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Renault 12

Renault 12
R12TL.JPG
Overview
Manufacturer Renault
Also called Renault 1.4 Litre (Australia)
Renault Virage (Australia)
Renault Toros (Turkey)
Dacia 1300
Production 1969–2000
Assembly Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Guarda, Portugal
Santa Isabel, Argentina (IKA)
Heidelberg, Australia
Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec, Canada
Los Andes, Chile
Duitama and Envigado, Colombia
Ciudad Sahagun, Mexico
Mioveni, Romania
Valladolid, Spain (FASA-Renault)
Bursa, Turkey (Oyak-Renault)
Mariara, Venezuela
Haren-Vilvoorde, Belgium (RIB)
Thames, New Zealand
Body and chassis
Class Large family car (D)
Body style 4-door saloon
5-door estate
3-door car derived van
Layout FF layout
Related Dacia 1310/1410
Ford Corcel
Ford Del Rey
Dimensions
Wheelbase 2,440 mm (96.1 in)
Length 4,345 mm (171.1 in) (saloon)
4,410 mm (173.6 in) (estate)
Width 1,616 mm (63.6 in)
Height 1,435 mm (56.5 in) (empty)
Chronology
Predecessor Renault 8 and 10
Successor Renault 18

The Renault 12 is a large family car introduced by French automaker Renault at the Paris Motor Show in October 1969 and produced in France till 1980. Available as a saloon (Berline) and estate (Break), it was also produced under licence in many countries around the globe into the early 21st century.

In its first few years the 12 received praise from the European press for its spacious, comfortable interior, its styling, its performance and its low fuel consumption. However it fared worse in the North American press: in a test of the 1974 model, Road & Track was critical of the engine's "obtrusive" noise, and called the heavy, non-power steering "a serious design flaw". They also gave it "very poor marks" for the ventilation system.

Renault 12 production and sales ended in western Europe in 1980, but the model continued to be produced and sold by Renault affiliates elsewhere. The last R12 was produced in 2000 in Turkey, whereas Romanian automaker Dacia continued producing the R12-based 1310 sedan and estate until 2004 and the R12-based Dacia Pick-Up until December 2006.

Commercially the Renault 12 was a successful car, selling 2.5 million units.

In January 1964, the Styling Center begins the design of the 117 model. This was a new model to bridge the gap between the Renault 8 and the Renault 16. The demands for Project 117 were:

The Renault 12's design dates back to the genesis of the Renault 16; indeed, some initial R16 concept designs resemble the R12 more than the ultimate design of the R16. However, the R12 was technically quite different from either the R16 or the smaller Renault 4. Like all new Renaults at the time (and in common, by now, with more than 60% of the cars produced in France) the car had front wheel drive, but the R12 had a very different layout from Renault's existing fwd models. The engine was placed longitudinally ahead of the front wheels, while it was behind the wheels on the R4 and R16.


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Wikipedia

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