arrive before the new 208…
So, while it still takes around three years to industrialize a new model (soon to be less than two, according to Luca de Meo about the future Twingo), remember that it takes just under a year to unleash a concept car that is loud and proud and full of messages. It is hard to imagine that Inception, Peugeot’s latest concept car, will not be followed this year by another manifesto of the brand, this time welcoming a more precise definition of the label of Matthias Hossann, the design boss.
Meanwhile, Gilles Vidal, his former boss who moved to Renault, has unveiled his new definition of design for the years 2026-2030 with the Emblème concept above. Cycles are made to die and be reborn stronger than ever. The big lion is certainly not asleep, but the cage is slow to open. Alain Favey undoubtedly has the keys, as Luca de Meo had them in 2020 when he released the energy that was brewing at Renault. Mr. Favey had better not lose his bunch of keys…
As mentioned above, the great stories of the revival of the R5, R4, Twingo and especially the R5 Turbo 3E could not have come to life without roots. Renault has a rich history. De Meo understood that. The histories of Peugeot and Citroën are just as rich. In his time, Carlos Tavares, pictured below at the wheel, ignored it, despite his passion for the sport. What a shame.
But it’s not (yet) too late. Make us dream, gentlemen, again and again. A car is not just a battery, some metal and a price tag. So thank you to the teams who designed this R5 Turbo 3E that I will never drive, but which has awakened my brain, which has been sore from certain new models – particularly Chinese ones – with no soul and bland design, because they rely on an abysmal historical void. Without history, there can be no solid and inspired future. And French manufacturers are extremely fortunate to have one that is over 100 years old.
SO ALPINE ?
We are going to put an end to a debate… that has no reason to be! When discovering the R5 Turbo 3E, one cannot help but think of the reaction of Alpine lovers. Why is this car a Renault and not an Alpine? The answer is so logical that it will satisfy fans of the A-shaped car. Because it is inspired by history, once again. In 1978, when the model of the original Renault 5 Turbo was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show, Alpine was very much alive and celebrating the second anniversary of its A310 V6 above. The very same car, in the hands of Guy Fréquelin and in its GR.4 version, was battling it out in France with Bernard Darniche’s Lancia Stratos.
The A310 Gr.4 won the 1977 French championship. Its decoration with the name of the sponsor “Calberson” reveals a large Renault-Elf on the front bonnet, but no Alpine inscription. A large diamond is stuck on its roof. The Renault 5 Turbo arrives to replace it, below… The first sign of the beginning of the end for Alpine?
In 1978, Renault won Le Mans with an A442 badged Renault-Alpine V6. But this inscription appeared in very small print at the base of its front bonnet, on which a huge Renault-Elf was emblazoned on the upper part. The car is an Alpine A442, but it is entered by Renault, which wants to use it to support the powerful invasion of turbocharging in its production models. Once victory is in the bag and the marketing people are satisfied, Renault abandons endurance racing to focus on F1. And rallies with the R5 Turbo…
Today, Alpine is still part of the Renault group and has even become a brand in its own right since 2020. In the galaxy of the “Renault before Luca de Meo”, it has replaced the Renault-Sport label. It was Gérard Larrousse who, in 1976, took the decision to create Renault-Sport by merging the activities of Gordini and… Alpine. Without clearly defining the positioning of Renault-Sport, since in addition to the Renault logo, that of Alpine-Renault (then Renault-Alpine, the nuance is important) continued to appear on the cars at Le Mans.
After its demise in 1995 and then its rebirth in 2017, Alpine has taken a little revenge since 2020 at the expense of Renault-Sport, and the brand is involved in two world championships: F1 and endurance. What about rallying? What would you think of an R5 Turbo 3E in this category? Surely a regulation still has to be laid down to accept such 100% electric vehicles… But Renault in rallies, Dacia in rally raids, Alpine in F1 and endurance, admit that it would look good, wouldn’t it? And you will see that Renault is not stingy with recognition for its sister brand.
As in the heyday of BEREX in the 1980s – the design office that worked for Dieppe and Alpine in particular – Renault gave pride of place to Alpine’s work on this R5 Turbo 3E project: “The program was developed by Alpine engineers, who are now specialists in electric sports cars with the development of the A110 E-ternity, the A290 and the A390 (below). They developed a dedicated aluminum platform on which all architectures were possible.”
Renault also makes a historical connection, explaining that “the Renault 5 Turbo 3E (the mini supercar) complements the Renault 5 E-Tech electric (the city car) and Alpine A290 (the sports city car). With it, Renault Group is applying the same recipe as with the triptych of the Renault 5 (1972), Renault 5 Alpine (1976) and Renault 5 Turbo (1980): Renault’s legitimacy and audacity mixed with Alpine’s competitive spirit and know-how.” The R5 Turbo 3E will hit the market in 2027.
