1978 RENAULT 18 Estate 1.7L 4×4 5MT FWD (73 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Renault introduced the 18 in the late ’70s as a replacement for the 12 range and made the car available in two bodywork versions: sedan and station wagon, also known as Break or Estate.

The French carmaker made the 18 on the same platform as the 12, while the rest of the car was developed in just 18 months. Strangely, though, even if the 18 was supposed to replace the 12, they were built in parallel for two years, until 1980.

For the station wagon version, the carmaker adopted the same front fascia as on the four-door sedan, with rectangular headlights and corner-mounted turn signals. Moreover, most bodywork panels were similar for both versions up to the C-pillars. Even the doors were identical. On the other hand, the long-roof version featured a third window behind the rear doors. At the back, its raked-forward tailgate was flanked by the taillights. One reason why Renault did that was that it tried to sell the car on the U.S. market, where the stoplights were supposed to be mounted on fixed body panels. The other reason was that it was cheaper to build it that way.

The interior looked just as mundane as on the sedan sibling, albeit it featured a folding rear set. The system was carried over from the Renault 12 and made room for a completely flat floor. Thus, the trunk could have been expanded from the regular 17 cu. ft. (481 liters) to an impressive (for those times) 55 cu. ft. (1,557 liters).

Under the hood, the carmaker installed some of the older engines carried over from the 12 range but added a few new options, such as a 1.7-liter, carbureted inline-four. Last but not least, it introduced a fuel-efficient diesel engine, which was unheard of in its class.