MEET THE OWNER – DAVID FOOT AND HIS RENAULT 18TD ESTATE

For a car that was not uncommon on British roads during the 1980s, the 18 seems to have been largely forgotten. It deserves to be better remembered for it was a Renault of many good qualities and a more than viable alternative to a Vauxhall Cavalier or the Ford Sierra. You are now more likely to see the Estate version in the background of Howard’s Way (assuming you could bear to re-watch that terrible series) than on the road. And David Foot’s very fine 1984 model is made even rarer by its diesel engine.

The 18 made its bow in March 1978, and Renault intended it to appeal to owners of the long-established 12. A further market was the 16 driver who now craved a car with a separate boot, while the closest domestic rival was the Peugeot 305. According to this commercial, the 18 was equally suited to the motorist who donned sunglasses for a trip to Carrefour.

British sales commenced towards the end of that year, with ITV viewers no doubt thrilled by this uber-naff advertisement.

‘Looks like no other Renault’, proclaimed Edward Judd in tones even more dramatic than in his Think Bike! public information films.

1979 saw the Estate join the range and July 1980 saw the Diesel’s introduction. Power was from a 2,068cc engine used in the 20 TD/GTD. In France, such a format made a good deal of financial sense, but oil-burning units carried the same tax penalty as petrol in the UK. This meant there was little or no cost advantage if a British buyer specified a diesel engine.

However, Autocar of 11^th April 1981 thought the saloon version of the TD combined ‘real performance with super economy’. The writer concluded his choice as a ‘family car’ was between the Renault and the Citroën CX 2500D. The 18 won ‘by a small margin, mainly due to its rather less complex layout’ and at £5,490, the Renault was also quite a bargain.

The range received a facelift in September 1982, and French production of the 18 ended in 1986 with the introduction of the 21. David, a dyed-on-the-wool Renault enthusiast, came by his TD Estate in 2019. ‘It’s always got a good deal of looks when I have taken it out to shows, and it brings back lots of memories for people’. He also appreciates the styling and finds the seats and the ride more comfortable than many modern cars.

Renault made 2,028,964 18s in France plus thousands of overseas-built versions in Argentina, Australia, Chile, the Ivory Coast, Mexico, Morocco, Romania, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela and the former Yugoslavia. Production at the Columbia plant ended as recently as 1994 while AMC distributed the 18 in the United States.

Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic, a mere 23 examples remain on the road. As David puts it, back in 1984, ‘no one would really bother looking at it, but now it’s a head turner’.

With Thanks To: David Foot

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