Early Volkswagen pan under a 1960 Renault + 2332 = Big Fun Factor! Lets go for a ride! This mini monster will be looking for you in his rear view mirror.
This is EXACTLY what I would have done with a Dauphine. My parents had one of these when I was a really little kid. It was a really cute car and they got all sorts of comments on it where ever they went. But the engine and drive train were complete junk! They bought it brand new from the dealer. If you drove it down a steep hill, flat out full throttle you might see 55 mph. The car blew the engine at around 15,000 miles. They put a brand new engine in it from Renault and it blew when the car had around 30,000. That's two engines in about a year and a half. No young couple with kids can afford that. Then, in the late 70s, I was old enough to drive and I drag raced VWs. I got to really know them. I always wanted to find a Dauphine and put it on a VW pan JUST LIKE THIS! I love you man!
In my career I've seen so many yet-another fiberglass Ford kit with yet-another SBC, it's just "ho hum- so what?". This, I am very impressed. Thank you for that.
I like the fact that the Renault has a stock outer appearance with exception of the exhaust, but what the hell, you can't have everything. A real sleeper no doubt.
This shows precisely why sleepers are so cool. They're the ultimate underdog. And who doesn't love an underdog? The ingenuity, vision, and skill it takes to pull off an engine swap and suspension mods like these impress me a whole lot more than many of the restorations is see where someone pays a fortune to build a car back to factory stock. It's certainly a lot more interesting than a restored Camaro or Mustang. I respect a proper restoration as well, but the result is often something too nice to risk driving, so it becomes an automotive art exhibit you trailer to car shows. On the other hand, I bet the owner of this Renault gets a whole lot more enjoyment by actually using this thing. You have to wonder how many times some muscle car owner has wound up saying "That little what-the-fuck just kicked my ass!"
Thank for your comment. I am amazed how many people have watched this and get critical about paint and safety and every little detail. The fact of the matter is what you said. This was one of the very first drives on this project car. The plan was as you described. The local car guys give it a thumbs up. Have a great day and thanks for the support.
WOW! That just happens to be almost exactly like the one I built in 1969 when i was growing up in Puerto Rico. I had told my dad I wanted to have a car, so one day I come home from college and he told me he got me a car. It was exactly like yours, but paint and interior was almost new. I got into it immediately and started it, only to find that it had overheated, so it was missing badly. Long story short, ended putting the half back of a VW beetle with 1500cc engine, and boy did I have fun with that car. Later I changed motor to a 2130CC stroker motor, and that was even more fun. Could beat 427 Corvettes, Camaros, Malibu's all day long. Wish I could back in time with what I know now...
My brother had one of these..3 lug wheels.. indestructible 4 cylinder unibody. He jumped a RR crossing just to shear off one wheel. We stayed upright as long as we didn't slow down or stopped laughing. He totaled it out when he clipped a 2in pipe holding up a street sign.
i just love it, ithink its just a thumbs up.its a assome car ,weared you come upp with the idea,i havent seen one of those cars in35 years. on the street even longer.thanks for showing us. mike elcamino
Wow.....and "import jalopy" for sure.....very cool!! My older brother had one of these back in the mid '60s. It was fixed up for fun back then too. He used to pull up next to Corvettes at the street lights and rev his little engine just to make the Corvette's take off when the light turned green....Hahaha it worked every time!! ;-)
When i was an Apprentice 45 years ago i had a Renault Dauphine as a daily driver . i wish i had of thought of a VW engine transplant back then. The Renault engine in mine was pretty tired. Mine had a similar look,not because i wanted it,i just didn't have the funds to paint it. 😁
My uncle was in Navy Intelligence. One of the men was getting orders for a new assignment and wanted to sell his Renault Dauphine (1961 model) so held a raffle. My uncle won his for $5. When we visited in 1968, we got to ride around in it. I had only been in Beetles as a small foreign car, but loved the Renault right away.
That was so cool I would have never thought that was a Renault until you said something. I saw the exhaust and thought it was some long lost Karman Ghia . I would love to see what that car can do WOT it just sounds so damn good
Randy is really enjoying it and the local Hot Rodders put the word out not to mess around with this sleeper. Thank you for your comments and support. Check out some of my other fun video's
it is a Renault'Dauphine",in the 60's in France they made it a rally car(GORDINI),just like the Renault Alpine A 110,and it won a bunch of races,like the 'tour de Corse'.
