All right; you guys have had it too easy recently. I’ve given you lots of “safe” choices that ran fine, even if a couple of them were Daewoos. Not today; today’s contestants both ran when they were parked, and both will lead you down the back-alleys of eBay on a quest for parts to get them going again. But both are worth the effort, at least in my opinion.
You’ll need a van to haul all those parts, so let’s see which one you chose yesterday:
Huh. I thought the Dodge would have the upper hand, but you wanna haul stuff in your Chevy van, and that’s all right with me.
Right then. Here’s a rear-engine French car and a German GM product. You’re welcome. Let’s see what you make of them.
1968 Renault 10 – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: Rear-mounted 1.1 liter OHV inline 4, 4 speed manual, RWD
Location: Chico, CA
Odometer reading: 89,000 miles
Runs/drives? No, but was drivable not too long ago
In the classic 1942 film Casablanca, the corrupt police captain who ultimately did the right thing, played so brilliantly by Claude Rains, was named Renault. They said his name about fifty times in the movie, and pronounced it correctly. But that didn’t stop Americans from calling this a “Ren-ALT.” Only the incomparable George C. Scott was able to finally drill the proper pronunciation into (some) American heads.
The Renault 10 was a development of the Renault 8, which was in turn based on the earlier Dauphine. Like those, the R10 uses a longitudinally rear-mounted pushrod four-cylinder, displacing 1108 cubic centimeters here. The 8 and 10 look almost identical, the only difference being a few inches of length in the nose, to increase the size of the frunk. It’s an ungainly shape, but somehow appealing.
This 10 looks to be in fairly good shape, actually. It has a few dings and dents, but no rust to speak of. The car was on the road as recently as four years ago, but it sounds like it has been sitting since then, so a little work will be needed to bring it back to life.
Inside it’s rougher, with both the seat upholstery and the headliner needing some attention. But any good upholstery shop should be able to help you out there. The main thing is that it’s complete, intact, and hasn’t been sitting too long. It would make someone a fun project, and make a nice Saturday cruiser that you won’t see another of any time soon. It could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
[Editor’s Note: I just want to add that back in the day, these things tended to get great reviews. I have at least one ’60s era magazine that rounds up all the imports, from Fiat to Volkswagen to Austin and more, and the R10 comes out on top. It’s roomy, has great seats, a huge trunk – I love these things, and think they’re under-appreciated. – JT]
1974 Opel Manta Rallye – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 1.9 liter SOHC inline 4, 4 speed manual, RWD
Location: Seattle, WA
Odometer reading: unknown
Runs/drives? Not quite, starter is dead
Fun fact: My parents had a red 1970 (I think) Opel Manta when I was born, so it was the first car I ever rode in. Whether this early experience informed my lifelong love for small manual coupes I can’t say. I don’t remember it, but I do vaguely remember the Pinto Squire wagon that replaced it. I know my dad remembers the Manta fondly, and it’s the car in which my mom learned to drive a stick.
This Manta is a stick too, with a four-speed behind its 1.9 liter engine. It’s also a Rallye, which meant quicker steering and more aggressive suspension tuning in addition to the black hood and gauge package. It’s not any faster than a standard Manta, but it should carve up the corners a little more sharply. The apple-green paint and Rostyle steel wheels round out the package, and give it the consummate sporty ’70s coupe look.
It’s in really decent shape, actually. It has some rust in the battery tray and firewall that needs some attention, due to battery electrolyte leakage, but the rest of the body is solid. And the interior is presentable, if not perfect. Mechanically it sounds OK as well, though it needs a starter, or an ignition switch. It was running as recently as last summer, though.
Everybody remembers the Opel GT, and they are starting to get their due as collector cars, but I always preferred the Manta. And this looks like a good example, and worth saving. I hope someone takes up the challenge and gives this little green monster a second chance.
