Saturday, December 11, 2021

I just learned that Renault had a car named the Torino.


 boring

3 comments:

  1. Actually the story of those cars is quite interesting.
    Those are in reality AMC Rambler American with Pinifarina redesigned front and rear clips.
    https://parabrisas.perfil.com/noticias/clasicos/en-que-modelo-se-inspiro-el-torino-american-motors-company-amc-rambler-ambassador-classic-american-1964-1966-ika-renault-industrias-kaiser.phtml#lg=1&slide=0

    Kaiser built those cars in Argentina under the IKA (Idustrias Kaiser Argentina) brand and equipped them with 6 cylinder OHV Tornado engines. When Kaiser got acquired by AMC in the US Renault bought their operations in Argentina and that is how you ended up with a French company building Jeep powered Ramblers in South America.

    The Tornado engine is underappreciated in the US. It became an orphan engine when AMC took over but in Argentina development continued. The heads where improved and eventually the block was also redesigned to accommodate 7 main bearings instead of the original 4. These changes made the engine more fuel efficient and powerful.

    A Torino ended 3rd in the 1969 84 hours of Nürburgring. If you thought that racing for 24 hours around Le Mans was impressive then you should try 84 hours around the original Nürburgring track!
    I believe the story was that the Torino traveled the farthest on that race but because of accumulated penalties they ended 3rd.
    https://petrolicious.com/articles/these-are-the-ika-renault-torinos-that-dominated-the-nordschleife-in-1969

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    Replies
    1. do you agree it looks boring?
      But you certainly know your stuff, and thank you for sharing so much info in your comment!
      I covered the Argentine Torinos already, https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2017/12/if-you-have-to-ask-what-hell-is-that.html
      But this Renault is boring.
      The Argentine Torino, isn't.
      Would you agree?

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    2. Oh, the Argentine Torino isn't boring to me, because the ones I posted were full race boogy, no bumpers, with race decals, and fender flares.
      This Renault? Doesn't have any visual appeal.
      But I love that you know about the Argentine Torinos. So did I .

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