This car was given its debut in the 1981 Monte Carlo Rally and was driven by Frenchman Jean Ragnotti in the original Renault yellow, black & white colour scheme, the car won the event and Ragnotti achieved his first of only 3 WRC victories. The Renault appeared at a time considered to be the 'Golden Era' of rallying, competing against the likes of young Fin Henri Toivenen in a Talbot Sunbeam, Hannu Mikkola & Michelle Mouton in the all new 4WD Audi Quattros, Ari Vatanen in the Privateer Rothmans Ford Escort MkII and other manufacturers including Opel Ascona, Fiat Arbarth, Datsun 160J & a big budget entry from Mercedes with the 450SL which proved to be a big disappointment.

The Renault 5 was powered by a 1397cc straight 4 cylinder OHV engine with a Gallet T3 single Turbo system giving a power output of around 250hp, transmission was a 5 speed unit derived from the Renault 30TX, Aluminium paneling was used instead of the heavy fiberglass which kept weight to around 900kg. In total the Renault 5 won 3 WRC events, its replacement, the Renault 5 Turbo Maxi winning one more. Further victories may have followed however the FIA ban of group B cars in 1986 put an end to the Renault 5's participation in rallying.

The original Tamiya kit is a curbside version however I decided to open both the bonnet and rear hatch to reveal a fully detailed engine in the rear and ancilliary components such as radiator, battery, coolants etc are under the bonnet. A trip to the Festival of Speed last year gave me the idea for this project and I managed to get a considerable number of reference pictures of the actual vehicle on the Renault motorsport stand. Upgrade items from Studio 27 & Acu-stion and further items from Scale Motorsport as well as numerous scratch built parts were used to enhance the details of the model.

Click above for build and completed pictures