[Editor’s Note: I love these taillights. They look both like the Harvey Balls used by Consumer Reports to show ratings and also seem like they’d be fantastic hard candies. – JT]
I know a lot of people would shy away from projects like these, due to the difficulty in finding parts. But – and I say this as an MGB owner – it does get old seeing the same ten classics get picked as projects again and again, just because they’re easy to get parts for. The Renaults and Opels of the world deserve a chance too, and I love it when I see someone taking one on. Which one would you be willing to tackle?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
Mark, your parents had a Manta, my dad had a Renault 10. He loved it, said it had a great ride, was comfortable and roomy for it’s exterior size. Fun fact, they also had four wheel disc brakes, very advanced when many American cars of the era didn’t even have front discs.
I think they both are cool cars, I have always like the Manta, they got great reviews in the day too, and I think we’re the preferred ride in SCCA showroom stock for a while. However, have warm and fuzzy nostalgia towards the Renault, and it has more oddball appeal, so my pick is the ten, but rare one of these where time and space permitting I would consider buying both.
At least there’s no question of which one has the better parts supply! You’ll have a devil of a time getting spares for either.
That said, as a former Renault owner and onetime rebuilder of an R10’s engine — and another one’s brakes — I have a soft spot for the R10. A nice little driver, decent on fuel, and comfortable. That’s a lot more experience than I’ve had with Mantas. Or ANY Opels. I’ll stick with the familiar….
But…the prices! I know my friend didn’t pay any $2K for his cosmetically perfect R10, even with the cost of parts for the engine rebuild (he gave me shop space to rebuild my R16 and store my 4CVs, so I did the labor gratis). And the tab for the Manta seems, well, crazy. I’ve been away from that kind of stuff too long, I guess.
I have to go with the Opel because I have a soft spot for them as my first car was the less cool Kadett, but it was fun.
Too bad the Renault isn’t the 6. It would be interesting to have a car with different wheelbases on the left and right.
Interesting similarities in growing up: we had a manual Ford Capri until I was about 4 when we got an Aspen wagon with fake wood trim. Even as a small kid, I knew it was a huge downgrade, but we needed room for my sister. I don’t know if the Capri is why I’ve always loved small, modest-engined coupes, but it’s very likely that’s when I decided that kids ruin everything.
As an owner of two Renaults I voted for the Opel.
Not because the Renault wouldn’t be cool, but because owning a Renault in the US puts you through a level of hell trying to buy parts that I never would have expected. You need to get in good with a weird “underground” of parts suppliers that will bring in parts through backwater channels that makes a “fun” ownership experience much less so.
As the US owner of a Volvo 66GL sedan and 66GL wagon, each with a Renault Cléon-Fonte engine, can you hook me up with these underground parts suppliers and backwater channels? There’s a fair amount available through the DAF community but it never hurts to have more options.
Still navigating that myself. I did source a rebuilt engine from a guy in Ohio for my 4CV. He has an online store, https://renaultdauphinerestorationshopusa.co/about-us
They can get parts through odd channels (usually funneled through Canada) but that’s the only thing I’ve purchased so far. Not much luck, even with the “Renault Owners Club”. Not a lot of activity there so I’m always looking for other avenues.
Did not expect that when I bought these cars. They made over a million of them so I figured it’d be easier but I didn’t realize French suppliers wouldn’t ship to the U.S.
I voted Renault
I saw that renault a while back on CL. and it had me super tempted… Id definitely go with the renault tho, as it’s a california car, so the likelihood of rust is considerably less.
I’m going with the Opel all day, because it has better suspension and I prefer the looks. Forget restoring it though, I’m here for blasphemy. Track down a FiST engine / transmission, have custom halfshafts made, and enjoy the ensuing hilarity.
Wait, I’m dumb, the Opel is RWD. Forget the FiST engine. Wonder how hard it would be to put a 4-cyl Mustang engine and transmission in that bay.
Either are more than ok with me. I went with the color.
Opel.
It’s all part of my rock ‘n roll Mantasy
[Before I see myself out]: These cars always had a nice street appearance, the sporty touches were never kitschy, and I knew two owners who were just as low key and cool as these little tossabouts.
Mantastic!
As a college freshman who needed a car TODAY, I bought a Renault 8 for the equivalent of $120 2 blocks from my house. No matter what I (or any of my friends who borrowed it) did to it in the following 3 years we couldn’t kill it, but it was by far the crappiest thing I’ve had the displeasure to drive, ever.
