7 Vidas
- Spanish but not FASA?
- 1961: Introduction
- 1961: Location map
- Find a brochure
- Find an ad
- Viaje en Furgo
- Dating an R4
- Cartas postales
- Berline press photos
- Spot the difference
- Where was it?
- Brochure coding
- Pas de graissage!
- The graveyard
While the brochures by FASA are very recognizable (see the brochures page), there are numerous brochures in the Spanish language that appear not to come from Spain. Outside Spain, 21 countries have Spanish as their official language, most in South America (all but Brasil, Guyana, Surinam and French Guyana which is part of France), Middle America (Cuba and the Dominican Republic - Puerto Rico is part of the USA) and Africa (Equatorial Guinea). It is not always easy to derive the originating countries of the Spanish language brochures. So, enough reason to show some material linking the R4 to South America!
The introduction took place in Spain in 1964. Therefore a Spanish language 1962 red introduction brochure must come from somewhere else.
Shown below is 'El Nuevo Renault. The example shows a dealer stamp from Salto, Uruguay (a similar one from Mexico is known too). On the inside, there are no specific differences from the French original, except of course the language. Strangely, only the small red brochure is known in Spanish, the large red one and the blue chair were never spotted. For reference, the Spanish introduction 'El Nuevo' brochure from 1964 is shown in the middle. The Argentinian one on the right is from 1963 and has a different title: '5 puertas 7 vidas'.
The Argentinian introduction was big: a movie named 'Rodeo' was recorded, and a soundtrack published on 7", all very similar to the 'Ballade en Camargue' movie for the French introduction:
Although the R4 was perhaps also available in Spain in 1962 and 1963, prior to the start of the production by FASA, no brochure-proof is known. The advertisements below give some clues about the possible availability. The one on the left is from Renault Madrid and shows a Camargue press photo from August 1961. The one on the right shows the same drawing as on the red introduction brochure and refers to the 1963 models.
We know that FASA exported half-cars to Colombia from magazine articles in Autopista 364 and Velocidad 228 from 1966, from photos taken in the port of Santander published on the website of the city of Santander (copyright Ciudad de Santander), and other photos on the Colombian El Carro Colombiano page. The front bumper of the picture from the Carro Colombiano website clearly shows the FASA bumper. It can also be seen that the rear end, still absent in the harbours of Santander and Barranquilla, was constructed in Colombia. It is an abolute pity that no Colombian brochures of this export product are known! For those interested in maritime history: the ship was the Hornstern.
A couple more translated French brochures are known, at least for the model years 1963-1967. The brochures look exactly the same as the French originals, and no reference to the country or origin can be found. The brochure covers and examples from the inside shown below sometimes have a specific country code 09 which I think was used for Spanish speaking countries outside Spain.
Some more brochures that were once spotted but sadly not acquired:
Speaking of South and Middle America, this may also be the right place to point out that between May and October 1965 Renault organised an expedition during which 'Les 4 Elles' Michèle Ray, Éliane Lucotte, Betty Gérard and Martine Libersart travelled from Tierra del Fuego in the far south of South America to Alaska in two R4s. The expedition received abundant attention in the press in 1966, for instance 7 pages in Renault Magazine 60, a whole page in Le Figaro, and in other publications such as the Dutch Renault Revue and l'Auto Journal 395.
This NE133 manual de conservación, 'édition espagnole' from May 1968 shown below is an odd one. The outside looks a lot like the French NE117 for 1968. Inside we see that it is for the 'limusina' and 'furgoneta', but without reference to a certain model like R1120 or R1123. The term 'limusina' is never used in the FASA brochures so it probably is a term specific to other countries. Further, we see various references to EEUU (Estados Unidos or USA) and Canada, as well as volumetric units like Imperial and US pints, miles and kilometers for distance and degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius for temperature. So, southern US market? But what about Canada then?
From publications like Renault Magazine 55 we know that the R4 was produced by IKA (Industria Kaiser Argentina) in Santa Isabel, Argentina, by DINA in Ciudad Sahagún, Mexico, in Envigado (Colombia), Montevideo (Uruguay, the famous Mini) and in Los Andes (Chile). Whenever an R4 is produced locally, local parts are used, which gives rise to differently looking cars and therefore different brochures - but not always.
Here is just a small flavour of some of the brochures from Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, together with Uruguay (see above) the only countries which are known for their Spanish language brochures.
Only the red 1971 bears some resemblance to the French originals. The red second grille now marked 1970 is from between 1968 and 1973, based on the colour placed before the yellow 1971. Large front bumpers appear to be an IKA specialty for the R4, nicknamed 'El Correcaminos' and 'El Jean sobre ruedas', which is a translation of what Pierre Dreyfus already thought the R4 to be: a blue jeans.
Perhaps the most famous nickname of the R4 comes from Colombia ('El amigo fiel' or 'the loyal friend'), but few brochures are actually known:
Note the very rare Spanish language translation of the Plein Air brochure ('Costero'), and the two blue ones for 1969 and 1974 (new logo added) that, except for the cover colour, are quite similar to one of the French originals from 1970.
