Although the UK counts as the cradle of the kit-car, also France has some tradition here.
One of the companies was created by Francois Benais and Max Saint-Hilaire and was aptly called BSH. The kits were produced by Issy-Automobiles. The big advantage was that all sorts of parts of standard Renaults of that time could be used, preferably those from the R8 and the R16.
The kit offered a tubular chassis, combined with the front axle of the Renault 8, a polyester passenger section, to be fixed to the chassis by 6 bolts, polyester front and rear wings and covers, two doors and two seats, again made from polyester and all the necessary links and connections for operation of the engine and the gearbox.
The body shape was found to be impressive but lacking in side and rear visibility. As most of cars could easily surpass 200 kph, at that time though there was little to worry about what was going on behind. With only 3.95 metres in length and weighing less than 600 kg, the car was a real bombshell.
In total 50 kits were produced. Shown here is one that was present at the Renault Club gathering during the 2006 LeMans Classic. For those who want more information Google will direct you to French websites…..
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