The designer show car: Renault 5 diamond - gem for 50th birthday

Together with Renault, the French designer Pierre Gonalons converted an R5 from the 1970s.

The designer show car: Renault 5 diamond - gem for 50th birthday

Together with Renault, the French designer Pierre Gonalons converted an R5 from the 1970s. In addition to technical finesse, the restomod comes up with a marble steering wheel that takes some getting used to and a similar color scheme.

The 50th birthday of the Renault 5 has prompted the French car manufacturer, in cooperation with the designer Pierre Gonalons, to launch a heavily revised show car of the original R5 that is completely overloaded in many details. The one-off builds a bridge to the future R5, because like its new edition planned for 2024, the converted classic will also be electrically powered.

The silhouette of the Restomod-R5 largely corresponds to the original from 1972. However, a cleaner look should be created by omitting some components. At the same time, the headlights, staged as jewels, were pulled out of the body. The grille behind it, with square holes, can even light up. Various gold accents, a two-tone paint finish in matt brass gold and matt pink and white rims from the historic Renault 5 Alpine round off the exterior styling.

The interior is also tidy. Here, in addition to golden door openers and a steering wheel hub of the same type, there is a free-floating center console. The steering wheel is made of Italian marble, but it doesn't give the impression that it can be used to steer accurately through the corner. Otherwise, materials such as horsehair fabrics or carpets made of mohair wool are used in the interior.

In addition to the rather unusual exterior colors and the somewhat strange interior design, there are some technical refinements. The vehicle is unlocked with a fingerprint scan. Digital displays for driving-relevant information such as the battery level are hidden behind the round instruments. The user's smartphone is responsible for infotainment and navigation, for which a corresponding holder is provided in the center of the dashboard. Instead of a gear selector lever for a gearbox, there is only a gold ball in the center console as a driving mode switch.