The first generation Twingo was great, innovative, a real lesson in making a truly revolutionary small car.
In the 1980s, there were restless spirits at Renault who talked about a future model of a small city car. In the design office of the management, different ideas emerge
cheap city car. Many of them don’t even get beyond a few drawings…
And yet another project, born while the future Clío was being prepared, will be the W 60. It’s the young man’s job
Jean-Pierre Ploue, newcomer to the brand’s design department (and who, years later, in 1999, will be the author of Citroën’s aesthetic change). Ploue follows the lines of a small city car. The result is very innovative. The rear part, with the hatch, is practically vertical and, seen in profile, the line of the hood and windscreen is a single line, without any break. It’s a pure minivan. The half moon headlights are also very original.
However, the project is on hold and will not continue for the time being. The Régie is not financially sound and cannot start such a project, the consequences of which are still uncertain. The model is in a garage near Versailles, the key of which is held by two people.
A year later, on November 7, 1986, another project was presented to Georges Besse, CEO of Renault. It is another “successor” of the Renault 4 L presented by the CGT. Besse had launched a difficult turnaround plan that involved plant closures and more than 20,000 layoffs. Union leaders, who have criticized austerity in Europe and expansion plans in the United States (Renault was a major shareholder in American Motors), are confident that a new 4L, simple to build and powered by the Superfive engine , can keep the mark. The project is rejected by the CEO of Renault.
On November 17 at twenty-eight in the evening, several shots rang out in the Montparnasse district of Paris. George Besse’s body lies on the sidewalk, at the entrance to his house. The murder has been blamed on the ultra-left terror group Action Directe.
Raymond Lévy succeeds Besse as head of the diamond company. Everything seems to indicate that the basic small car project is finally buried, but there are those at Renault who continue to believe in it. We’ll have to wait and see though…
At the end of 1987, Patrick le Quément took over as chief designer of Renault, replacing the historic Gaston Juchet. At the inauguration ceremony, the W60 model is mentioned and one of the two garage keys falls into his hands.
Le Quément makes several sketches to see the proportions and design of the front and rear of the W60. Jean-Pierre Ploué and Thierry Métroz get to work.
In December 1988, a model, accompanied by the technical and economic sheet, is presented to the Renault management. While the analysis concludes that the project is unprofitable, the model makes a strong impression on several officials of the Régie (including President Lévy), while another party prefers a more conventional new design, especially with regard to the front. However, Raymond Lévy decides to give it another chance.
In January 1989, now under the code name X06, the future model was given the green light and Yves Dubreil was appointed as project manager, who had to do everything, if not impossible, to make it profitable. The bet is complicated because in a small car the margins are very small.
The suppliers work directly on the development of the parts, according to the “Design to cost” principle. And engineers look for elements that can serve them in every corner. So they opted for the old Cléon-Fonte engine, a four-cylinder born in 1962 and used from the R8 to the Clio, via the R4, the R5 and the Supercinco. To adapt it to the new anti-pollution standards, Magnetti-Marelli developed a single-point injection that replaces the carburetor. Thus achieved in this 1.2 55 HP and emissions within the requirements of the standards.
And they resort to imaginative solutions, such as the one chosen to reduce the cost of the always expensive electrical circuit. Thus, for cutting, the armor passes only through the left side, and the turn ends in the right pilot. That’s why the first-generation Twingo had an antenna planted in the left mirror. It wasn’t an invention of stylists, it just didn’t have a cable all the way to the ceiling. It also had no power steering. And a left-hand drive version is on the shelf for export to the UK.
Every detail is thoroughly analyzed to save money while providing good solutions, such as the seats. Instead of a structure on which foam is attached, upholstered in fabric or leather and attached with stitching, for the future model the seats are molded and the fabric is glued to the foam using the method used by Ford in the Fiesta. in which Le Quément had intervened.
On March 31, 1989, the Dubreil team presented its conclusions to Renault management, which issued its verdict on April 7, giving the go-ahead for the X06 project. However, there are opponents, such as Louis Schweitzer, who argues that the four billion francs needed to launch X06 should be spent on another project.
Some of the management are pushing to revise the lines of the X06, in particular to delete the anthropomorphic side of the headlights and the front. Not giving in, Le Quément writes a letter to Raymond Lévy, stating “the biggest risk would be not to take it” and “I prefer an instinctive style to marketing without fantasy”. Lévy, already committed to X06’s cause, takes a chance and decides not to change anything.
When the Twingo is presented at the Paris Salon in October 1992, Renault not only managed to make a profitable car from a production point of view without being “poor”, but also different: the public is surprised not only by the original exterior but also through the interior, the work of Gérard Gauvry.
For the driver, just the steering wheel and an (excessively) small screen dedicated to the temperature indicators of the coolant, oil or battery. The speedometer migrates to the center of the dash where it is displayed in digital mode (highly visible), as are the fuel level, odometer and clock. And very striking are the controls for lighting, ventilation and heating in a fluorescent green color.
But there’s more. The key word, now widely used to the point of abuse, is modularity: the rear seat can be moved to favor the trunk or the space for the knees of the rear seat occupants, depending on the needs of each moment, something that other brands have copied and offer today, thirty years later, in high-end models. At just 3.43 meters long, passengers in the second row of a Twingo enjoyed the maximum reclining seat with the same centimeters in front of their legs as in a 4.71-metre R25. Access to these rear seats is easy, thanks to both the size of the door and a practical control that allows you to tilt the front seats with one hand and even with your foot.
The truth is that inside the first generation of the Twingo, both when it was released and today, it is hard to imagine that we are in a car that is only 3.43 meters. The riding position is something special: if we can reach the pedals properly, the arms are a little too stretched.
And the initial feeling in gear is that of a dynamic, agile car, with good recovery in the first three gears, and the engine noise is very present in the interior when accelerating. The shift control is precise but a little difficult. The filter capacity of the suspensions is correct. Both the modified length (although it’s a wide car with the prominent rear-view mirrors added) and guro radius make it very manageable around town and easy to park.
As for the road surface, the first-generation Twingo gives the driver a good feel for such a small car, something the aforementioned width helps. On the straight it was and is a car with good track holding ability, with little sensitivity to the wind, and in corners it was fun, with little roll, a front that grips the tarmac, precise steering – and braking distances in the middle Together it exudes confidence. The developments of fourth and fifth gear, too long, make it necessary to play with the change.
Aware that the main criticism would focus on the potential danger in a collision, Renault would broadcast a video of a crash between the Twingo and a heavy Safrane (the brand’s flagship, successor to the 25, which also appeared in 1992 ) in all the news on television, to show that shape and size were not an issue.
Of that first generation (consisting of four phases), Renault, which planned to produce 1.4 million units…, sold no less than 2.4 million.
Its production in France ends in 2007, although production in Colombia continues for another hundred thousand units until 2012.
By the way, the French Socialist Party will give President Mitterrand a green Twingo when he retires in 1995.
The first generation Twingo was cool, innovative, a real lesson in making a truly revolutionary small car. In June 2007, a much more conventional second generation will be presented, something else. We will have to wait for the third and current, born in 2014, to return to the path of originality.
By the way, I almost forgot, Twingo’s name is a contraction of “Twist”, “Swing” and “Tango”. You see, a combination of dancing, of music that made a lot of money…
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
