Let’s face it, the French have it better. They can make anything sound sexy. Take the word “Depanneuse” - sounds good, right? And all it means is “tow truck”.
“Saviem” was a brand of French trucks, owned by Renault. The name is an acronym for “Société Anonyme de Véhicules Industriels et d’Equipements Mécaniques”. Ok, Saviem is a lot easier. And “Goelette” is the French word for “Schooner” - a sailing vessel with two or more masts. Unless you live here in Sydney, where “Schooner” means a large glass of beer.
Confusingly. the same truck was also offered as the “Renault Goelette” - and they couldn’t even be bothered to advertise them separately. Weird. And for some reason, the little boy is totally floored by the rectangular head lights? As it were, after 1977, the name Saviem disappeared and everything was labelled as Renault.
The model is a 1/43(ish) Solido and came to me as part of a “Coffret” - a two car set. And I took the photos with the Saviem towing another Solido, a Talbot Tagora. But that was not part of this set at all, and it is a bit too young by comparison.
In fact, the second model is Italian, and will be featured here tomorrow or Sunday - whenever I can find the time for the pictures. But the car included in the “coffret” certainly would have been a familiar sight behind a tow truck in Europe - they had a bit of a reputation for breaking down frequently - even by 1970s standards.
So the other half of that set will be revealed over the next day or two - until then, au revoir.