Why selling just 1,640 Renault Sport Spiders was considered a success...

To be truly successful, an object needs just enough material to serve its purpose. In the case of a car, and particularly a sports car, removing material not only makes it lighter and therefore faster, but can also save on cost. A light yet robust structure was done to great effect in the 1880s by Gustave Eiffel, it was Colin Chapman’s watchword, and Renault strove to do the same on four wheels with the Renault Sport Spider. When a car with a shorter wheelbase and less weight than a VW Up! is married with a 148hp engine from the Clio Williams, you know it’s going to be fun! No wonder then that Road & Track described it as a “croissant designed for hand-to-hand combat”! Just why did Renault, a company who was focused on trying to reclaim a decent share of the family car market, make a limited-run out-and-out sports car?

Link to Patrick's book "Luckyman": https://lignesautoeditions.fr/?p=905
Patrick's previous book "Design Between The Lines": http://www.merrellpublishers.com/9781858946764

Link to the full interview with Patrick: https://youtu.be/o-zlJ13v_Ic

Solo Lap's video about the oscillating hinge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_0j4z8UM-A

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