Some designs are intentional from the beginning, while others come from intuition and inspiration. The new \u201cretrofuturistic\u201d Renault 5 small electric car is one of the latter. In late 2019, Renault designers working on special projects came up with an idea for a future small electric car. They produced a design study that drew inspiration from the original Renault 5 \u2014 but with the automaker still dealing with the fallout from the Carlos Ghosn scandal, their idea stayed in obscurity.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Renault](\"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2024050702_Renault5ETech.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>A bright orange colour<\/strong><\/span> Amazing instinct<\/strong><\/span> A popular icon trigging emotions<\/span><\/strong>
\nThen in early July 2020, former Seat CEO Luca de Meo became head of Renault Group, and one of his first acts was to visit the design center in Guyancourt, outside of Paris. There, he saw the bright orange Renault 5 design study. As de Meo wrote recently: \u201cSuddenly, as I was walking around, I saw a life-size model that looked surprisingly like an R5. For me, it was absolutely clear. I made the decision straight away: \u2018That\u2019s it exactly! Try to put this design on a platform with four wheels. It has to be an all-electric car. We\u2019re going to build the Renault 5!\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\nThe new Renault 5 was unveiled to the public as a concept just months later, in January 2021, as a cornerstone of de Meo\u2019s \u201cRenaulution\u201c strategy. Three years later, the Renault 5 has appeared in production form, nearly identical to that orange design study \u2014 a true \u201cshow car for the street.\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s very intuitive,\u201d Gilles Vidal, Renault design director, said of de Meo, who as head of marketing at Fiat in the 2000s championed the retro-design Fiat 500, which has been in continuous production for more than 15 years with few changes. \u201cHis first instinct is always right; that\u2019s quite amazing. He knows what works and what doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\nVidal and de Meo are adamant that the Renault 5 is not a \u201cretro\u201d design, but it draws on the public\u2019s affection for the original, which sold more than nine million examples from 1972-1996. \u201cIt\u2019s not nostalgic, it\u2019s not vintage,\u201d Vidal said. Even if it triggers emotions from such a popular icon, \u201cWe wanted it to be futuristic at the same time.\u201d The new Renault 5 mixes and matches inspirations from the original and variants such as the Super 5 and Turbo. Tall vertical taillights, for example, are from the Super 5; the H-shaped bucket seats, muscular stance and rear roof spoiler are from the Turbo, while the general shape of the front fenders and the friendly \u201ceye\u201d headlights, the flat dashboard with visible stitching lines and the sloping hatchback are from the first generation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>