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1987 Renault 5 GT Turbo
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The Project

This Renault 5 GT Turbo came to our Barnard Castle workshop in November 2024 for a welding repair to O/s rear inner wheel arch to help it through it’s MOT.

22nd November 2024: The corrosion from the o/s rear inner wheel arch was cut away and a new patch fabricated and welded in. Finally, a coat of epoxy primer and an underbody sealant was applied to protect the area before the wheel arch trim and wheel were refitted. The car is now back with the owner.

The 5 GT Turbo was launched in 1985, bringing some excitement to the otherwise functional and workmanlike second-generation Renault 5 range. The brand new 5 might have been little more than an ’80s remix of the 1970s original, but its Marcello Gandini lines looked good, even when adorned with the Turbo’s wide-grilled bumpers, thick arch extensions and ever-so-French yellow front fog lights.

Contemporary road tests largely agreed these add-ons were a bit tacky, but they’re very much of its time and hinted at the GT Turbo’s potency. Under the bonnet was the engine from the bigger Renault 11, a pushrod 1.4-litre carb-fed gasper fitted with a Garrett T2 turbo and an air-to-air intercooler. The net result was 115bhp and 121lb ft. In a modern context this might sound dismal, but in 1985, in a car weighing just 853kg, it was genuinely impressive.

It was still impressive almost a year later when the 5 GT Turbo finally made it to Britain and marched straight into the heart of a classic hot hatchback war, advancing boldly towards the Fiat Uno Turbo i.e. and the mighty Peugeot 205 GTI (1.6), both of which turned out just 105bhp. The 5 could hit 96kph from rest in 7.5sec and topped out at 201kph – both a significant improvement over its Italian and Gallic competitors as well as eclipsing many of the cars from the class above.

But the GT Turbo wasn’t just a fierce engine inside a roly-poly shopping car chassis, as Renault really went to town on the suspension too. The front springs, dampers and anti-roll bar were all new, resulting in a 38mm drop in ride height, whilst the changes at the back were even more fundamental, comprising a brand new V-section beam at the forward end of the trailing arms, plus an additional transverse torsion rod and a new anti-roll bar, both split in the middle and attached to a floating lengthways link that anchored to the main beam.

In mid-’87 the GT Turbo enjoyed a light facelift, which gave it a body-coloured body kit, new stickers on the sides and seats trimmed in a fabric so 1980s that the design might as well have featured a picture of Limahl. And whilst the ooh-la-la yellow fog lamps remained, the never-popular fake ducts on the rear arches disappeared. The ride height was dropped by another 5mm all round and the front geometry tweaked, while, more significantly, the engine was given a bit of a tickle with new ignition mapping, better knock detection, tighter build tolerances and a water-cooled turbocharger, these changes ostensibly bringing better drivability and durability to a car that had earned a bad rep for hesitant hot starting and traffic-jam tetchiness. However, it can’t have been an accident that, less than a year after a revised 205 GTI had been massaged up to a matching 115bhp, the changes allowed the little Renault to now make 120bhp.

1987 Renault 5 GT Turbo | Classic Car Restoration | Carrosserie
Karen Innes
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Friendly, helpful, extremely knowledgeable, patient enough to explain the processes and reasons for doing things and highlighted even more how approachable the team are. They tried to accommodate our needs and requests to get our beloved old riley back on the road as soon as possible despite the ups and downs that were thrown our way and into the teams path! We could not have wished to deal with a more personable company after encountering some other teams that really made a botch of stuff, seemed uncommitted and were not professional at all. Carrosserie as a team were totally the opposite . . would we recommend them ? ABSOLUTELY !!! We would not go anywhere else now, THANK YOU TO Steve, Neil, Graham and Nicola . . Oh and Karen who spilled the beans about the the birthday surprised to my partner (whose car it is ) . but made the experience all the more special when a bottle of wine was presented as well as a treat to Simon for his birthday AND made it all the more worth dealing with the team ! THANK YOU AGAIN !!!
Graeme Phillips
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My car was the subject of some body and paint repairs here in Spring 2024, to address corrosion plus some substandard paintwork. An annual service was also carried out. There was good responsive communications, advice, and attention to detail throughout, to ensure a high quality, durable result, with the final paintwork being indistinguishable from factory finish, and easily better than any franchised dealership repairs. If you are invested in your classic car, want to make it last, with an exemplary finish to be proud of, then you need look no further.
Steve
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I can't recommend Carrosserie highly enough, the service was exemplary from start to finish and the workmanship is second to none. I highly recommend giving the team a call for any work you need doing to your classic car, no matter what it is, you will not be disappointed!
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20th November 2024

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