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Article: RENAULT REFLECTS THE 20TH CENTURY
- Article from:
- Automotive News
- Article date:
- September 28, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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PARIS - Renault's history is a modern epic, with heroes and traitors, victories and defeats, glory and shame, successes and failures. It is a reflection of the 20th century.
The epic began in 1898. The assets of the fledgling carmaker were a technical breakthrough, the so-called direct-drive gearbox, and a small two-seat car, the Voiturette. Both were created by 21-year-old Louis Renault.
Born in 1877 to a wealthy family of Paris merchants, Renault was a self-taught mechanic with a genius for invention. He had no money of his own, so his older brothers, Fernand and Marcel, founded Renault Freres in 1899 to allow Louis to launch his enterprise.
The ...