Hooniverse Weekend Edition – A Renault Alliance with only 340 Miles

Jim Brennan

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Comments


OK, so I’m running Sunday Postings about cars that their owners think are collectible because of the low mileage, and look, here’s one now. This is a 1985 Renault Alliance Convertible, built in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This is the time that AMC simply kept their factory open by building French hand-me-downs. So, is this a car that makes you go OOO-La-La, one one that makes you go rouge like the current Wisconsin Legislature?


Once again, you have to wonder why someone would go out and buy a car (and a dubious one at that) just to have it sit around. By 1985, the Alliance was beginning to sour on the American public, with lousy build quality, and numerous problems. This was the year that AMC decided to introduce the Convertible, but ignored the public when they asked for a Wagon version. According to the listing:

YOU ARE LOOKING AT WHAT I FEEL IS THE NEWEST( 26 )YEAR OLD ORIGINAL ALLIANCE CONVERTIBLE WITH ONLY ( 340 ) ORIGINAL UNRESTORED MILES IN EXISTANCE. THIS CAR IS AS NEW AS YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE RIGHT DOWN TO THE ORIGINAL WINDOW STICKER .THIS RARE AUTOMOBILE WOULD BE FUN TO DRIVE , DISPLAY , OR PLACE IN YOUR COLLECTION OR A MUSEUM. AN OPPORTUNITY TO FIND AND OWN A CAR LIKE THIS ONLY HAPPENS ONCE IN A LIFETIME. WHERE WOULD YOU EVER FIND ANOTHER( 340 )MILE( 26 )YEAR OLD ORIGINAL CONVERTIBLE ? ONLY HERE!!!!!!!!

THIS CAR HAS ALWAYS BEEN STORED IN MY CLIMATE CONTROLLED GARAGES! NEVER IN ANY WEATHER ALLOWING IT TO STAY PRISTENE ! I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER FOR ALL( 26 )YEARS!!!!!!! I NOW FEEL THAT IT IS TIME FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO ENJOY THIS GREAT CAR AS MUCH AS I HAVE !

THE CAR IS FINISHED IN CODE 9B OLYMPIC WHITE BASECOAT / CLEARCOAT. INTERIOR IS A GORGEOUS BLUE WITH BLUE CARPETING AND ACCENTS.THIS CAR COMES WITH THE LARGEST ENGINE AVAILABLE AND IS THE ( 1.7 LITRE ENGINE.)

THIS IS A TRUE ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY TO OWN SOMETHING REALLY SPECIAL, SO , DON’T MISS THIS ONE! YOU CAN BUY THIS CONVERTIBLE AND OWN SOMETHING REALLY SPECIAL VERSUS BUYING A NEW CAR THAT EVERYONE ELSE HAS AND IN ALL LIKELIHOOD PAY MUCH MORE. ALWAYS A HEAD TURNER AND ALWAYS A TROPHY WINNER!!! YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED!!


The Renault Alliance was so bad that in 2009, Car and Driver effectively recanted naming the Alliance to their 1983 Ten Best list stating

The Alliance proved that Wisconsin workers could assemble a Renault with the same indifference to quality that was a hallmark of the French automotive industry. 

Currently the bidding for this car has stalled at $10,600.00, and the reserve hasn’t been met. See the eBay listing here.

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Jim Brennan

Jim Brennan

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  1. Smells_Homeless Avatar
    Smells_Homeless

    "I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER FOR ALL( 26 )YEARS!!!!!!!" Well, there goes my theory that all these super-low mile cars belonged to the victims of spontaneous combustion. Back to the drawing board.

    Reply
  2. tonyola Avatar
    tonyola

    Every problem with old ultra-low-mileage cars applies in force here, and there is one additional problem to deal with – it's a terrible car to begin with.

    Reply
  3. jjd241 Avatar
    jjd241

    I think you summed it all up in one word: "dubious".

    Reply
  4. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    $10,600?! Take the money and run!

    Reply
  5. Van Sarockin Avatar
    Van Sarockin

    How much could the owner have enjoyed the car if he drove it all of thirteen miles a year?

    Reply
    1. skitter Avatar
      skitter

      One lap of the Nordschleife?