Have not seen a Renault like that since the early 70's when the fuel shortage/ Embargo was Prime along With Watergate ,very nice to See the old Car radical And Badical. !
That is freakin Beautiful, It just shows, the VW craze will NEVER end, ! That little beetle started a Car Craze that has never been matched, Bruce Meyers started it all with the Meyers Manix, back in the early 60's, That's over 60 years ago and still going strong.. Car Guys have been using the VW chassis for everything. *It's a work of Art* .. The VW bug still holds the record for most cars sold in the entire World.. No Car has ever sold more than the beetle.. And You can still buy every part, new, for the bug and it's chassis, including the chassis.. All steel remanufactured to original factory specs, plus there's thousands of after market performance parts world wide... I guess you can tell I'm a beetle fan, I've had a few myself.. I'm still in love, after all these years.. It's great to see another VW in a "one of a kind" piece of fun,
ThomasTheSailor Chubby Its not a VW. Its a Renault. The Renault Alpine was developed from this same car and was a very successful race car with only a slightly bigger than stock engine. That bug engine really is overkill.
ThomasTheSailor Chubby I say putting that body on a VW pan was a great idea because of parts and availability. I did really want to see the original motor though. An R10 I believe is the motor it came with
Cool. Bet it took a lot of work on the VW pan and Renault body to make it fit. I never had anything like that, but I did used to have a very faded dark green 1966 bug with a lot of surface rust on it. It was completely stock looking, even had the stock bumpers. It had a Gene Berg 2213 engine with dual Webers. The entire drivetrain, steering, brakes, and suspension were seriously upgraded. I ran it against a lot of Japanese "ricer" cars at the track, and never got beat.
Awwsome its one of them you say look look LOOK then you say to late its gone,the last time i seen one of these was way back in the 70's at one of the custom show's at alexandra palace in london.
there is one here in new zealand thats a race car and runs a sb chev and manual with engine mid mounted facing rear with gear box next to driver through a vee drive ..awsome wee car
I saw two Dauphines for sale in front of an old junkyard in MI and had a look. I immediately started thinking of a project something like this! There is something weirdly appealing about this body.
My friend Randy who built the car told me that the body was much lighter than the stock VW body that he removed from the pan. Power to weight is everything when it comes to performance. He was talking about adding an interrnal roll cage after he got all the bugs worked out.
i had a duaphine when i was apprentice, mine was very patinated too ... Lots of fun times with it on an apprentice wage of $35 a week while i rebuilt my proper car, a '39 Ford V8 Coupe. Dauphine means litle prince BTW.
It went real well. He just used a stock VW beetle chassis. Of course he had to make supports to attach the two together but it is do able. Good Luck with your project
Hi Guys! Just thought I'd throw in a bit more. First, the engine sounds too good. Maybe poke a hole in one pipe, near the collector and find a quieter muffler. If you succumb to the guys who want you to paint it, load it up with 60's hippie "art". Put Flower Power on it and when someone questions you about it, you have to explain that they're mispronouncing the first word. It's not Flower like flour. It's Flower like goer. 2332cc HAS to flow thru those DP heads. Just funnin'. It'd be fun to hook up a springy wire with a big nut on it and position it so it taps on the fan housing. making it sound crappy is part of the sleeper camouflage. The more innocent it looks and sounds, the better. My last sleeper was a '73 Chevy Caprice with a gently massaged 454/400 combo, stiffened suspension and better brakes, all behind stock wheels with the factory wheel covers. It was a 4door no post model in a slightly homely shade of green with a bit of a raggedy white vinyl top. Looked like grandma's church and groceries car... until it was dusting a Trans Am.
Is a very tipical car of the Spain in the years 50 (Renault Dhaphine, Ondine, Gordine), my dad repair this cars many years, the nick name of the cars is "El coche de la viudas" (the car of the widow) for its bad brakes. Regards from Spain.
