Are you a weightlifter?
08/09/2024
At the end of the 1950s, Renault wanted an equally large slice of VW's great success in the USA. After the Dauphine had become one of the most popular import cars from 1957 onwards, the French company also planned to steal market share from the Germans in the delivery van segment. The handy, compact VW Transporter was virtually unrivaled in the USA. For the 1960 model year, they therefore launched the Mexican-built variant of the Renault Estafette as the "Petit-Panel" on the US market.
The most striking distinguishing feature compared to the European version was the larger, somewhat slippery sealed-beam headlights with a diameter of seven inches. In addition to the normal panel van, Renault also offered a version with a twelve-inch higher plastic roof, which was called the "Hi-Boy". However, although the high roof with standing height was a unique selling point on the US market and the loading area was significantly larger and lower thanks to front-wheel drive, the Renault did not stand a chance against the competitor from Wolfsburg.
To assume that the sales figures were in triple figures is a very optimistic estimate. The Dauphine engine with 32 hp will not have been the reason. VW's bestseller was initially even two hp weaker. However, Renault's reputation in the USA had suffered badly in the three years since the Dauphine was launched due to poor spare parts supply, a sparse dealer and workshop network and mediocre quality - not good conditions for a wear-and-tear vehicle that was being pushed hard every day.
Although brochures were printed and advertisements placed, Hi-Boy and Petit-Panel are said never to have received type approval, according to a French magazine. However, too many of them did make it onto American roads. A user on "Barn Finds" remembers working for a television technician in Pine Lawn, Missouri, in the early 1960s who had a Petit-Panel as a workshop van.
A reader of "Curbside Classics" lived in one of the Renault vans for a good year in California in the early seventies. Around the same time, a Petit-Panel prominently featured in the American TV series "Adam-12" went up in flames. There are even a few survivors: in Aberdeen, Washington, and Boulder, Colorado, each US Estafette is said to be in a scrapyard. And in early 2017, a Petit-Panel was sold on Craigslist in the greater Los Angeles area.
In addition to the Petit-Panel and Hi-Boy, Canada was able to enjoy two other Estafette variants: the "Pick-Up" platform truck and the nine-seater "Multi-Bus" estate. But even there the big (and even the small) success failed to materialize. No amount of self-confident advertising calling for a comparison with the competition helped. Renault withdrew the vans from the market as early as 1961. The same year saw the launch of the Ford Econoline, which adopted the Estafette concept as a front-wheel-drive vehicle with a front engine - but not the high roof.
