Classic pearls of the future - Renault Sport Spider
08/15/2014
When it drives behind you, you think you have mistakenly landed on a race track and are being chased by a sports car prototype. The Renault Sport Spider, built from 1996 to 1999, looks like almost no other car from the nineties.
The original version even came without a windshield, making it a thoroughbred barchetta. For some markets, however, the combination of a roll bar and no windshield was not approvable, so Renault offered a heated windshield as an option, not least for the sake of comfort - wearing a helmet was recommended for the version without a windshield.
However, this was more or less the only concession to comfort, as otherwise the Renault Sport Spider remained a pure driving vehicle that always attracted a lot of attention with its scissor doors and brute shape, which was further emphasized with bright colors - Sport Yellow, Sport Blue and Sport Red were offered - and the always grey lower section. For people who wanted to be more inconspicuous on the road but still couldn't manage it, there was also a titanium gray (silver) version, which was the most popular in Germany. The blue was reminiscent of the glorious Alpine days and the car also came from Dieppe.
An aluminum frame formed the basis for the Spider, the engine from the Clio Williams sat in front of the rear axle and sent 150 hp to the wheels. The body was made of GRP and the total weight was less than 1000 kg, although the version with the windshield weighed 35 kg more than the barchetta version.
The chassis and braking system met racing requirements. The driving performance was respectable, but the sound was a little disappointing - valve exhaust systems had not yet been invented.
A total of 1726 cars were built and sold in Germany, for example, at a price of DM 55,300. Today, well-preserved cars easily reach the new price when resold, something that only a few exotic cars manage after such a short time, because after all, the flounders are not even 30 years old. The likelihood that prices will continue to rise is high and the Renault is hardly any more of a worry to maintain than other cars of the time.
