Sacre bleu! Retro Renault 17 Electric is proof the French brand is cooking up fast, fun and stylish EVs
The Renault 17 has been catapulted into the 21st century with a funky retromod that reimagines the svelte styling of the two-door.
Few will remember the slow-selling Renault 17 sold in Australia from 1973 until 1978, but the French car maker has given us a great reminder with the cool coupe recreated in partnership with famed French designer Ora Ito.
Picking up where the cute battery-electric Renault 5 left off, the latest R17 coupe blends the original car’s ultra-cool design cues with modern underpinnings and an advanced powertrain.
READ MORE: Renault 5 reborn as cute, capable and affordable EV
READ MORE: Driven: Renault Megane E-Tech
READ MORE: Budget-priced Renault 4 and 5 EVs likely for Australia
That means it ditches the original car’s wheezy 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol that pushed out only 66kW. Instead of slotting in any old e-motor, engineers relocated the powertrains to the rear axle where they added an all-new single motor with a healthy 200kW.
Thought to be French firm’s most advanced yet, the experimental motor previews the firm’s ‘e-PT-200kW’ that will be fitted to production cars from 2027.
Beneath the skin Renault says the R17 reboot is based on an all-carbon-fibre monocoque that keeps total mass down to just 1400kg – and that’s with the battery fitted.
Performance figures have yet to be released but expect a sub-4.0-second 0-100km/h dash and a 200km/h-plus top speed.
What does live on in the retromod is the R17’s cabin, doors, windows, glass, although the small French coupe has a considerable 170mm wider track than before for better handling.
Within, the cabin features four individual squared-off instrument binnacles lined-up ahead of a squared-off steering wheel, with the look, feel, colours and materials all inspired by the original two-door.
Set to make its public debut at the 2024 Paris motor show next month there’s no word if the R17 Electric Restomod x Ora Ito will make it to production reality but if it does it could rival the Hyundai Pony Vision 74 that is heading for limited production.
If it is green lit, the R17 could be twinned by a sportier Alpine variant in a similar way the latest Alpine A290 is based on the R5.
More details will be released at the Paris show where the R17 where it will be revealed alongside the production-spec Renault 4 SUV.
