Renault 19 1.7 Latitude (1995) – Into the Wild

It is typical of the ordinary, everyday cars that you once saw on every street corner: at some point they disappear. This certainly also applies to the Renault 19, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. From 1988 to 1996, 74,670 copies of the compact middle class were sold in our country. Now there are only around 600 copies on registration in our country. The Renault 19 came on the market as a replacement for the Renault 9 and 11, sedan and hatchback respectively, and was available as a three- and five-door liftback, sedan and two-door convertible. In 1992 the 19 got a fairly thorough facelift. Where the original was mainly very angular, Renault applied more rounded lines during the refurbishment.

The Renault 19 that AutoWeek forum user HarmenA captured is one of them after the facelift. The silver-grey, original Dutch delivered copy still looks good at first sight. With the 73 hp 1.7 four-cylinder under the hood, you should not be in too much of a hurry: in 16 seconds the speedometer indicates 100 km/h when you floor the accelerator pedal from a standstill, the top speed is 167 km/h. The three-speed automatic transmission of this car is undoubtedly partly to blame. Incidentally, the automatic transmission was, as was customary at the time, more expensive than the manual variant. A Renault 19 Latitude 1.7 with clutch pedal cost €14,929 new, for the automatic you could leave €16,363 at the Renault dealer.

This copy recently got a new owner: on November 28 he or she received the keys. In total, this 19 has had five private owners, of which the first and third owners have owned it for eleven years. That will probably also be one of the main reasons that this copy still looks so neat.

Have you come across a unique car on the street yourself? Don’t hesitate to upload it in the ‘What special did you see today’ topic on the AutoWeek Forum!