Cheaper and lighter to go with VW engine. Those Corvair parts are very collectable. Didn't you have to change the cam to reverse the engine rotation or something. Maybe just the Ring and pinion?
In South Africa in the late 1960's and early 1970's Renault Gordini's were the iconic boy racers. Highly desirable and fast. The models that evolved from the Dauphine pictured here were square and box shaped. The VW floor pan makes an ideal fit as they were both rear engined cars. This does has the 5 stud VW wheels. If I remember the Dauphine had a curious 3 stud arrangement. The steering wheel also looks like VW but with the central hooter missing. Later on the hooter was a chrome ring on the inside of the steering wheel, so this was indeed an early VW floorpan
Scamp Porter thru Renault Africa imported & raced with great 'giant-killing' success several Renault Gordini's 1300's..of which I was fortunate to own one. Renault Racing Blue, (they were all blue)...Nice..Ran rings most and were great thru the twisties with; 4-wheel discs, 5-speed close-ratio Gordini box, hemi head, twin side-draught Webers, second petrol tank up front...All from the factory..Very nice indeed...Scamp would with great regularity beat most of the 'big boys' on the race tracks in South Africa...(RIP Scamp)
look up RENAULT DAUPHINE, We had a few in Britain in the early sixtys but didn't have the VW engine they had a small 4 cylinder Renault engine, The engine in that one looks like the ones used in the VW Varient in this country they were 1608cc and was sought after for beetle mods.
My dad had a Renault Gordini. Not sure what year it was, but I do remember him taking himself, our mother and us three kids to New York from Sarnia Ontario. Funny thing. It didn't go like this one does ... but it sure looked like it. Was this model a Gordini?? Cudo's for not doing stupid things on the city streets!!! And at the 5:16 mark, it doesn't even sound all that tough ... just a VW engine!! Thumbs up.
My brother had a 3-lugger like this...We were jumping RR track crossings when one rear wheel and tire past us on a jump. He stuck a almost perfect 3-point landing...almost!
in the usa my brother had one of these dauphine's. He drove it to the junkyard to send it to heaven. The engine was held in with what seemed like a big rubber band. RIP
He asks "Are you legal?" while the camera's looking at the badly cracked and delaminating windscreen. I'm not sure what the laws are like over there, But here in the UK the tentative answer would have been "Erm.... No". :)
Yes, this is a Dauphine (but this particular model has only been made for export, the french one gor a different back). My father got one of the very first Dauphine, then another called Ondine. Some models were prepared by Gordini, royal blue with 2 white stripes.
I don't think so. You seem to have this idea that this car is driven every day like normal transportation. It is what it is. A Sleeper Hot Rod. Just for squirting around and having fun on Saturday night or what ever????
Hey, don't get me wrong, the car is great (just not completed). It looks really simple to set it up though. Vents in the 1/4 panels and a grill in the rear. It's perfect. Also, it's a 2332...that's a lot of motor for air cooling. It's not like it's a dune buggy who's engine sitting out in the open.
It's good to have your mindset along those lines. Your stuff will last a lot longer that way. I'm not really sure what Randy has in mind. Have a great my friend.
He is just a friend in our VW group and does not post video's. I am familiar with the car. Maybe I can answer a few questions. Basically it is a stock VW pan with beefed up tranny and custom built VW engine.
... IIRC, during WW2, the navy built some sleepers out of crappy looking freighters. I think they were called Q-ships. They'd travel in areas that would be patrolled by lone U-boats vs. wolfpacks. Due to the incompetent appearance, U-boats would save their torpedoes and surface near the Q-ship to stop it and board it. Once the U-boat was close enough, the false crating was dropped, exposing the cannons and the U-boat was blown out of the water. You have one awesome Q-ship with the German engineering that goes back to the "people's car". Can't get much cooler than that. BTW, when we were getting to be old enough to drive, my friend got a Dauphine. He had quite a number of adventures, including getting it into the Salt River during one of the spring flows. He rode it about a mile until it ran up on a high spot. The wet ignition wouldn't start the engine but cranking the starter with the transmission in gear got the car out of the water. Good thing they didn't have clutch switches back then. Before lawyers removed intelligence from driving.
