You probably already know the story... Renault built the first R5 Turbo as rally car. FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) rules state that a Group 4 rally car has to be a production car; a car that is sold to the public through regular dealer channels. Renault built and sold 400 of the first R5 Turbos. It had an aluminum hood and roof along with an R5 Turbo-specific dashboard.
This, the R5 Turbo II, has a completely steel body and the dash from a standard R5 (with a few extra gauges). It sold for less then the original R5 Turbo. It performed just as well. Renault sold over 3000 (some sources say 4000) of the R5 Turbo II. It was never officially offered in North America.
The Turbo II goes to 60 MPH in 6.5 seconds. It has a top speed of 125 MPH. All of that comes from a 1,397cc pushrod engine, mounted behind the driver.Despite Renault's best efforts to prevent it from happening, 200 or so R5 Turbo IIs made their way to the US. This is one of them.
This car has just over 5600 miles on it. It was imported in 1985. The federalization was done by a company called "M TEC" of Gardena, CA. I'm not familiar with them and most of these cars were federalized by another California company, Sun International Racing. No matter, it has all the proper paperwork and is now over 25 years old, anyway.
This car looks close to what I assume a new R5 Turbo II looked liked. Everything is in very good to perfect condition. It comes complete with service history and paperwork verifying the mileage. Best of all, this car has not been modified in any way. (Other than what needed to be done to get it EPA / DOT certified.)The asking price is a heart stopping $59,995.00. That's a ton of money. But, this is the type of car that has no set value. An R5 Turbo is a rare car in the US. One with low mileage is extremely rare. (This may be the lowest mileage R5 Turbo in the US) It's worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. To someone who made his or her money after 1984, this may be their only chance to buy an "as new" R5 Turbo. To them, it may be worth the asking price.
Located in Los Angeles, CA, click here to see the Craigslist ad.In a weird coincidence, as I was just about to schedule this piece to post, I got an e-mail about this car. It is now on eBay, too. Click here to see the listing.
