The Renault 5 Turbo
began to take shape in early 1976
from the ideas of two men, Jean Terramorsi and Henry Lherm that from a basic
Renault 5 devised a competition car that simultaneously would be able to be
used on the road and sold to any Renault customer.
These ideas were maturing and evolving into what would become the future Renault 5 Turbo,
a car with a turbocharged central engine and a very good traction, due to a wide
platform and large rims. Above all, a car with the potential to become
a world rally champion.
Unfortunately Jean Terramorsi died prematurely from an heart attack, without being
able to watch the development of their ideas. Then, it was his friend Henry Lherm
that took the job to convince his successor, Gerard Larousse, to to go ahead with
this project. It was the insistence of Henry and the first drawings of the car,
designed by Marc Deschamps who eventually convinced Gerard Larrousse.
And so, the project 822 was born, with specifications that pointed to a car with
a turbocharged 4 cylinder engine, with a cylinder capacity less than 2L, placed
in a central position and capable of developing between 150 and 160 bhp
(but capable of supporting developments for higher powers), with rear wheel
drive and a top speed of 200 km/h plus.
With these characteristics, Renault intended to not only get a car capable
of competing successfully in Group 4, but also a road vehicle that without
losing its sporting characteristics, was endowed with a level of comfort
and luxury able to appeal to some Renault customers, making the project
profitable and not just a vehicle to enable the homologation for the official
competitions.
This project is then assigned to the Renault Sport, based in Dieppe, and in the spring of 1977 the project begins to take shape, in collaboration with other companies like Berex, Societé Alpine-Renault, the Régie Renault and even the Italians Bertone. In fact, the first model (scale 1/1) will be produced in Turin, from a former prototype of an R5 Alpine.
So, Henry Lherm will be the coordinator of this project where Yves Cool will be responsible for the interiors, dashboard and seats design; Serge Masset and Philippe Chasselut will be responsible for developing the engine and Joël Michel for the construction of a road prototype.
March 20th, 1978 - The first running prototype, with a black paint,
makes its first test on the Lardy test circuit.
October 20th, 1979 - The Renault 5 Turbo made its first public appearance
at the Tour of Italy, piloted by Guy Fréquelin and Jean-Marc Andrie.
November 30th, 1979 - It's officially announced the release of this road model.
December, 1979 - The first official photos, taken with a pre-production unit, are released showing a blue car equiped with white Gotti rims that will not be adopted later in their marketing.
May 20th, 1980 - Official date for the start of production at the Dieppe plant.
July 1st, 1980 - Began marketing in France.
Renault 5 Turbo at the Dieppe plant
In the first year of marketing (from 20 May to 31 December 1980) 804 units will be
manufactured; 400 in metallic red paint (759), interiors with blue carpets and
upholstery in red fabric streaked with blue. The remaining were of metallic Olympe
blue paint (405), interiors with red carpets and upholstery in blue fabric
streaked with red.
In 1981 the range of colors and interiors expanded with the release of new paintings
in metallic gray Galaxie (625), metallic black (622), Metallic White Nacre (158)
and a new interior in Bronze (614) color. In this year 571 units were produced.
1982 will be the last year of production for the R5 TURBO that from the Paris Motor Show
in autumn, will be replaced by the R5 TURBO 2. In this year, the R5 TURBO undergoes some
slight modifications in order to make it a little more appealing and efficient, with 445
units sold in the colors: blue Olympe (405), Red Grenade (759), Nacre White (158), Silver
Grey (631), Brown (769) and Blue Marine (403).
RENAULT 5 TURBO - 1980 (Click for more pictures)