The Renault Frégate () is an
executive saloon car produced by the
French automaker
The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, repairing, and modification of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries ...
Renault
Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
between 1951 and 1960.
Estate variants, the Renault Domaine and the Renault Manoir, were introduced in 1956 and 1958 respectively.
Origins
The Frégate was conceived in the years immediately following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Renault, which had recently been brought under the control of the French state, needed a new modern, upmarket model both to improve its image and to cater to the needs of middle-class consumers in the expected economic recovery. Before the Frégate design was put into production, several prototypes were created.
Initially, the car was to have had a
rear-engined layout as in the recently launched
4CV, but Renault abandoned the rear-engined "Project 108" and in 1949, although it was late in the design process, decided to go with an engine mounted ahead of the driver. The engineering was rushed because of the switch to a
front-engined configuration.
Launch
The Frégate was unveiled at the 1950
Paris Motor Show
The Paris Motor Show () is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held during October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show presently takes place in Paris expo Porte de V ...
, but the first model was not delivered until November 1951. The
assembly plant at Flins was to be renamed for
Pierre Lefaucheux after his death, it was formally opened in October 1952.
Production built up only slowly. Even in 1953, it was reported that the Frégate, with approximately 25,000 units sold on the French market, was comfortably outpaced by the standard wheelbase versions of
Citroën Traction Avant
The Citroën Traction Avant () is the world's first mass-produced, semi-monocoque bodied, front-wheel drive car. A range of mostly four-door saloon (automobile), saloons and executive cars, as well as longer wheelbased ''"Commerciale"'', and thre ...
, with approximately 35,000 sold that year,
despite the Citroën being a pre-war design, little changed since its unveiling fifteen years earlier and, since the war, available only in black.
Changes
From its appearance late in 1950 until 1953 the car was branded simply as the Frégate, but the nomenclature became more complicated at the
Paris Motor Show
The Paris Motor Show () is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held during October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show presently takes place in Paris expo Porte de V ...
in October 1952, and from early 1953 the Frégate was available in two trim levels, as the "Frégate Affaires" and the "Frégate Amiral", advertised at 799,300 francs and 899,000 francs respectively.
The "Frégate Amiral" was little changed from the previous year's Frégate, although the interior was slightly reworked and it did feature twin fog lights at the front whereas the previous year's model came with just a single fog light. Further minor external modifications for the October 1953
Motor Show included updated
door handle
A door handle or doorknob is a handle used to open or close a door. Door handles can be found on all types of doors including: exterior doors of residential building, residential and commercial buildings, internal doors, cupboard doors and vehic ...
s and a change to the badge on the car's nose. The motif on the little shield was still diamond-shaped, but within the diamond, the image of a three-masted frigate ''("frégate")'' had been replaced by a tiny outline map of mainland France containing the inscription "RNUR-France".
The "Frégate Affaires" offered a price saving of approximately 100,000 francs in return for a reduced specification that involved a simplified dashboard, reduced interior trim, the removal of exterior chrome over-riders from the bumpers as well as the loss of the twin fog lights and windscreen washer which remained a standard feature on the "Frégate Amiral"
[ The launch of a cut-price Frégate was presumably part of the same strategy that was behind the launch of the cut-price 4CV Service.][ Neither of these stripped-down versions were well received by customers: in the Frégate's case, this was one of several attempts to make the model more competitive that failed to shake Citroën's dominance of the French market for large family cars.
The 2-litre ''type 668'' engine produced at 4,000 rpm. Along with a January 1955 facelift, the compression ratio was increased from 6.6:1 to 7:1, bumping power to . For 1956 (entering production in October 1955) Renault addressed the complaints about the lack of power from the 2-liter engine by introducing the bored out 2141 cc Étendard engine, which produced . A new, luxurious Grand Pavois trim package was launched the same year. The old engine continued to be available in the "Frégate 2 Litres", renamed Caravelle one year later and manufactured until October 1957. This was the end of the 2-litre engine in the sedan, but the Domaine (estate version) only changed over to the Étendard engine in February 1959.
In 1957 a three-speed 'Transfluide' ]semi-automatic transmission
A semi-automatic transmission is a multiple-speed Transmission (mechanics), transmission where part of its operation is Automation, automated (typically the actuation of the clutch), but the driver's input is still required to launch the vehicle f ...
, incorporating a fluid coupling, became an option along with a slightly more powerful version of the 2141 cc engine producing due to a compression ratio increase from 7.0:1 to 7.5:1.
The 1958 models saw another modified front grille. The prominent wide chrome oval and horizontal bars were removed to leave only the row of thin bars over which, since 1955, they had been placed.
Domaine and Manoir
An estate variant, the Renault Domaine was launched in 1956, with the 2-litre engine. From February 1959 it was powered by the 2141 cc Étendard engine.[ A luxury estate, the Renault Manoir was presented in October 1958, featuring "Transfluide" automatic transmission included in the price.][
]
Sales
Citroën
Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...
reinforced their domination of the market for larger saloon cars in 1955 with the introduction of the futuristic DS, followed in 1957 by its more aggressively priced ID variant. Sales of the Frégate peaked in 1955 with 37,717 cars sold before slumping to 24,608 in 1956 and dropping to 9,772 in 1957: volumes failed to recover as competition from Simca and Citroën
Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...
intensified in the large car sector through the later 1950s. On 18 April 1960, the final Frégate was assembled after 1,158 cars had been made that year. In total, 163,383 Frégates were made in the Flins-sur-Seine factory.
The sales performance of the car was regarded as disappointing. Some were content to blame the excessive number of teething troubles in the early models, the car's lack of power and, especially during the second half of the decade, the superior attractions of the Citroën offerings: but some commentators also draw attention to a very French political dimension. The manufacturer was nationalised directly after the war and the death in 1944 of Louis Renault took place under circumstances that were and have remained controversial. Many members of the (still relatively small) haute-bourgeoisie class able to afford such a car were simply more comfortable buying from a private manufacturer, especially after the Peugeot 403 was added to the Frégate's competitors. At the end of the decade Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
returned to power as president in 1958, and he was an unapologetically partisan fan of the Citroën DS
The Citroën DS () is a Front-mid-engine, front-wheel-drive layout, front mid-engined, front-wheel drive executive car manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1955 to 1975, in fastback/sedan, wagon/estate, and convertible body configurations ...
, as newsreels of the period attest. Only a single long-wheelbase "presidential special" Renault Frégate exists.
Production
''Renault Frégate production (units)'':
::* 1952 ... 18,153
::* 1953 ... 25,192
[
::* 1954 ... 34,258 ][
::* 1955 ... 37,631 ][
::* 1956 ... 24,608 ][
::* 1957
::* 1958 .... 9,772 ][
::* 1959 .... 4,232 ][
::* 1960 .... 1,158 ][
:These data do not include the Domaine estate]
Replacement
Under an agreement concluded with American Motors Corporation
American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the mergers and acquisitions, merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 19 ...
(AMC) on 22 November 1961, Renault began selling the imported Rambler Classic Six (starting with the 1962 model year versions) badged as the Rambler Renault to replace the Frégate.
Starting on 11 April 1962, the Rambler Classics were assembled from CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits at Renault's factory in Haren, Belgium. These executive car
Executive car is a British term for a large car, and is considered equivalent to the European E-segment and American full-size classifications. Executive cars are larger than compact executive cars (and the non-luxury equivalent mid-size cars ...
s were marketed by Renault in Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
, Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, Benelux
The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...
, and France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renault Fregate
Fregate
Cars introduced in 1951
Executive cars
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Sedans
Station wagons
Cars discontinued in 1960