What a great comment. Thanks for sharing. I love Rat Rods and being the underdog. I've had so many nice cars over the years and it is painful to see them get dent's nicks and scratch's recently had a hail storm come threw and trashed my Lighting pickup truck. Now I enjoy having fun in a car that is mechanicaly sound and runs above average. Have a great rest of your day sir.
This is EXACTLY what I would have done with a Dauphine. My parents had one of these when I was a really little kid. It was a really cute car and they got all sorts of comments on it where ever they went. But the engine and drive train were complete junk! They bought it brand new from the dealer. If you drove it down a steep hill, flat out full throttle you might see 55 mph. The car blew the engine at around 15,000 miles. They put a brand new engine in it from Renault and it blew when the car had around 30,000. That's two engines in about a year and a half. No young couple with kids can afford that.
Then, in the late 70s, I was old enough to drive and I drag raced VWs. I got to really know them. I always wanted to find a Dauphine and put it on a VW pan JUST LIKE THIS!
I love you man!
In my career I've seen so many yet-another fiberglass Ford kit with yet-another SBC, it's just "ho hum- so what?". This, I am very impressed. Thank you for that.
........Also great enthusiasm and a great owner. This car will be well looked after. Thankyou for sharing this video, I really enjoyed it.
Sick. And I love how the unchopped early pan matches the Renault wheelbase perfectly.
The leaf blower exhaust is hilarious, body style is super cool. Dyno mate the rear firewall and it will be a more fun cruzer.
Wow a Renault, I haven't seen one of those in 25 years. That's cool. Gotta love a good sleeper! Damn she sounds good!
That thing is seriously cool. I love the patina!
Me too. Thanks for coming along
What a stunning little car. Awesome patina!
Great looking car. The Dauphine brings back a lot of memories. Hope he kept the city horn and the country horn.
I like the fact that the Renault has a stock outer appearance with exception of the exhaust, but what the hell, you can't have everything. A real sleeper no doubt.
William Charles nnn
You can see the lines of the early Alpine in this model. Nice to see one again after so long. Thanks for sharing.
This is the car Vin Diesel should drive in the next sequel. "The Fast and the Frenched!"
French Kissed And Furious
This shows precisely why sleepers are so cool. They're the ultimate underdog. And who doesn't love an underdog?
The ingenuity, vision, and skill it takes to pull off an engine swap and suspension mods like these impress me a whole lot more than many of the restorations is see where someone pays a fortune to build a car back to factory stock. It's certainly a lot more interesting than a restored Camaro or Mustang.
I respect a proper restoration as well, but the result is often something too nice to risk driving, so it becomes an automotive art exhibit you trailer to car shows. On the other hand, I bet the owner of this Renault gets a whole lot more enjoyment by actually using this thing.
You have to wonder how many times some muscle car owner has wound up saying "That little what-the-fuck just kicked my ass!"
Thank for your comment. I am amazed how many people have watched this and get critical about paint and safety and every little detail. The fact of the matter is what you said. This was one of the very first drives on this project car. The plan was as you described. The local car guys give it a thumbs up. Have a great day and thanks for the support.
Great ride, I owned 2 of those when I was 16, I had a beautiful dove gray and a more beat up dull red that I drove to high school in daily.
I love it :-) just a cute little car you wouldnt normally see done like that. more people should build them up....gorgeous.
Our family had one in Nova Scotia. The thing rusted faster than any car we've ever seen.
WOW! That just happens to be almost exactly like the one I built in 1969 when i was growing up in Puerto Rico. I had told my dad I wanted to have a car, so one day I come home from college and he told me he got me a car. It was exactly like yours, but paint and interior was almost new. I got into it immediately and started it, only to find that it had overheated, so it was missing badly. Long story short, ended putting the half back of a VW beetle with 1500cc engine, and boy did I have fun with that car. Later I changed motor to a 2130CC stroker motor, and that was even more fun. Could beat 427 Corvettes, Camaros, Malibu's all day long. Wish I could back in time with what I know now...
Yours sounds like it was a lot of fun. I'm glad you could join us for a ride!
I'd love to have one like this!!
That’s the nuts, as we say in England. Hope you are better,EZGZ.
