Renault Fregate

[henk4]

Renault Fregate

In the late forties Renault thought that it was the right time to launch a higher middle class, and they presented the Fregate, a four door sedan, fitted with a four cylinder engine, initially with 1997 cc and later 2141 cc. In the latter version the engine had 80 BHP and could reach 145 kph. All wheels were independently sprung, using trailing links at the rear.
Things however went not as easy as described above. Initially a large version of the 4CV was proposed, and the rear engined Prototype No.108 was presented, but rejected. Renault then switched to a front engine/rear drive lay-out, but scaling up the 4CV engine to 1996 (with new wet liners) proved to problematic, in particular because of the long pushrods that could not cope with high revs. Further complicating the development of the car was the fact that the Korea conflict made the French Government decide that for 1951 no new models could be presented. Renault then showed a very unready Fregate in November 1950, and finally hit the road at the end of 1951. In 1953 two new versions appeared, which were already heavily modified (rear axle, sound insulation, steering). The cheaper one was called Affaires, which replaced the original version, while a new luxury variant, Amiral, was added.
In 1956 the Fregate Domaine estate version was presented, while in 1959 the final version Transfluide saw the light. It was fitted with a three speed semi auto-box. The Transfluide set a new record for the trip from Cape of Good Hope to Algiers, doing it in 9 days and 18 minutes, about one and a half day shorter than the previous record, set by a Delahaye 235 in 1953.
In spite of this major achievement, production ceased in 1960 and 177,686 examples were made. It was the last front engined, rear driven Renault made.

Shown is an early model at the Concours d’Elegance at Het Loo in 2004

[Ozrenofan]

Here is a photo of 2 x Fregates taken in Canberra Australia, this past Easter weekend at the Renault Rendezvous for the 100years of Renault celebrations.
Seeing the Dark Red car on the first day was the first time many of us had seen one on the road, then on the display day(second day) the black one turned up too.

[nota]

Welcome Ozrenofan to UCP

You will find a few other Canberra posters on this forum. I too attended the Renault meet and took some pics, including of the black Fregate you mention. Its owner pointed out the right-hand-drive version of Fregate included a novel right-side column shifter and described the more intricate linkages required to achieve such a system!

I especially liked their stylish Jet Age bonnet mascot

[john14]

The Renault Fregate is very beautiful and the fact it could reach 145 kph is impressive for a pre 1950s car.