Hot Wheels Boulevard 2013 – Renault 5 Turbo
Hot Wheels Renault 5 Castings History
Renault LeCar
This casting was produced three times in 5 variations total between 1983 and 1987.
Renault’s LeCar was the US import version of the French manufacturer’s “supermini” hatchback, the Renault 5. The name “LeCar” was formulated to sound French, but as written (in one word) is meaningless. “Le car” actually means “the coach” in French, not a very apt description for a small four-seater.
The Hot Wheels Renault LeCar was never released in the U.S.A. It was released in the following versions/variations:
Hot Wheels 1983 / Red / Renault tampos
Hot Wheels 1984 / Black / no tampos / tan interior
Hot Wheels 1987 / Red / no tampos / white interior
Hot Wheels 1987 / light blue / no tampos / tan interior
Hot Wheels 1987 / light green
Renault 5 Turbo
This casting was produced once with 2 variations in 1991.
The second Hot Wheels version of Renault’s popular hatchback differs from the LeCar release in lacking a sunroof. It is based on a turbocharged version of the Renault 5 known as either the Alpine Turbo and the Gordini Turbo, which was all but indistinguishable from standard models apart from badging.
It was released with the following variations:
Hot Wheels 1991 / Blue / red, white “Turbo” and yellow “GT” tampos / clear windows / tan interior.
Hot Wheels 1991 / White / blue, yellow and black “17” tampos / clear windows / grey interior.
Renault 5 Turbo (Widebody)
This casting was produced once in 2013 in the Hot Wheels Boulevard series.
This is the first true Renault 5 Turbo casting as the previous version was really just an Alpine, the base model prior to being spruced up with a wide body kit to compete with the Lancia Stratos.
It was released in the following version:
Boulevard 2013 / Metallic Green / flat black hood and roof with green racing stripe, black side stripe with “Renault”, white circle with “5” tampos / clear windows / silver interior / Real Riders 8-spoke white wheels.
The 1:1
The Renault 5 Turbo or R5 Turbo was a high-performance hatchback automobile launched by the French manufacturer Renault at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1980. The car was primarily designed for rallying, but was also sold in a street version. A total of 3576 R5 Turbos were manufactured during a four-year production run.
Design
In response to Lancia’s rallying success with the mid-engined Stratos, Renault’s Jean Terramorsi, vice-president of production, asked Bertone’s Marc Deschamps to design a new sports version of the Renault 5 Alpine supermini. The distinctive new rear bodywork was styled by Marcello Gandini at Bertone.
Although the standard Renault 5 has a front-mounted engine, the 5 Turbo featured a mid-mounted 1397 cc Cléon turbocharged engine placed behind the driver in a modified Renault 5 chassis. In standard form, the engine developed 160 PS (118 kW’ 158 hp) and 163 lb·ft (221 N·m) torque.
Though it used a modified body from a standard Renault 5, and was badged a Renault 5, the mechanicals were radically different, the most obvious difference being rear-wheel drive and mid-engined instead of the normal version’s front-wheel drive and front-mounted engine. At the time of its launch it was the most powerful production French car. The first 400 production 5 Turbos were made to comply with Group 4 homologation to allow the car to compete in international rallies, and were manufactured at the Alpine factory in Dieppe.
Once the homologation models were produced, a second version named Turbo 2 was introduced using more stock Renault 5 parts replacing many of the light alloy components in the original 5 Turbo version. The Turbo 2 was less expensive, but had nearly the same levels of performance with a top speed of 200 km/h (124 mph) and 0–100 km/h in 6.6 seconds. To differentiate it from the Turbo 2, the original 5 Turbo is often referred to as “Turbo 1”.
The concept of a mid-engined small Renault returned with the 1998 announcement of the Renault Clio V6.
Motorsport
All the motorsport derivatives were based on the Turbo 1. The factory pushed the engine output up to 180 PS (132 kW; 178 hp) for the Critérium des Cévennes, 210 PS (154 kW; 207 hp) for the Tour de Corse, and by 1984 as much as 350 PS (257 kW; 345 hp) in the R5 Maxi Turbo.
Driven by Jean Ragnotti in 1981, the 5 Turbo won the Monte Carlo Rally on its first outing in the World Rally Championship. Unfortunately, the RWD R5 Turbo soon faced the competition of new Group B 4WD cars that proved faster on dirt.
In 2004, Sports Car International named the R5 Turbo number nine on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1980s.
WRC victories
Driver Jean Ragnotti and co-driver Jean-Marc Andrié won three WRC events with the Renault 5 Turbo, the 1981 49ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo, the 1982 26éme Tour de Corse and the 1985 29ème Tour De Corse.
Driver Joaquim Moutinho and co-driver Edgar Fortesthe won the 1986 20º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto with a Renault 5 Turbo