All the best 👍🏾🇬🇧
Thanks Mate!
that renault has a power to weight factor...that would make a porsche 914 envious,baby!!
Porsche engine in a Renault body? That makes it a Pornault, right?
Just more Filthy Porn to look at. LOL
Actung heir Oberlutenant ! Not that familiar with cars from the fatherland, although I have driven a couple. My bad ! !
“Are you legal?” 😂🤣😂🤣. Been there, done that.😉
My brother had one of these..3 lug wheels.. indestructible 4 cylinder unibody. He jumped a RR crossing just to shear off one wheel. We stayed upright as long as we didn't slow down or stopped laughing. He totaled it out when he clipped a 2in pipe holding up a street sign.
Great memories!
i just love it, ithink its just a thumbs up.its a assome car ,weared you come upp with the idea,i havent seen one of those cars in35 years. on the street even longer.thanks for showing us. mike elcamino
Thanks for your comment. Randy is a talented mechanic who has been at this a long time. He has built countless Rods and Rails.
Wow.....and "import jalopy" for sure.....very cool!!
My older brother had one of these back in the mid '60s. It was fixed up for fun back then too. He used to pull up next
to Corvettes at the street lights and rev his little engine just to make the Corvette's take off when the light turned green....Hahaha it worked every time!! ;-)
Kool, Thanks for watching and commenting
When i was an Apprentice 45 years ago i had a Renault Dauphine as a daily driver . i wish i had of thought of a VW engine transplant back then. The Renault engine in mine was pretty tired. Mine had a similar look,not because i wanted it,i just didn't have the funds to paint it. 😁
Thanks for sharing your memories. Have a great day!
My uncle was in Navy Intelligence. One of the men was getting orders for a new assignment and wanted to sell his Renault Dauphine (1961 model) so held a raffle. My uncle won his for $5. When we visited in 1968, we got to ride around in it. I had only been in Beetles as a small foreign car, but loved the Renault right away.
Cool story. Thanks for sharing
Yeah, nice..Thx for posting...
Best part of you tube, sharing cool cars with like minded people!
agreed, there are some cool vids on modified Renault's Not as popular in the USA
That was so cool I would have never thought that was a Renault until you said something. I saw the exhaust and thought it was some long lost Karman Ghia . I would love to see what that car can do WOT it just sounds so damn good
You feel like it's flying. Very noise and scares ya to death but it steers nice and solid and stops good with the VW parts Randy used.
We have these car's all over the place in Britain and Europe, but definitely not as special as this one. A fantastic job and done just right.
Randy is really enjoying it and the local Hot Rodders put the word out not to mess around with this sleeper. Thank you for your comments and support. Check out some of my other fun video's
Very cool car for sure. Would love to own it for sure
That was very cool for sure! Loved it..
Glad you could come along
Gordini made a version of that Renault Dauphine, quite peppy in its day (60's).
Love that torch Man that car runs great
it is a Renault'Dauphine",in the 60's in France they made it a rally car(GORDINI),just like the Renault Alpine A 110,and it won a bunch of races,like the 'tour de Corse'.
Have not seen a Renault
like that since the early
70's when the fuel shortage/ Embargo was
Prime along With Watergate ,very nice to
See the old Car radical
And Badical. !
Nice! What size carbs are you running on this vw bug engine ?
An empi sidewinder exhaust would fit it better
I forgot what he told me. It's not my car. I want to say 44 IDF weber's
Definitely a sleeper. Not my particular taste, but a very cool car. Thanks for sharing.
G'day Kevin here from Australia .
What a cool car 👍👍👍
Yep and it's still the same today and runs good.
Cool as for sure. Love it.
Wow never seen a dauphine on a vw pan before, love it, nice work!
Thanks and she is still running strong
That is freakin Beautiful, It just shows, the VW craze will NEVER end, ! That little beetle started a Car Craze that has never been matched, Bruce Meyers started it all with the Meyers Manix, back in the early 60's, That's over 60 years ago and still going strong.. Car Guys have been using the VW chassis for everything. *It's a work of Art* ..
