IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: Renault 18 Estate (Renault 18 Break)

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Today we are out in the Renault 18 and thankfully a lovely example to boot - so we get to see how this car would’ve handled at her peak.

The Renault 18 went from concept to production in less than 18 months, a similar timescale to the Morris Marina, which meant that the car wasn’t a groundbreakingly new design - in fact - it was based on the Renault 12 which it had been drafted in to replace.

Despite this, the 12 sold alongside the 18 for the first two years of production, only being phased out in 1980.

The 18 set out to conquer the world in a way the 12 just hadn’t been able to do. Renault had of course sold the 12 internationally, it just hadn’t been a big hit like they knew they deserved so they decided to do things differently with the 18 and set out their intentions with the slogan ‘Meeting International Requirements.

Now in 2020 that might sound basic, but in 1978, this was a power move and saw Renault make great leaps and the 18 went on to be produced in 10 countries outside of France and 4 continents worldwide. It even went as far as being considered by India for a massive public sector car manufacturing project.

The 18 estate offered pretty much the same set up as your 18 saloon in terms of seating, but as an estate it really squared up to competitors. It offered a fully folding rear bench seat, which I wasn’t able to test due to absolute fear of breaking plastic clips I wouldn’t be able to replace easily and with that, over 65 cubic feet of cargo area and a 5 1/2 foot long flat floor. In addition to this, they were given variable rate rear coil springs with long travel shock absorbers - although when we test this you’ll see the ride is quite hard and slightly off-putting - so this may need looking at - but I have nothing to compare it to to determine if this is correct or not.

Now funnily enough when I tested this as an 80s estate, I had the CX Safari and the Montego in mind, but when this came to market in the UK it was intended to compete with the Ford Cortina, the Morris Marina, Vauxhall Cavalier and Chrysler Alpine. Initially it did well in the early days, because let’s face it, this is a far more comfortable ride than a Marina and more exciting than a Cavalier and in 1980 it was the 10th best selling car with over 30,000 units shifted in the UK alone.

However as the 80s wore on, the competition were bringing in new designs and new models and the car saw stiff competition from the likes of Ford, Vauxhall and Austin Rover. From the Sierra and new Cavalier to the Montego, buyers could pay less and get something which looked a bit more modern.

Now when I tested this on it’s merit as an estate, I didn’t realise that this wasn’t an option immediately available to the buying public. In fact, the car was initially only available as a saloon and it wasn’t until 1979 that the estate was an option, announced at the Paris Motor Show that autumn.

1979 was also the year they decided to add back seat belts as a standard fitment - not something you paid extra for or as a dealer fitted as a part of a buyers package.

It’s also worth noting at the point in the video that if you’re watching this from a French speaking country, you may know this as a the Renault 18 break and if you’re watching in Australia this was sold as the Renault 18 station wagon. The joys of marketing a car globally!

By the time this estate as we see here today was purchased in 1985, the type 2 had been available for a year after launching in April 1984. The type 2 wasn’t a big game changer and in fact the biggest change other than the grille and rear spoiler changes was the dash - which wasn’t a new design but instead lifted straight from the Fuego.

And in fact by 1985, the year of this car, the production was slowing down and changes were lessened because Renault’s attention was firmly planted on the 21 - which of course launched in 1986.

Production pretty much came to a close on these cars in 1986 except for the 2 litre petrol engine R18s, which were exclusively made for the export market. Interestingly though, the worldwide appeal of the 18 lived on because the cars were still being made in Latin America until 1994.

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