Strange but true: The charming but quirky Renault Dauphine was once one of the best-selling import cars in the United States.
Manufactured from 1956 through 1967 in nearly a dozen countries, the Renault Dauphine was a global success for the venerable French automaker, boasting a total production of more than two million cars. Still, Americans may be surprised to learn that the Dauphine was also a hit in the United States—if only briefly. In 1960, more than 100,000 Dauphines were sold in the USA, second only to Volkswagen in the sales category than known as “foreign cars.”
With a wheelbase of 89 inches and an overall length of 155 inches, the Dauphine was similar in size to the VW Beetle, and like the Beetle, it carried its engine behind the rear wheels, enabled by a swing-axle final drive. Where the Dauphine departed from the Beetle was in its more conventional engine design, an 845cc inline four with water cooling that was rated at from 32 hp to 40 hp. And while the Beetle was a two-door, the Dauphine was a four-door (the only body style offered). Quirky Gallic features included a spare tire compartment behind the front bumper and an optional semi-automatic transmission with a Ferlec electromagnetic clutch.
Renault’s marketing campaign for the Dauphine in the USA was cheerful and lighthearted, often featuring balloons. (We’ve got two original Dauphine commercials you can view here and here.) U.S. sales reached 28,000 cars in 1957, 57,000 in ’58, and then peaked at more than 102,000 in 1960, compared to around 130,000 for VW that year. But then import sales overall slumped, due in part to the introduction of the 1960 Detroit compacts, and Renault, with its thin U.S. dealer network, never recovered. The French automaker would not again challenge the U.S. market in a serious way until 1982, when it acquired a major stake in American Motors.
I had one, the pistons failed, three used engines had same fault , I welded up original,and it went for 90000 miles and never failed.
My first car, 1961 Renault Dauphine, totally rusted out. Had to use sheet metal to cover the holes in the floor. Despite this, it ran well. Kept it for a year. Bought it in 1969 for $50! Even got it through New Jersey inspection. Enjoyed it while I had it. Sold it for $10 in 1970.
In 1961 Renault outsold VW! I wonder how many Dauphines are still left out there.
A friend owned a used ‘66 Dauphine.
Good looking small car but not built for American highway driving. Lightweight build was very susceptible to rusting. A ‘60s VW beetle was the better vehicle.
Hey-1st car was a rust free ’59 Dauphine, in white, with blue interior, with 34,000 miles on it in ’68. Replaced the clutch and one tire in two years of ownership.
we had one found in an old garage, rebuilt the engine in the garage, not noing really how. It ran fine. Traded it to a friend for a 53 Nash Statesman which we still have.
I remember when the 1966 model came it was advertised as “The Renault for people who swore they would never buy another one.”
That slogan referred to the Renault 10 ☝️🙂
There was a Dealer in Mill Valley CA., Shamrock Motors, they sold all of the French cars, Renaults, Citroens & Peugeots.
I looked at Dauphine convertible while in college. Good looking car. For some reason, the owner unbolted the spare tire bracket and the front end dropped a few inches. I passed.
There never was a Dauphine Convertible 🤔
The convertible was the Caravelle, a different body but on the Dauphine platform. I remember that dealers had special bracing tools that were supposed to be placed in the door frames and tensioned before putting the car up on a lift. Apparently the Dauphine floor platform was not reinforced sufficiently for use with the open top convertible body. Add the usual Renault rust to that and you had a very flexible vehicle. That may be why Caravelles are few and far between in the US.
I’ve been told by a former owner that the manual warned never to jack the car up with the doors open, that applying to the standard sedan as well.
Wow, I’ve never seen so many comments. Renault stories are like rear ends, everybody has one. My 1st car was a 1959 4CV. My old man had a hankerin’ for Renaults( he called them “Renultz”) and had a Dauphine and a Caravelle convertible( that broke in half). It was the only foreign car he would let in his driveway( and British cars), Dubja, Dubja 2, thing, and found the 4CV at a dealer for $25 bucks. I think he always felt sorry for the French, seeing what they went through first hand.
The Dauphine was much more than the VW. 4 doors, a real heater, of sorts, more room,,a gas gauge,,. It just didn’t have the dealer network VW had, and never gained much steam. In the late 50’s, there weren’t many small cars to choose from, not that Americans cared anyway,, and the Dauphine was the only alternative and why so many stories. Other oddities include, 2 way horn(LOUD country, soft city), and the gas filler and radiator cap were under the rear bonnet, and more than one ignoranant pump jocky put gas in the radiator or vise versa. Better vision, and more power,,again, kind of. There was also an electric Dauphine, that was worthless. I’ve always liked French cars, and their oddities, as if to say, nobody will copy OUR designs, and for good reason.
French cars were always interesting, but let down by a weak dealer network, spotty reliability, and serious rust problems. I had a Renault R8 1100 (which I really liked), a Simca 1204 (which was a wonderful little car for about a year, after which it began to fall apart faster than I could keep it repaired), a Peugeot 504 when I worked at a Peugeot dealership, and later a Renault Encore, which I’m not sure really counts as a French car. Like British cars, they all could be fun but were really designed for people who still had that post-war mentality of being grateful for anything with wheels that would take them somewhere and were willing to overlook lots of quirks and short-comings (the VW Beetle being a perfect example of that).
It was a pretty fun car in its time!
Thank you for the great piece of history!