The VW bug still holds the record for most cars sold in the entire World.. No Car has ever sold more than the beetle.. And You can still buy every part, new, for the bug and it's chassis, including the chassis.. All steel remanufactured to original factory specs, plus there's thousands of after market performance parts world wide... I guess you can tell I'm a beetle fan, I've had a few myself.. I'm still in love, after all these years.. It's great to see another VW in a "one of a kind" piece of fun,
Amen Brother
ThomasTheSailor Chubby Its not a VW. Its a Renault. The Renault Alpine was developed from this same car and was a very successful race car with only a slightly bigger than stock engine. That bug engine really is overkill.
Burlats, You're right, it's actually both, It's a Renault body on a VW chassis with a VW motor n trans..
ThomasTheSailor Chubby I say putting that body on a VW pan was a great idea because of parts and availability. I did really want to see the original motor though. An R10 I believe is the motor it came with
I swear that when he floored it the crack in the windscreen got a little bit bigger.....
That'd be all the VW Vibration, Renault motor would be smoother in torque delivery, long stroke 4,.. like a mini Slant 6 in power delivery.
Aussie Valiant I think it separated then went back together
Yeah,I saw that too.
I know it was a lot of work but everything fit in there great! Cool cool ride there GZ. And it will scoot down the road too!
Yeah, this thing spent some time on massaging table.
that third gear chirp brought a smile to my face!
Saaweet,that is too nice. All that and a third gear scratch, damn that's cool. Yeah you never see one on the road. Keep it real and rolling. VW:-)
Randy has been doing this a long time. He knows how to build a fast car.
What a sweet sound!
Cool. Bet it took a lot of work on the VW pan and Renault body to make it fit. I never had anything like that, but I did used to have a very faded dark green 1966 bug with a lot of surface rust on it. It was completely stock looking, even had the stock bumpers. It had a Gene Berg 2213 engine with dual Webers. The entire drivetrain, steering, brakes, and suspension were seriously upgraded. I ran it against a lot of Japanese "ricer" cars at the track, and never got beat.
Great Story. Thanks for sharing. Randy spent a lot of time on this car to make it work
Awwsome its one of them you say look look LOOK then you say to late its gone,the last time i seen one of these was way back in the 70's at one of the custom show's at alexandra palace in london.
I haven't seen one those since high school, thanks
there is one here in new zealand thats a race car and runs a sb chev and manual with engine mid mounted facing rear with gear box next to driver through a vee drive ..awsome wee car
That sound Killer...... literally
It's a Volks - Renault ! ( motor, wheels from Vw's)......... more rare in USA than a beetle...Thanks for sharing ! ; )
You are right!
Just love this.
Great job!
Thanks for your comment and support
No worries, I had a teacher with one of these back in the early 60s, not seen one now for many, many years!
Keep up the good work!
2:22 "Are you legal" I laughed :D
Every car ride should start with that question to the owner of the car :P
I saw two Dauphines for sale in front of an old junkyard in MI and had a look. I immediately started thinking of a project something like this! There is something weirdly appealing about this body.
My friend Randy who built the car told me that the body was much lighter than the stock VW body that he removed from the pan. Power to weight is everything when it comes to performance. He was talking about adding an interrnal roll cage after he got all the bugs worked out.
i had a duaphine when i was apprentice, mine was very patinated too ... Lots of fun times with it on an apprentice wage of $35 a week while i rebuilt my proper car, a '39 Ford V8 Coupe. Dauphine means litle prince BTW.
a Renault Dauphine , I tried to buy one back in the day when I was flipping cars!
cool
Love it! You should name it Pale Horse.
How well did that fit together? I’ve got a couple Dauphines and I’ve been wanting to do something like this.
