Filled with similarities with the Prototype 5 that anticipates the return of the Renault 5 — or will it be the other way around — the Renault 5 Turbo PPG it is a symbol of an already distant era of the Gallic brand.
Today "arm in arm" with the Japanese in the form of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, there were times when Renault came to be hand in hand with brands across the Atlantic, more precisely with the American Motors Corporation (AMC) — which also owned the Jeep.
Renault would become AMC's largest shareholder in 1980 and increase its stake to 49%, where after years of poor results, it would eventually sell its stake to Chrysler which would absorb AMC (and the valuable Jeep) in 1987.
an unorthodox choice
It was during this period, when Renault effectively owned AMC, that projects such as this Renault 5 Turbo PPG were born.
The PPG name came from PPG Industries, a company owned by the chemical industry, the main sponsor of the Indy Car World Series at the time, which was famous for soliciting the creation of some of the most memorable Pace Cars in history.
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In 1982, PPG Industries challenged AMC, GM, Ford and Chrysler to create a Pace Car for the 1982 Indy Car World Series season, and the solution presented by AMC resulted in the story we tell you today.
Instead of betting again on the 1980/81 AMC AMX PPG Pace Cars, AMC decided to promote the small Renault 5 (which was marketed in the US as Le Car), having the idea of the then vice president of design at AMC , Richard A. (Dick) Teague.
The similarities between the Renault 5 Prototype and the 5 Turbo PPG go far beyond color.
Renault 5 (almost) in name only
Taking advantage of the creative freedom offered by the fact that the Renault 5 Turbo PPG is just a Pace Car, Richard A. Teague gave free rein to his imagination.
For starters, he made his prototype wider and lower than the 5 Turbo II that he was inspired by. In addition, it focused heavily on aerodynamics, giving it lines far less angular than those presented by contemporary Renault 5s.
Adding to this and increasing the "wow factor!" from the Renault 5 Turbo PPG, Richard A. Teague offered him some eye-catching “seagull wings”, a solution then very popular, courtesy of the DeLorean DMC-12 who donated some of the door mechanism components to this peculiar Renault 5.
Painted in the colors of Renault, with the brand name and model clearly visible all over the place, and flashy BBS wheels identical to those used by the Renault 5s that ran in the IMSA GTU category, this Pace Car was difficult to go unnoticed.
Live right next door
In the mechanical chapter, the Renault 5 Turbo PPG used the Cléon-Fonte four-cylinder Turbo engine with 1.3 l and 160 hp that appeared housed in a central rear position. The suspensions were inherited from the Renault 5s that had participated in the IMSA GTU championship in 1981.
Fulfilled its mission as a pace car, the Renault 5 Turbo PPG ended up being kept in a warehouse, being one of the few Pace Cars of that era that survived. Bought for 50 thousand dollars (about 41 thousand euros) by Sunspeed (owners of the Madison-Zamperini collection), this one ended up being sold to the Spaniard Teo Mártin.
This would not be the last Pace Car produced by Renault for PPG Industries, having also been born the Renault 5 Aero Wedge Turbo and the Renault Alpine, but their story is for another day.