The oldest car at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show
03/09/2012
The Renault Type K was built exactly 110 years ago and made its appearance (again) at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The 3,770 cm3 four-cylinder engine produced 24 hp at 1,100 rpm, which was enough to give it a top speed of 125 km/h.
The car on display at the Salon took part in the 1902 Paris-Vienna race. There were 1,300 arduous kilometers to cover, and the Arlberg, at an altitude of 1,500 meters, had to be conquered. The Type K from Renault hardly stood a chance against the favored Mercedes of Count Zborowski or the powerful Panhard of Henry Farman. But thanks to its low weight of 650 kg, Marcel Renault won the race with an incredible average speed of 62.5 km/h.
The Type K was also extraordinarily compact by today's standards - 3.43 meters long, 1.48 meters wide. However, with a three-speed gearbox and brakes on the rear wheels and gearbox, it was modern by the standards of the time and became the cornerstone of the Renault brand's long-lasting success in automotive engineering.
We reported on the few historic vehicles at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show . For Renault fans, we have stored a series of photos of the Renault Type K in the Zwischengas archive .
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