It went real well. He just used a stock VW beetle chassis. Of course he had to make supports to attach the two together but it is do able. Good Luck with your project
Did that wheelbases match close enough or was it resized
Hi Guys! Just thought I'd throw in a bit more. First, the engine sounds too good. Maybe poke a hole in one pipe, near the collector and find a quieter muffler. If you succumb to the guys who want you to paint it, load it up with 60's hippie "art". Put Flower Power on it and when someone questions you about it, you have to explain that they're mispronouncing the first word. It's not Flower like flour. It's Flower like goer. 2332cc HAS to flow thru those DP heads. Just funnin'. It'd be fun to hook up a springy wire with a big nut on it and position it so it taps on the fan housing. making it sound crappy is part of the sleeper camouflage. The more innocent it looks and sounds, the better. My last sleeper was a '73 Chevy Caprice with a gently massaged 454/400 combo, stiffened suspension and better brakes, all behind stock wheels with the factory wheel covers. It was a 4door no post model in a slightly homely shade of green with a bit of a raggedy white vinyl top. Looked like grandma's church and groceries car... until it was dusting a Trans Am.
Beautiful, I Love it!!!
Ruff and Ready for battle
Common practice in parts of Europe back in the day was to fit the 1600cc engine from a Alpine A110.
That car looks like something "Mr Bean" might drive.
Nice, Renaults are quite rare here in the US, where'd you find this one?
Craigs list
Is a very tipical car of the Spain in the years 50 (Renault Dhaphine, Ondine, Gordine), my dad repair this cars many years, the nick name of the cars is "El coche de la viudas" (the car of the widow) for its bad brakes.
Regards from Spain.
Thank you Pablo for the information. Very interesting. I will tell him.
Seriously cool. Love it
Can you still start it by sticking a hand crank into the back?
"are you legal" hahaha, love it
That laugh at the beginning :D
Lol at the cool as hell dauphine, I bet he could have fit a 6cyl turbo Corvair engine in there! Not hard to build well over 230hp and a ton of torque!
Cheaper and lighter to go with VW engine. Those Corvair parts are very collectable. Didn't you have to change the cam to reverse the engine rotation or something. Maybe just the Ring and pinion?
Yeah Corvair, flip the crown wheel/pinon as I recall. Made a great sound..( not the crown-wheel & pinion ...)
Gotta love a sleeper, and this one is absolutely SNORIN' !
never heard that one before. hehehe
In South Africa in the late 1960's and early 1970's Renault Gordini's were the iconic boy racers. Highly desirable and fast. The models that evolved from the Dauphine pictured here were square and box shaped. The VW floor pan makes an ideal fit as they were both rear engined cars. This does has the 5 stud VW wheels. If I remember the Dauphine had a curious 3 stud arrangement. The steering wheel also looks like VW but with the central hooter missing. Later on the hooter was a chrome ring on the inside of the steering wheel, so this was indeed an early VW floorpan
Scamp Porter thru Renault Africa imported & raced with great 'giant-killing' success several Renault Gordini's 1300's..of which I was fortunate to own one. Renault Racing Blue, (they were all blue)...Nice..Ran rings most and were great thru the twisties with; 4-wheel discs, 5-speed close-ratio Gordini box, hemi head, twin side-draught Webers, second petrol tank up front...All from the factory..Very nice indeed...Scamp would with great regularity beat most of the 'big boys' on the race tracks in South Africa...(RIP Scamp)
look up RENAULT DAUPHINE, We had a few in Britain in the early sixtys but didn't have the VW engine they had a small 4 cylinder Renault engine, The engine in that one looks like the ones used in the VW Varient in this country they were 1608cc and was sought after for beetle mods.
This one came with a 3 cylinder 2 stroke engine. Randy scrapped it and just set the body on a VW chassis. The power to weight ratio is Goldylocks
I love a Dauphine! The Renault is a great car...last one I saw was an R5.
My dad had a Renault Gordini. Not sure what year it was, but I do remember him taking himself, our mother and us three kids to New York from Sarnia Ontario. Funny thing. It didn't go like this one does ... but it sure looked like it. Was this model a Gordini?? Cudo's for not doing stupid things on the city streets!!! And at the 5:16 mark, it doesn't even sound all that tough ... just a VW engine!! Thumbs up.
That looks like a blast! What's down the road, turbo mods?
Probably not. Turbos are hard on tranny's. LOL
Love it. My kinda thing
My brother had a 3-lugger like this...We were jumping RR track crossings when one rear wheel and tire past us on a jump. He stuck a almost perfect 3-point landing...almost!
Those are moment's you never forget. I'll bet that was one of those. Hold my beer and watch this! hehehehe
badass little car
Best part it's street legal. It's going to surprise a few folks on the street. LOL.
that is for sure
Fun car. 😎 man.
