Just in time before the end of summer comes this Renault convertible appropriately painted in white over tan interior.
It was actually made by American Motors Company and built in Wisconsin. Since 1979, Renault had an ownership stake in AMC, which resulted in dozens of cars until AMC's eventual sale to Chrysler in 1988.
The Alliance was produced from 1983-1987. It's a rudimentary front-wheel drive compact car to compete with the likes of Chrysler's K-cars. It even looks like a K-car, although that's not necessarily an insult. The shape is simple, clean, well-proportioned and generally inoffensive.
Although hopes were high and the car initially impressed, the complexities of AMC's relationship with Renault seemed to eventually defeat the Alliance. Not a wide enough variety of body styles were offered. The cars were underpowered. And reliability grew poor. It was eventually determined that despite the U.S.-based construction, the cars were really no better than notoriously poorly built French cars. The final slap on the face was in 2009 when Car & Driver retracted their 1983 naming of the Alliance as car of the year. Ouch.
This Alliance is the final-year-only GTA trim. It was a "high performance" edition that came with a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder engine producing 95 horsepower, body skirts, and various other mechanical and cosmetic upgrades.
The seller of this Alliance says they acquired it in 2006 with just 71,985 miles on it and have since put on only an additional 7,655 miles.
They have most records from '06 onward.
They say the vehicle was in an accident at some point, but was repaired. They say the rear window is cracked, but the power top works, although there are a few tears. They say the car was only driven in the summer during their ownership, and the undercarriage has been coated with rust preventer. They do mention there are a few cosmetic blemishes.
Mechanically, they say it shifts fine and does not burn or leak oil.
Find it here on ebay in Holland, Michigan.
This version may be the best variant of the Alliance range, but it still sucks. Then again, I'm irreparably biased.
ReplyDeleteWhen I met my (now) wife, she had a (then) several year old refrigerator white base trim 2-door Renault Alliance sedan. We nicknamed it the Renault Appliance - a slight misnomer, since it never worked right.
It was equipped with formless, rock hard, heat-absorbing beige vinyl seats, and not a single power or convenience option. No A/C either. In fact, it didn't have any options, except for the 3-speed power-sapping slushbox (which did no favors for the anemic little 64hp engine).
It had been well maintained, but it was not even remotely reliable. We were on a first name basis with the AAA tow truck driver. My wife often had to walk halfway to work, depending on where it died that day.
When it worked, it was slow to accelerate, slow to brake, and handled poorly. Once, we had to take it on a trip from New York to Virginia Beach. It only broke down twice.
Thanks for dredging up those horrible memories, Sam. I need to take some sort of antidepressant now.
I am very sorry to put you through that Larry! But you know that's a risk every time you visit my site ;D
DeleteNo worries. It's like an allergic reaction whenever I see one of these little crapboxes.
DeleteWow. Somebody thought this miserable little car - with a missing rear window - was worth $2700. Well sold.
ReplyDelete