Fue mi primer coche en el año 1967.
Had a black 60 and loved it.Drove it from way way north in New York to Milwaukee and back when on leave from the Air Force.A few miles from base the motor screwed up.I rebuilt it for $17.00 and it ran great again.
I remember seeing in the J. C. Whitney catalogue a rebuild kit for a Renault for $49.95, way back when.
Back in those days J.C. Whitney sold auto parts. You could repair or rebuild a car or motorcycle from their catalog. Now they are a “boutique” selling all kinds of cheap and useless gee-gaws, most of it junk. Want some colored lights to put in your wheel wells, or a noise-maker muffler that will rust out in 6 months? J. C. Whitney’s got got covered.
I’m surprised that J C W is still in business, I haven’t seen a catalogue in years.
I had 17 Renaults, mostly Dauphines. Had R8, R10, a couple hard top convertible Caravelles.The Dauphines had an 8.1 gallon gas tank which I always ran dry ’cause I carried an addition one gallon container for that reason. When it went dry I would empty the gallon jug into the tank and used the primer handle on the gas pump and it would start right up..Got maybe 19 mpg. There was also a crank that use could use in an emergency.
Our family had several Dauphines ranging from 1957 to 1962. I myself had 2 Dauphines,a Simca,and a Citroen. My “go fast car” was an Alfa Romeo of the Italian persuasion.
Also had an R12 wagon!
Was given my first car 57 Dauphine but had to fix the left front suspension. Never changed the oil because it did so itself out of the front pulley.
Red but added white 2 white stripes over the left side which added about 15mph. Sadly when reversing up the driveway a large tree stepped out and bent the chassis.
Loved that car
A friend of mine (he had one in his college days) saw a Dauphine sitting out in a field. He stopped & talked to the owner, the owner was glad to be rid of it. When he got it home, another friend asked what he was going to do with it, the reply was “I’ll just get it running for the fun of it”. Lots of laughing & insults later, my friend said “not only will I get it running, but I’m not gonna spend any money doing it”. After while, again driving in the country, he spotted a Dauphine engine in a field & did the same song & dance. Got the engine for free & put it in. He drove it up & down the driveway to everyone’s amazement!
Back in the early 70s me and 2 friends got a non-running Renault R8 from a neighbor who just wanted to get rid of it. We towed it into my driveway with a rope and checked it out. It needed a distributor drive gear (a tooth was broken off), a water pump and a muffler. We got the pump and muffler from J.C. Whitney for about $30 total and one of my friends whose father had a welding shop welded up a new tooth on the distributor shaft and filed it into shape and the little Renault ran fine. We sold it and made a couple of hundred dollars on it. I had owned an R8 1100 a few years before and it was a really nice little car, except for the rust problem that they all had (lots of road salt here in PA in the winter).
My Pa in law had a later R10 that he drove to work for years. I drove it a few times, quirky little car. Turn signal was on a stalk on the right side of the column, on the left side stalk was the horn. Hard to get used to! Steering column was more to the center of the car, so you sat kinda sideways.
One of the most unique things was the jack handle doubled as a starter handle. His starter went out and he had a hard time finding one. He used the jack handle for a good while until he found a starter. A quarter turn and that little 4 cylinder would fire up and purr!
He finally sold it and bought a new fox body Mustang, which my wife wrecked when it was about six months old, but that’s another story
My 64 R8 (the 10 was basically just an 8 with the front end extended a bit) also had the turn signal stalk on the right side, as did my Peugeot 504. My wife was never able to get used to that (not that she ever uses turn signals anyway LOL!) It was a very French thing, as was the 2 tone city/highway horn. As for the starter crank, I tried it once just to see how it worked and couldn’t get it to start. I guess in an emergency I’d have managed it though. For some reason I often find myself thinking about my old R8 and wishing I had it today, more so than just about any of my many other cars. I’m not sure why, but I have very fond memories of it. And I didn’t own it long enough to have any problems with it, I sold it in 66 when I went into the Navy. My 69 Simca was a nightmare, as was my 74 Peugeot. I road tested a new Renault Le Car once and hated it.
I never had a Dauphine, but I had a ’77 R5 that I loved. I lived in France for a couple of years back in the ’70s and still love all things French. It’s my second home. Thanks for the great article!
I had a Renault R 12. The seats were the most comfortable of any car that I ever owned. The one bad thing about French cars is the wheels with only 3 lug nuts. Nobody wants to mount/dismount the tires.
I think it was only Renault that used the 3 lug nuts., and they were special heavy duty nuts with built in thick specially shaped washers so there was no problem with them holding the wheels on. The problem with changing the tires was that there was no hole through the center of the wheel to mount it on a normal tire changing machine. Peugeots, up until the 505 model, also had the closed wheel center. When I worked at the Peugeot dealership nobody wanted to change tires on the older ones for that reason. Actually, nobody wanted anything to do with Peugeots for any number of reasons. The day we were told that Peugeot North America was shutting down was cause for great celebration at the dealership. We were also a BMW dealership and everybody hated Peugeots. BTW, Citroens had only 1 lug nut, although it wasn’t really a lug nut but a big expanding center gizmo. And you had to remove the fender to take the rear wheel off. Citroens were just too bizarre for words.
I really want one
The hub caps made good headlight opening covers for my mom’s local dirt track car in the mid-60’s. 🙂