Very cool little car.
It was a big hit at the dairy queen the other night
It has that hollow tin can echo with no interior, I like it.
technicalities... are ya legal? Very cool ride. Thanks for showing!
Thinking back on those heads and carbs you showed me you could make something crazy to pop into the the 64 hmmmmm Thanks for coming along
in the usa my brother had one of these dauphine's. He drove it to the junkyard to send it to heaven. The engine was held in with what seemed like a big rubber band. RIP
Back in 72 I worked for Auto Analysts in Pasadena Ca. One of their loan cars was a little green Renault like this. Minus the hot rod engine.
cool odd little 2 stroke engines
A fellow schoolmate had one of those when we went high school... We graduated in 1961....
i have chevy caprice 87 since 17 yrs i wanna keep it, i like old cars
That is cool I seen V bottom boats put vw pans campers never a Renault--one car show saw a vw beetle on a pontoon boat..
So far it is a one of kind as far as I know. Randy also did this to a little DKW car.
That’s so awesome!!!!
It's a fun ride for sure
He asks "Are you legal?" while the camera's looking at the badly cracked and delaminating windscreen. I'm not sure what the laws are like over there, But here in the UK the tentative answer would have been "Erm.... No". :)
Reman1975 I'm sure finding a good windshield will not be easy
And the hole in the floor, and the steering column held in place with a nylon strap
Yes, this is a Dauphine (but this particular model has only been made for export, the french one gor a different back). My father got one of the very first Dauphine, then another called Ondine. Some models were prepared by Gordini, royal blue with 2 white stripes.
Did he ever fab up some engine tins to allow for better cooling? (to separate the top of the car from the bottom?)
I don't think so. You seem to have this idea that this car is driven every day like normal transportation. It is what it is. A Sleeper Hot Rod. Just for squirting around and having fun on Saturday night or what ever????
Hey, don't get me wrong, the car is great (just not completed). It looks really simple to set it up though. Vents in the 1/4 panels and a grill in the rear. It's perfect. Also, it's a 2332...that's a lot of motor for air cooling. It's not like it's a dune buggy who's engine sitting out in the open.
It's good to have your mindset along those lines. Your stuff will last a lot longer that way. I'm not really sure what Randy has in mind. Have a great my friend.
Good thinking Ed..
beautiful adaptation, where can I get more information about this project?
He is just a friend in our VW group and does not post video's. I am familiar with the car. Maybe I can answer a few questions. Basically it is a stock VW pan with beefed up tranny and custom built VW engine.
More gooder huh? I was thinking most goodest myself!
remember the Buick Opel now thats a car I haven't seen in a while
... IIRC, during WW2, the navy built some sleepers out of crappy looking freighters. I think they were called Q-ships. They'd travel in areas that would be patrolled by lone U-boats vs. wolfpacks. Due to the incompetent appearance, U-boats would save their torpedoes and surface near the Q-ship to stop it and board it. Once the U-boat was close enough, the false crating was dropped, exposing the cannons and the U-boat was blown out of the water. You have one awesome Q-ship with the German engineering that goes back to the "people's car". Can't get much cooler than that. BTW, when we were getting to be old enough to drive, my friend got a Dauphine. He had quite a number of adventures, including getting it into the Salt River during one of the spring flows. He rode it about a mile until it ran up on a high spot. The wet ignition wouldn't start the engine but cranking the starter with the transmission in gear got the car out of the water. Good thing they didn't have clutch switches back then. Before lawyers removed intelligence from driving.
What a great comment. Thanks for sharing. I love Rat Rods and being the underdog. I've had so many nice cars over the years and it is painful to see them get dent's nicks and scratch's recently had a hail storm come threw and trashed my Lighting pickup truck. Now I enjoy having fun in a car that is mechanicaly sound and runs above average. Have a great rest of your day sir.
Great story/info, many thanks for posting..
A little bit of work on the interior and it's magnificent!
They did make a Gordini variant which I think had a 90 hp engine. It was pretty quick for the time.
Then he said, "wait, are you legal?"
Yes, "I lied."