Brevity is the spice of life
The British celebrated unexpected success with the Mini, so Jean Bertin, a not unknown engineer (keyword Aérotrain), probably thought that it should be possible to make something similar from something existing and with simple means.
In principle, Bertin simply shortened the Renault 4 L in 1966, which meant that he automatically benefited from a large series and didn't have to invent anything new. With a length of 3.04 meters, it was only 35 cm longer than a modern-day Smart.
Visually, however, the shortened R4 was not entirely convincing, which is probably why it remained a prototype, which is now in the Schlumpf Museum in Mühlhausen.
The short R4 was on display last weekend at the Rétromobile in Paris as part of a small special prototype show.
