Renault Car Company
The story of Renault is first and foremost the story of a man with a great destiny or future. The adventure began on December 1898, when Louis Renault took up a challenge to drive his car the A-type Voiturette up the steep Rue Lepic in Montmartre. The test won him his first 12 renault car orders. The company continued to grow as Renault began winning road races.
A New Renault moves into gear
When he was 20, he made an entrance into the emerging world market of the motor car. He converted his De Dion-Bouton tricycle into a small, four-wheeled Renault car and added another of his inventions that would soon propel the motor car into a new era: the 'direct drive', the gearbox. It instantly dethroned the transmission chains and cogs.
On December 24, 1898 Louis was spending Christmas Eve with some friends. Confident about his invention, he bet them that his vehicle could climb the 13% climb of the Rue Lepic. Although they laughed at first, his friends were soon to see the car drive up the climb. He won the bet with flying colors but he also pocketed his first 12 Renault car orders, and he got some cash deposits. His Renault Company was under way. A few months later he filed the patent for the direct drive gearbox that would make his fortune. It was soon adopted by all the car manufacturers around that time.
A string of firsts
He had two brothers, Marcel and Fernand, who ran the business, they set up the Renault Brothers company in 1899 - with a small amount of cash. They left Louis the ownership of his patent and paid him a good salary on condition that he show results. In fact, Marcel and Fernand were dubious that the sideline had much future... But Louis was very soon to prove them wrong.
It was because of the racing that Renault became known, with Louis and Marcel at the wheels of their cars. Starting with the Paris-Trouville event in 1899, they chalked up win after win in most of the city-to-city races, including Paris-Bordeaux, Paris-Ostend, Paris-Berlin and, most important, a magnificent Paris-Vienna won by Marcel in 1902.
Renault's Fast Growth
The race victories were the best form of advertising and direct marketing that the Renault brothers could have had. An loving public made their order books fatter with every race.
The cars were sold for 3,000 francs - the equivalent of ten year's average salary at the time. The company expanded rapidly and the workshops by the Seine were forced to expand with it. In 1902 the factory covered 7,500 square meters. The Renault catalogue included about 7 models, including the first saloon car to hit the market. In the same year Louis introduced the first Renault engine, it had four cylinders and a horse power of 24. Soon after he patented the first turbo.
