Curbside Classic Outtake: Datsun F10 Doppleganger Discovered? Renault R 17
January 8th, 2010 5:25 PM
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I knew the F-10 coupe was reminding me of something else in my CC repository. And then it hit me: the Renault R 17! Unfortunately, this one’s front end wasn’t available, but here’s a nice one:
The R 15 and R17 coupes were based on the R12 sedan, and it’s hard to say exactly why Renault chose to offer two coupe variants, with different roofs. But Renault sometimes worked in mysterious ways. Here’s an R 15:
And here’s the whole family, with an enthusiastic Renault owner:
Finally, my shot of the Eugene car’s interesting dash:
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The Renault does it right. The Datsun does it ugly.
They're both interesting cars visually. While I knew people who owned Renaults in the 70s and always wound up hating them, the 17 I rarely saw when new but liked the style.I had a lot of experience driving a friend's F10 , bought new. At the time I was appalled that he bought it as it was universally panned in the car magazines as being cramped and ugly , unlike the 17 which while unique I wouldn't call it ugly. And it looks a lot more spacious. I recall that in the F10 I had like 2 inches of headroom and I'm only 5'5".But I agree, both have a ton of quirky personality, sorely missing on almost all cars today.