The days of owning a rusty Renault are over

Renault has been busy reimagining its brand image over the past few years, but once again the French manufacturer looks back to its past as it launches a range of services aimed at catering for car enthusiasts, collectors and owners of the brand’s older vehicles.

This new initiative, ‘The Originals Renault’, combines an extensive range of services which should make owning historic and classic Renault models easier than ever before. It will allow owners to source spare parts, maintain and even restore their cars through the brand's approved after-sales network and partnerships with long-standing classic vehicle specialists.

Ranging from the very earliest examples to the latest ‘youngtimer’ modern classic cars up to twenty years old, Renault owners can now access manufacturer-approved parts and restoration services through eight different garage sites across France, which will expand to 25 sites by the end of 2025. The company says this should cover approximately 80 per cent of the country and place a vehicle specialist within 100km of an enthusiast’s house. British car owners might be a little disappointed to learn that the initiative is currently only available in France, but Renault plans to take ‘The Originals’ international, although we’ll have to wait a few years until these services make it to UK shores. 

Arnaud Belloni, Renault Global CMO and chief branding officer for all brands, explained at the Rétromobile classic car show that this was the perfect time for Renault to offer approved parts and assistance for owners of older cars. He said: “The Originals is an investment in the cars and the brand; we must be ambitious and look after our legacy. The reference for us is Porsche and Ferrari, because they take care of their collections and [car] owners. This is appreciated by [them] and fans of the brand.”

Belloni added: “Our legacy for present and future vehicles only comes from the past. There is no strong brand in the world without a legacy and Renault’s is over 125 years old, so we must look after and protect it.” 

This isn’t the first time Renault has invested in its legacy, either. Since 2022, the brand has been curating its own heritage website and fleet of cars. The website (https://theoriginals.renault.com/en) provides the public with an internet space to discover the history of Renault vehicles, while equipping its car owners with an extensive archive of free-to-access vehicle repair manuals, with over 50 original repair manuals currently available, and in-depth video repair tutorials that are presented by dedicated, in-house master mechanics.

Belloni sees the website and heritage fleet, alongside the parts and restoration services, as critical tools in shaping the future of Renault. “Sure, these young [car] brands could succeed, but the legacy is one of the biggest assets [Renault] has and this is part of the DNA in all our cars. Why build cars people don’t want when we can build ones they do?” 

There’s also a tangible economic benefit as “Historic cars push up the value of Renault as a brand, but also modern and historic Renault cars. For example, the Renault 17 electric restomod concept pushes up the value of older Renault 17s, and then people talk about the brand and this adds value.”

Renault’s dedicated heritage fleet currently has more than 800 Renault and Alpine cars in its collection. You’ll find everything from the brand's first car, the Renault Voiturette 1CV, all the way through to the Alpine A110 sports car from the sixties, the eighties Renault 5 Turbo hot hatchback and city cars such as the Twingo. The fleet is also home to Formula One cars, concept and the latest family electric and hybrid models. More than 400 of the vehicles are in driving and working condition, thanks to the dedicated mechanics who are able to repair and restore any vehicle from Renault’s history. 

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