MEET THE OWNER – ALAN CARTWRIGHT AND HIS RENAULT SIETE
14th August, 2020
40-odd years ago, a holiday in Spain represented a prime opportunity for the British motor enthusiast to experience vehicles that he or she was unlikely to encounter at home. Asides from the delights of the Simca 160 taxis, seeing the SEAT 133 in its native habitat and marvelling at the still-ubiquitous 600, there were the local-market hybrids; the four-door 800 and 147 and the long-booted Austin Victoria.
Perhaps most startling of all was a strange booted version of the Renault 5 – the Siete. Today Alan Cartwright owns an extremely rare UK-registered example. He was initially attracted to his 1977 model by ‘the colour and the seat covers. I woke up, saw it on FB, called the guy said and “I’ll have it”, sent a deposit and was on my way all within 25 mins of seeing it’. At that time, the Renault was living in Devon, and Alan believes that the vendor privately imported it.
The roots of the Siete date back to 1953 when FASA - Fabricación de Automóviles Sociedad Anónima – commenced building the 4CV under licence. The Valladolid factory subsequently made Dauphines, 4s, 8s, 10s, 12s and 5s - and by the 1970s, Spanish Renaults were outselling SEAT. As FASAs customer-base still preferred “three-box” cars to hatchbacks, it made perfect sense to offer a saloon version of 5 that would appeal to those motorists who could afford neither a 12 nor a SEAT 124.
The Siete debuted in October 1974, and as compared with its parent model, it was four inches longer and boasted front chrome bumpers. It also sported four side-doors long before such an option was available on the 5. The latest Renault proved a great success with Spanish motorists, with annual sales reaching 30,000 cars between 1976 and 1978. FASA had no plans to produce export versions, and so it remained a local phenomenon. The range was facelifted in 1979, gaining modified exterior trim and a rebadging as the “7”. Sales ended in 1984 after 162,533 units with FASA’s introduction of the Renault 9.
Today, Alan finds that ‘no one has ever seen one or knows a 7 exists’, but it is still familiar to those of us who remember a bygone Palma or Santa Ponsa. It is tempting to speculate as to whether the Siete would have proved a success in the UK; the Vauxhall Nova saloon of the 1980s was undoubtedly a common sight. And judging by the Cartwright Siete, it would have sold on the strengths of its looks alone…
With Thanks To: Alan Cartwright
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