The Renault company was founded in 1899 and grew into France’s largest automobile producer, building a wide variety of models. Many of them were exported to other countries, including some large, luxury, slope-nosed Renaults sold in the United States and Canada in the early 1900s.
This gradually ended, and most North Americans didn’t become familiar with the Renault name until the company resumed exporting cars following the Second World War.
The first postwar Renault to land in North America was the tiny rear-engine, four door 4CV sedan. It arrived in 1949, but was a little too small to enjoy much popularity in the wide open spaces of the New World.
To become more competitive and modern, Renault introduced the Dauphine in 1956, a larger, more attractive sedan with thoroughly contemporary styling. It was intended to provide stronger competition than the 4CV did for the German Volkswagen Beetle, whose sales were beginning to take off.
Renault sales did well, in some areas rivalling the Volkswagen, which was on its way to becoming the undisputed small-car sales leader.
While Volkswagen was prospering, it still felt the need to add some glamour to its image, so it decided to offer a sleeker model to go with the Beetle’s 1930s design. In the mid-1950s it commissioned Italy’s Turin-based Ghia studio to style a sportier car. Ghia came up with a stylish coupe and convertible, which Volkswagen then engaged German coachbuilder Karmann to produce. Karmann was already building the Volkswagen cabriolet.
The Karmann-Ghia arrived in 1955 as a 1956 model. Being based on standard Volkswagen Beetle running gear, it combined beautiful Italian styling with VW’s proven sturdiness and economy.
The Karmann-Ghia was an immediate success, and Renault was not prepared to leave the small specialty market all to Volkswagen. It developed its own sporty model, the Caravelle, called the Floride in Europe, introduced at the 1958 Paris auto show. It followed the VW recipe by being a sleeker model based on Dauphine components. It arrived in North America late in 1959.
The Caravelle differed from the Karmann-Ghia in one aspect, however: more power. Its 850-cc Dauphine overhead valve, inline four was tuned up to produce 40 horsepower compared with the Dauphine’s 32.5 and Karmann-Ghia/Beetle’s 36.
The result, according to Road & Track, was better acceleration. The Caravelle’s zero-to 97-km/h in 22.4 seconds was considerably better than the K-G’s. 28.8. Top speed was about the same at 122 km/h. At 760 kilograms, the Caravelle was 38.5 kg lighter than the K-G.
Both had four-wheel independent suspension with swing rear axles, although the Caravelle used coil springs rather than the K-G’s torsion bars. Steering was rack-and-pinion.
The water cooled engine (VW’s was an air cooled flat four) was behind the rear axle with the radiator in front of the engine receiving cooling air through grilled scoops ahead of the rear wheels.
Transmissions were a standard three-speed manual or optional four-speed manual. An electromagnetic clutch three-speed was available, and all had floor-mounted shift levers.
The unit construction Caravelle came as a two-door, four-seat (really 2 + 2) hardtop or two-seat convertible with a lift-off metal top available.
The Caravelle’s overall length of 4,166 millimetres was only 25 mm longer than the K-G’s, but since its 2,270-mm wheelbase was 129 mm less the Caravelle had more overhang.
In spite of this the Caravelle carried its Ghia styling very well. Its crisp lines, reverse-sloped, grille-less nose, headlamps set in “sugar scoop” recesses and character line that ran from the headlights to the rear window combined to produce a very attractive little machine.
The Caravelle would receive one major upgrade in its lifetime. In 1962 it was made much more desirable with a new 956-cc 51-horsepower engine with a larger bore and shorter stroke. This reduced the zero to 97 km/h to 19.4 seconds and raised top speed to 137 km/h, outperforming the KG.
The radiator was moved to the rear of the engine and the fender air scoops were replaced by deck louvers. It got four-wheel disc brakes, standard four-speed transmission and a beefed-up suspension using components from Renault’s new R-8 sedan.
Relocating the radiator to the rear increased interior space, giving the four-seater more rear legroom. This was complemented by a higher, squared off roofline that increased rear headroom.
Although the Caravelle was a very stylish car, it didn’t have quite the robustness of the Beetle-based Karmann-Ghia. Rust was also a problem, and after an initial spurt, sales tapered off. It was discontinued in 1968.