“This is the first time we’ve been offered a new car!” The team of cheeky mechanics at “Vintage Mecanic” have something to be astonished about. For eight seasons, François Allain’s show has indeed presented the restoration of an old car every week – like the BMW Z3, ??on April 6. However, there, they find themselves facing a 4L in new condition. For an unprecedented challenge: the Renault Classic subsidiary of the Renault group asks them to design a kit to convert this 4L thermal into an electric model – via the retrofit kit -, so that it is homologated, then presented at the Retromobile show, and marketed. Renault representatives say they want to become “the first car manufacturer to get involved in the retrofitting of popular old vehicles”.
The proposal is flattering for “Vintage Mecanic”, but risky. The magazine has a loyal following, made up of “nice car” lovers, who appreciate the team’s jokes and good humor but mostly view electric cars with suspicion. Too smooth in their eyes, no smell of gasoline or engine noise.
Roll mechanics
François Allain embodies this public: “Electricity is not my thing at the start, he admits. But whether it’s that or nothing…” – implied: if, to be allowed to drive, an old car must be electrified, he is ready to give it a try.
The staging remains unchanged: it rolls mechanics, it jokes, on rock’n’roll music… Ditto for the unfolding, which opens with auctions, to determine which of the three teams of experts in lice will win this “yard”. Logically, Stéphane Wimez won the contract: the boss of the 2CV Méhari Club in Cassis (Bouches-du-Rhône) is one of the few retrofit specialists in France.
After a detour to the hangar of Flins-sur-Seine (Yvelines), where Renault stores his private collection, from the canonical first French tank star of the Great War to the mythical F1 turbo of Jean-Pierre Jabouille, François Allain also adapts . He tumbles successively at the controls of an electric scooter, a “fat bike” (electric bike with big tires) and then a cargo bike. With interest, he discovers the 3D modeling of the car and follows the complex design, from the wiring to the positioning of the Power Box motor.
With good grace, he helps to reinforce the hull, to install the 92 kilos (!) of batteries, and to design the important network of electrical cables. Without staining: no more sludge! On the other hand, we do not joke here with security. This is also adapting.
But at what cost ! While the 2CV Méhari Club designs and installs a retrofit kit on a 4L for 16,000 euros, Renault has been selling it since February at 18,000 euros, installation included (on rfitvintage.com), i.e. “from 11,900 euros [once deducted] the retrofit bonus of 6,000 euros paid by the State”.
