The 4L and its special editions

The 4L Parisienne

Built from 1964 to 1968, it was black at the start with elegant gold cane-effect trim or with a tartan-style facing offered in 3 colours, yellow, green or red. Later, in addition to its original black, it was also sold in navy blue, in green and then in burgundy red.

The Parisienne is a version made famous by the lovely Sheila and her kilt matching her black 4L, draped in red.

It aimed to charm urban women and ended up helping to push the whole R4 range towards an increasingly important clientele, women. In 1963, Renault teamed up with women's magazine Elle and launched the operation "Elle prend le volant" ("Elle takes the wheel"). More than 4,000 readers of the magazine tried out R4 Super "La Parisienne" cars for 2 days. A hell of a PR coup and a success that led the Régie to include the Parisienne in the 4L range.

The 4L Jogging

A GTL in a tracksuit … launched in 1981 and produced in 5,000 units. White dominates and is dressed with blue on the bumpers, the sunroof canvas and the plastic sill strips on the door bottoms. A rainbow-style stripe brightens up its waistline.

The interior is electric blue, crossed by a rainbow; the tubular-type seats are very spartan. The magazine ad shows it drawn in the form of a sneaker-car.

The 4L Sixties

Based on the GTL in 1985, and therefore well equipped, in red, blue or a loud yellow with black bumpers and protective trim. Its 2 glass sunroofs make it recognisable at first glance.

It aims to be easy to live with, comfortable in its own skin with that fun side.

The 4L Safari

In the catalogue from 1975 to 1978 and in several colours: green, turquoise blue, suede, dark blue, orange and metal grey. Its interior, its seats (bucket seats at the front) in a colour-striped fabric, evokes the beach.

Outside, handles, mirrors, bumpers and protective side strips are black.

The 4L Sinpar

This is the 4x4 version of the Quatrelle. The saloon and the van were modified at first in Colombes (92) by SINPAR, specialists in all-wheel-drive transmissions and long-standing partners of the Régie (Goélette for the army). The 4L therefore got its 4x4 treatment from 1963 to 1993; a conversion that makes it very capable off-road, so much so that it is said to "climb trees". It is not strictly speaking a "limited edition" but its low distribution de facto places the 4L Sinpar among the special editions of the 4L.

The cost of the conversion made the bill climb (up the trees?) since you had to add 2 thirds of the price of the 4L … to the price of the 4L! That "stings" and, apart from a few forestry operators, surveyors or vets, most of the cars were destined for the Post Office, EDF-GDF, the water and forestry authorities, the army, firefighters and gendarmes.

The 4L Sinpars were sold and serviced by the Renault network.

The 4L Sinpar Plein Air of 1968

A cabriolet-torpedo version (in standard or 4x4 form) that, with its cut-away body and its lack of doors, comes close to what the Méhari was offering at the same time.

Much more expensive than the Citroën, it was (itself) produced for only two years.

The 4L JP4

A more modern version of the Plein Air, offered by the French firm Car Système in 1981. The JP4 has a shortened chassis raised by 3 cm, a 6-point roll bar, 2 bucket seats and a rugged look with white Delta Mics wheels and so on. At first, the Breton company approved a conversion of the chassis and bodywork of a used 4L supplied by the customer.

Later, a European approval on new chassis and assemblies allowed the JP4 to be sold directly in the Renault network, for 3 years.

It was shown there in 3 trim levels:

• La Belle Île
• La Nœud Pap (the Bow Tie)
• The luxurious Be Bop.

Fewer than 2,000 JP4s are thought to have been made; they are therefore much sought after.

The 4L Carte Jeunes

It came out at a time when the 4L was in decline, in 1991. The recipes that work were reused: take a 4L TL and apply a very eye-catching colour; it came out in yellow, red, white and green. It has no protective strips around the body, no sunroof, its bumpers and fittings stay grey and it is based on the small engine (956 cc).

Only its blue seats and its "yoof" pinstripe around the waistline set it apart from a standard one. At that time, it was common for manufacturers to produce a special edition to use up a batch of engines, seats and so on at the end of a car's life.

It is a safe bet that this was the case for this version, given its poor level of equipment.

The 4L Savane and Clan

Limited editions or not?

With the 1987 model year, when 4L sales were doing badly, competed against internally by the R5 and with the F4 van about to leave the stage, Renault made a new change to the naming of its models. The base 4L TL became "Savane" and the top-of-the-range GTL became "Clan".

Only their names, applied as stickers on the tailgate and the doors, might suggest a limited edition, but there is nothing special about them.

• The 4L Savane: no, it is not Papy Brossard's Quatrelle … any more than Tarzan's. There may be a link with its past as a rugged performer in Africa or with its launch colours, namely white, almond, sand and vanilla.

• The 4L Clan: nothing to do with the pipe tobacco of the time (a 4L doesn't smoke, it breathes) or with a Sicilian family ... its tartan interior, introduced in 1984, fits with its name, which evokes woollen skirts and Highland castles. It is a smart trim level that appealed and that stayed in the catalogue under that name.

The 4L Clan Bye-Bye

It marked the 4L's farewell in 1993. It is a Clan like the previous year's, just numbered. A thousand units were produced in Slovenia to be sold in France; built in countdown mode: from number 1,000, then 999 and so on down to number 1, which was kept in the Renault collection.