It was incredibly slow (my first car, 500cc 4-stroke V-twin with 4 people in it was a rocketship compared to the R8 with just me in it), the very tall sidewall but super-skinny tires and terrible weight distribution meant that you had to corner at walking speed, it had no brake booster, so you’d have to pull yourself against the steering wheel and push all your weight into the brake pedal to attempt a stop, so much steering play it would make a Jeep Wrangler seem like a F1 car, and I think the best gas mileage I ever managed was about 20mpg.
All this to say I’d pick the Opel without question, there’s no contest at all.
I went with the Opel because it’s my favorite color but I’d rock either one of these honestly.
I’m weirdo with a thing for French cars, so I’ll take the rear engine rolling brick.
If you want to pronounce Renault 10 in proper French, it would be like RENN-oh DEEZ-uh, with that last syllable sort of swallowed. That said, I’ll leave all the so-ugly-it’s-cute cars to Torch.
Oh, and roll the R.
… and add a “nutz”?
sorry, I’ll see myself out
Here in Europe, it’s the Manta (A and B’s) that you see quite often at car gatherings, and even though I have a 35-year Opel Ascona that I love, I would go for the Renault for the quirkiness and the relative rarity.
The Renault is just so much more interesting, you know?
I’ve owned an Opel Manta before. (And a Rekord and a Senator, too.) Wanted a GT, but found a Manta instead. I’d like another, especially one with floor pans in the footwell instead of giant rust holes. It can be quite stimulating to drive a car where if your foot slips off the brake pedal, your foot is the brake. It certainly doesn’t let you test the limits at all, so I feel like my Opel experiences are incomplete.
No bad choices here. They both look very restorable without any Herculean efforts.
I actually think both of these are valid options and wouldn’t fault anyone for voting either way, but it’s the Renault for me, to the extent that if I still lived in California today, I would be spending this morning IM’ing with my wife to try to justify the purchase.
I have a fondness for the Cléon-Fonte engine and three-lug wheels, so I’d be willing to give the Renault a try even though the Opel has the better color scheme and the word Rallye in its name.
Versus most other cars on SS, I’d pick the Renault as a cool/quirky project. But I have a soft spot for the seventies Euro coupes. I’d love to mildly restomod both a Manta and Escort MKI.
70s Opels are awsome. I was really really close to buying a red Kadett wagon a couple years back, and I regret not doing it to this day.
I wanted to vote for the Renault, it’s quirky and cool. But the Manta just wins. It’s cooler.
Agreed on giving more odd-balls a chance at a resto. I was at a car show on Sunday, and it was Chevelle after Chevelle. I love Chevelles, but these events could use a little more flavor. Extra points to the guy who had to get creative putting something like these two back together.
I’m guilty of it too: Before I bought my MGB GT, I was looking at a ’69 Sunbeam Alpine GT coupe in similar condition. Chickened out. I don’t regret it, because I love the MG, and I’ve seen the Alpine for sale again since then, in the same condition it was when I looked at it. It’s still an incredibly cool little car. But it still doesn’t run.
The MGB is a fine car. I enjoyed mine a great deal before jettisoning my already tenuous association with automotive sensibility by trading it to a guy for an HMV Freeway.
The MGB IS a fine car, have had a couple. I was introduced to the world of Sunbeam Alpines by a neighbor who became a friend and had two of them in his garage. While not as easy as the MG, parts are not too bad, with retail sources and a virtually linked community. Like Corvairs air cooled VWs, and other such, people that own one are as likely as not to have one or two more for parts, and you link up with the community (part of the fun) you can find what you need.
A nice bit of car porn for Torch – big frunks and uniquely segmented taillights.
2 doors > 4 doors, and ran and drove 1 year ago > ran and drove 4 years ago. Gimme Opel.
I’m going to go against the grain and go Ren-OH. Every time I find Opels up for sale, it seems like they just never aged that well and need everything. Since I’ve never bitten on one of these, I can’t say whether or not parts availability is good or not, but I’m inclined to say probably not (the Renault probably isn’t much better if at all). Maybe it’s because I’m weird, but I just enjoy French cars. But how much fun would a bonafide RR car be to drive?
Oui Renault.