1997 Renault Sport Spider

• One of only 60 examples produced in right-hand drive with a windscreen for the UK market
• Mid-mounted 2.0-litre DOHC F7R engine borrowed from the Clio Williams, an all-aluminium chassis and just 930kg
• Recent full service, including cam-belt and water pump
• Accompanied by its aluminium Metoni history wallet (issued by the supplying dealer) with the full book pack, and all documents, plus tonneau, Renault Sport jackets, caps, books, model car, and registration K5 MMS
• Hand-built, low-production, quirky piece of French exotica now highly coveted and collectable – especially with such low mileage

The Renault Sport Spider started life as a futuristic concept car dubbed ‘Laguna Roadster’ that made its international debut at the 1990 edition of the Paris Motor Show. Public response to the Laguna Roadster was surprisingly positive, so Renault’s top executives attempted to make a reasonable business case for it. The project was a tough sell at first, few automakers can justify investing in a low-volume niche model, but it was finally given the green light for production in September of 1993.

Renault brought in Claude Fior from Nogaro Technology, a renowned race car designer and builder, to help work on what had become known as project W94. The story has it that Fior was given a blank slate and was only instructed to leave enough room to mount a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine behind the passenger compartment. The engineer designed an all-aluminium chassis from scratch and fitted it with brakes pulled from the Alpine A610, as well as with an advanced independent suspension system. The first road-going prototype was built in 1994, and a nearly-finished product was presented to the public at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show. Interestingly, the Spider became the first ‘Renault Sport’-badged car.

The heart of the Spider was a mid-mounted 2.0-litre, DOHC F7R four-cylinder engine which was borrowed from the Clio Williams and later used in the Mégane Coupé. Tuned to generate 148bhp and 129 lb-ft. of torque, the 16-valve unit was linked to a five-speed manual transmission that sent power to the rear wheels. The 930-kilo two-seater sprinted from 0 to 62 mph in 6.9 seconds and went on to a top speed of 133 mph.

At its launch, the Spider was only available in yellow, red, and blue, though silver was added later in the production run. The second major update was the availability of a full windscreen.

Approximately 1,726 examples of the Spider were assembled in Alpine’s Dieppe factory from 1996 to 1999. Each car was hand-built from start to finish and took about 90 hours to complete, which partially justified its relatively high price at the time. The Spider model was unfortunately discontinued after only a year and a half of production. For the UK, only 60 right-hand drive examples were sold (all with a windscreen), and the remainder of the cars went to the German and French markets.

The Spider was designed to race, and 80 track-only Trophy models rolled out of the Dieppe factory during the production run destined to compete in the Spider Trophy, a model-specific racing series which was similar to the R8 Gordini Cup of the 1960s.

Renault did not design a successor to the Spider, but the Renault Sport name that it inaugurated stuck around and morphed into a full-fledged performance-oriented sub-brand that’s still active today.

The car presented here is a UK-supplied, 1997 Renault Sport Spider, that has covered just 7,800 miles since new. It is one of only 60 of the windscreen equipped, right-hand drive examples produced for the UK market. This example is finished in the original three-stage Pearlescent Liquid Yellow paintwork – arguably a Spider’s signature colour.

It has covered just 7,800 miles and has just benefited from a major service including a replacement cambelt, a new water pump, all new fluids/filters etc. and a brake overhaul. Two new front tyres have just been fitted to the refurbished original alloy wheels.

This exceptional car is accompanied by its aluminium Metoni history wallet (issued by the supplying dealer) with the full book pack and all documents. Also present is the original ‘briefcase’ in the front luggage compartment which houses the locking wheel nut, spares, tow hook, and jack. Owned by our vendor for the last 16 years (a gift from his wife) it has been enjoyed on dry days, and although not excessively used, it has always been meticulously maintained and kept in dry storage. Also coming with the car is full protective tonneau cover (in superb condition), unworn Renault Sport jackets & caps, model-specific books, a Renault Sport Spider model, and the cherished registration number, ‘K5 MMS’.

Offered with an MOT valid until 11 September 2021 (with no advisories), this is a very rare opportunity to acquire a special little sports car rarely seen on British roads that is sure to be the talking point of any classic car show.