      Reply
  6. From_a_Buick_6 Avatar
    From_a_Buick_6

    Words escape me. A stupid variant of a hideously awful car. The convertible was further proof that the French didn't understand the American market and were too arrogant to notice or care. Calling the car a Renault instead of an AMC was another mistake, because as big of a joke as American Motors had become, the Renault name was mud in the States. The other Renault/AMC legacy products were far from flawless – hell, the Cherokee was a godawful vehicle – but they weren't the PR disaster that the Alliance/Encore were. I blame the branding – shoddy workmanship and poor reliability was largely excusable on an all-American Jeep, but not on a supposedly-superior foreign nameplate.
    And going into the '87 buyout, AMC had the Premier and Grand Cherokee waiting in the wings – two cars that revitalized Chrysler. With a little competence from upper management, AMC could have continued on just fine. Renault's successful alliance (heh) with Nissan shows what the French could've and should've done with American Motors.
    Back to the car in question…kill it with fire and place everyone who's bid on it in a padded cell.

    Reply
    1. mdharrell Avatar
      mdharrell

      "A stupid variant of a hideously awful car… further proof that the French didn't understand… and were too arrogant to notice or care… shoddy workmanship and poor reliability… kill it with fire and place everyone who's bid on it in a padded cell."
      Okay, now you're piquing my interest.

      Reply
  7. CJinSD Avatar
    CJinSD

    Didn't Chrysler have to track down every single one of these French designed vulgarities and replace the heater cores, even if they were already in the junk yard? I wonder if this one had the recall that involved hacking apart the area under the dash in order to fit a core less likely to scald the driver.

    Reply
  8. James Avatar
    James

    What a turd.
    I was conceived in the backseat of a Renault 4CV and I grew up in the backseat of a Le Car and even I think is a turd.
    "Hey, AMC, should we offer cloth seats in the new US market Renault convertible?"
    "Nah Renault, we'll just get some vinyl and print a tweed pattern on it. It wouldn't be a convertible if our fat American thighs didn't stick to the upholstery."
    "Can we at least make the rest of the interior the color of Crest toothpaste?"
    "You bet! Every inch of it!"

    Reply
  9. joe btfsplk Avatar
    joe btfsplk

    The owner needed a new wall….the car wouldn't start to move it…so they built the wall around it …and forgot about it. Everyone lived happily ever after.

    Reply
  10. dwegmull Avatar
    dwegmull

    I like cars that every one else hate… So this article picked my interest, until I got to the price! Seriously, drop a zero and throw in free shipping from Texas to California and you might have a deal. Provided that it runs…

    Reply
    1. Bukka Doopeyduk Avatar
      Bukka Doopeyduk

      Yes! So much hate and why? From '85 to '93 or so I ran through a series of mid '80's subcompacts as disposable commuter-mobiles–Chevette, Escort, Appliance, Omnirizon, and Corolla. The AMC/Renault was not the worst of that group. I'm with you–$1000 delivered is about right. For that price I would buy it for you, but only if you promise to drive it to 'cruise nights' and enter it in AACA car shows (class 27p).

      Reply
  11. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    OK same comment applies here as for the MG:
    Isn't 340 miles about the point where one of these things is worn out and needs a total restoration?

    Reply
  12. Jim Brennan Avatar
    Jim Brennan

    This car had a final bid of $12,400, and the reserve still wasn't met. I would have taken the money and ran with it. I wonder what the hell he wants for this thing…..

    Reply
  13. alex Avatar
    alex

    340 miles is a lot more than I'd want to I'd want to drive this POS over the course of 25 years.

    Reply
  14. RichardKopf Avatar
    RichardKopf

    In a word: no.

    Reply
  15. Chad Avatar
    Chad

    Renaults "success" with Nissan was only because people bought Nissans not knowing they had been cheapened by Renault. Many loyal Nissan customers have now been put off by Nissan since owning post-Renault Nissans. They no longer last as reliably, and have significant and costly breakdowns, that formerly would have been unheard of in a Nissan.

    Reply
  16. Zeferino Ramirez Avatar
    Zeferino Ramirez

    The car is still on sale, I live in MexicoCity

    Reply
  17. erwin seemann Avatar
    erwin seemann

    ihave owned a renaultalliance convertible just like the onepictured here for 26 years i live in central chile and have gone to brazil and argentina and all over chile totaling some 300 hundred thousand miles , the car has held up fien not trouble free of course but everything easy and reasonable to fix , it has given me great pleasure in all the Yeats and continues to do so i own a 57 chevy and a 81 Montecarlo so it´s not that i only know this car mine is a1.7 5 speed manual power steering ac and all the Works have gone trough 4 tops , a very pleasant car to drive.

    Reply
  18. thuds36th Avatar
    thuds36th

    Neat ragtop. Would love to have one as a summer driver. Last and only AMC was a new 1962 Rambler American 240 Convt purchased w a 2LT salary at Chanute AFB in April 1962. Drove it thru Europe and sold it to my NCO Line Chief when I had to visit the land that God forgot in Aug 1968. Stick w /OD/ AM radio and that be it for except for the folding seat backs. To be 24 again and have that ragtop.

    Reply