Renault Camionette

Frenchman Louis Renault built his first passenger motorcar in 1898. From the very beginning Renault’s early adaptation of simple and reliable components gave the company’s models a reputation for good quality and durability. By 1913 Renault had grown into one of the largest French car producers, building 20% of cars made in France and virtually all the taxis in Paris.

Engines were typically four-cylinder units of L-head type with their cylinders cast in pairs. The pre-First World War cars had a distinctive front shape caused by positioning the radiator behind the engine to give a so-called ‘coalscuttle’ bonnet. This continued through the 1920s and it was not until 1930 that all models had the radiator at the front. Most cars were supplied in chassis form and bodied by outside coachbuilders. They were particularly popular as taxis in pre-war France, a fleet of Renaults famously transporting the French Army from Paris to the front line in the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914. 

This particular car dates from 1913 and is quite possibly one of the very taxis that went to front 98 years ago. A brass plaque on the rear of the vehicle is engraved “Taxi Camionette Renault Nogent Sur Marne”. Documents in the history file suggest that it is a Type DM with a 2.1-litre four-cylinder 11hp engine driving through a three-speed quadrant gearbox.

After service as a taxi it was apparently converted into a bread van, then a breakdown truck and finally to a passenger carrying vehicle for a vicar who even fitted a collection plate in the back. It has seating for 10 persons and appears to be in good condition throughout, retaining the original brass bulkhead lighting.

The car was brought to England in 1990 and was extensively renovated by the two previous keepers before it was acquired by the Stondon Motor Museum in 2003. It is said to be in running order but old MOTs would imply that it was last on the road in 1995 so it would doubtless benefit from some recommissioning before being put back into use.