Renault 4 - 1979
 

While we're all waiting you may enjoy this 16mm film from 1979.
Two R4s and an XT 500 (behind the camera). Agadez and back.



At 3 mins I was shocked to see the green and yellow BMW 2002 where my own XT500 trip ground to a halt a couple of years later.
Never thought I'd see that car again!

Alain's gallery (with XT) is here.

I can't imagine two less suitable vehicles!
But they were able to do it, quite possibly because no one told them they couldn't.

I think given the era, they chose wisely. Some think the 2CV might have been better but I think the tyres are too skinny, and the layout of the R4 is more practical (and the windows don't drop down and bang on your arm!)

C'est la voiture de...
 

And let's not forget the seemingly unkillable Beetle.
Add some Jag wheels (and possibly a gearbox from a Pinz) and it'll tackle the dune crossing on the Ain el Hadjadj piste in Alg.

Vraiment, c'est formidable!
More traffic violations than you could shake a stick at, but I had to double take at the reversing over the crossroads.
No way you could hunt game with that Wolfsburg farting and popping audible for miles, but I knew they were watertight - your ears would pop if you slammed the door with the windows fully shut!

It would be too cruel to bring up the missing/suffocated 2-cats-in-2-cars joke.
So I won't.

Talking of violations and animal cruelty, not even Top Gear in their prime would have risked immitating Jean Rouch's other film from that era: 'Giraffe Football' [with cars as the 'players'] also shot in Niger. It's on the same YT channel if you want to be appalled.

Why not?

When I crossed the sahara in '78 on my RD350 the vehicles of choice were either an R4, 2CV, VW beetle or kombi, or Peugeot 404/504.

Never saw a Landrover, or anything else with 4wd. All the locals just drove massive trucks and ploughed through.

About twenty years ago, god time flies, a mate and I built a VW Baja Bug and used it off road everywhere. We drove up a place in Australia called Mt Banda Banda. Pretty steep but doable. When we got to the top the Local Landcruiser Club were up there with their vehicles. We arrived and one of them walked over and said “you cant come up here in that”
Mate said “where here ain’t we.....”

Low weight, rear engine rear wheel drive and trailing suspension rules..


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