Renault 17 Restomod Brings The 1970s Icon Into The 21st Century
The Renault 17 gets a modernised restomod redesign but will not be put into production.
Renault has been in the habit of re-imagining classics for the 21st century such as the Renault 5. Last week the French auto marque showed off a new take on their Renault 17 from the 1970s. This electric 17 was shaped by Frenchman Ora Ïto, a rising star in the design world. As cool as it looks, Renault are pretty clear that this will not be followed by a production model, it was simply a little side project the Renault Design team wanted to do with Ora Ïto.
About the Renault 17 electric restomod x Ora Ïto
The original 17 had an already slightly sporty basis with some interesting elements such as quad circular headlamps and a bodystyle that integrated 2 doors, frameless windows, no central pillar, fully opening rear side windows and second quarter windows with louvers.
This electric restomod builds on the monocoque structure of the original vehicle, thus it has the same cabin, doors, windows, glazing, seals and underbody. Thus it probably doesn’t have the necessary rigidity to handle electric power on the road, but as a design exercise it’s still pretty cool.
The body has been widened by 17cm with new wings and wheels. The round headlamps have been replaced with rectangular modules with rounded corners. The rear lights now form a single strip and a 270 horsepower electric motor has been mounted at the rear axle. Most of the chassis is now made with carbon fibre to keep weight low and the result is a car that weighs just 1.4 tonnes. The new Galactic Brown body colour was made just for this show car.
Inside, the restomod features the same comfort-focused philosophy with the seats redesigned and reupholstered around the original structure to retain that same retro shape. The upholstery used is a fine Merino wool for the brown fabric and a lightweight wool bouclé for the beige fabric.
There’s a central screen to modernise the interior as well as 4 smaller screens that show digital dials inspired by the analogue ones in the original. Pretty original thinking, overall for the design and a real shame that we’ll never see something like this put into production.
About the Author
Subhash Nair Written work on dsf.my. @subhashtag on instagram. Autophiles Malaysia on Youtube.
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