by Mike –
Tim Koster of The Netherlands sent this email below plus several photos.
These cars look like a lot of fun, like a dune buggy or a Fiat Jolly!
Hello Mike,
I am a fan of your daily posts. I particularly liked the post about the Italian classics. The picture of the Fiat 600 jolly conversion reminded me that I had planned to alert you to the Renault 4 Plein Air.
This is a beach car conversion of a regular Renault 4 R1123 by Sinpar, a Renault subsidiary for special products. Only about 500 R4’s were converted to Plein Airs between 1968 and 1970. Disappointing for Renault, but great for value, the Plein Air was not a commercial success and today the car is extremely rare and prices are increasing every year.
I attach a couple of pictures, but please take a look at the Plein Air website that I manage.
The two cars in the last picture are mine.
Kind regards,
Tim
Below is a quote from the Plein Air web site.
The Plein Air was introduced in the spring of 1968. Plein Airs were converted by Renault group company Sinpar S.A. from regular 4 speed R1123’s produced by Renault. A R1123 selected for conversion entered Sinpar’s premises as a complete R4 Berline to undergo a complete make-over and leave without doors and roof to be delivered to clients who had ordered their Plein Air from one of Renault’s dealers worldwide. Plein Airs were actually sold and delivered into France, Canada, United States, Mexico, Finland, Germany, UK and the Netherlands.
In 1968 approximately 20 Plein Airs were exported to Canada to be used on the site of the 1968 Terre des Hommes World Exhibition in Montreal. Approximately 500 Plein Airs were produced by Sinpar until 1971, when it was succeeded by the R4 ACL Rodeo. After 1971 Renault continued to offer Plein Air conversion kits for self-made plein airs, but little is known about their number.
Each Sinpar Plein Air was given a unique Sinpar production number, put on a round Sinpar identification plate fixed next to the Renault oval R1123 plate and the diamond chassis number plate under the bonnet. A Plein Air is only an original Sinpar Plein Air if fitted with the round Sinpar plate. The highest Sinpar production number known today and registered in the Plein Air Register is 563, the lowest 133. The Plein Air records of Sinpar, if they ever existed, have gone lost which makes verification of information and production numbers not easy.
Tim Koster’s Renault 4 Torpedo Sinpar ‘Plein Air’
Sell your classic car on My Car Quest – click here.
This article was originally published in February 2013.
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