Previous | Done | Next 1985 Renault R9 (Alliance) Convertible When I decided to ditch the R5, it was still operating perfectly well and I had the luxury of being able to take my time and look for a car that I really liked. I decided that a good car would be a Renault Fuego, which was their sport GT model. A friend back home had one, and the one time I drove it I found that it handled better than either my R12 or R5. I started calling all the dealers in town asking if they had one. Most places treated me like a weirdo, but one place said that although they didn't have a Fuego they did have a Renault Alliance convertible. I was intrigued. I knew that there was a convertible version of the Alliance coupe, but I had never been particularly interested in the Alliance/Encore line. Still I decided to check it out. It was a bitterly cold day in February, and the irony was not lost on me that I was going to look at a convertible in such weather. The car looked like new, and in fact had less than 10,000 miles on it. It was black with a gold fabric interior. This was good, because vinyl seats, especially black vinyl seats, would have been a show-stopper for a convertible (try sitting down in shorts after the vinyl has been sitting in direct sunlight for a while). The dash board was particularly appealing, with a smart instrument cluster and tidy central console that was very well resolved around the stick shift. The front bucket seats had this funky pedestal mount that provided a unique rocking adjustment in addition to standard reclining (this configuration can still be found today in the Jeep Cherokee). I took the car for a ride and found that although it didn't handle like my R12 or R5, it had a much more smooth and "luxurious" ride. The convertible top was adequately wind-proof and the heater worked well enough to convince me that it would deal with the Northcountry Winters just fine. I decided that I wanted the car. This would be the first time I ever bought from a dealer, however, and the first time I had to pay a commensurate price (somewhere over $6000). It wound up being the first time I had to get a car loan. Fortunately my credit record, albeit somewhat spartan, was also spotless. I had no trouble getting the loan. I transferred the plates from the R5, put a "For Sale" sign on it, and parked it along the busy street on which I lived. Unfortunately with the bad reputation the car had gained, and the general lack of appreciation for French cars among the American automotive public, I don't recall getting a single inquiry. When I moved out of that apartment I just left the car behind. I think that the landlord eventually gave me about $50 for it. Although I bought the Alliance more for the convertible top than for the fact that it was a Renault, it proved to be a most remarkable car. It didn't have the quaint charm that the R12 or R5 had, but it was much more smooth, tight, and essentially modern. And with a conventional transverse mounted engine and transaxle, the shifting was very clean. This was a luxury I had learned to live without and was pleased to have back. The convertible top wound up being a lot of fun when the warm weather finally rolled around, but regardless of that I just absolutely loved to drive this car. I often went for drives around the Syracuse area just for something to do, and with the frequency of my road trips I found that I was putting miles on the car at an alarming rate. I also knew that when this car reached the 60,000 mile mark that I could expect the same kind of trouble I had with the R5. I decided that I should buy a second car for day-to-day driving and save the Alliance for pleasure-oriented convertible driving. Previous | Done | Next