History
It was at the Geneva Show of 1956 that Renault unveiled the successor to their immensely popular 4CV. Initially christened Corvette, this new car had to be renamed when Renault found out Chevrolet had beaten them to it. Finally, under the slogan: "Puisque la 4CV est la reine du marché, celle-ci sera sa dauphine" (If the 4CV is Queen of the Road, than this is her Crown Princess) they settled on Dauphine, an apt moniker for this classy but joyful and elegant little four-door sedan.
The Dauphine's almost overnight success - and not just with the guys - can ,to a large extent, be attributed to a lady named Paule Marrot. This renowned Parisian fabric designer did exactly what she had been hired to do: rid Renault of their stuffy image. After decades of being dipped in various shades of black and grey, car bodies were now painted in happy pastels. Snazzy fabrics, custom designed in Marrot's Montmartre-based studio and bearing names like rouge montijo, jaune Bahamas, bleu hoggar and blanc réja, were used to upholster car seats and inside panels of the four doors, which, unlike the CV4's infamous suicide doors, now opened in forward direction.
A gorgeous emblem with crown and dolphins, also designed by Marrot, adorned the Dauphine's steering wheel and hood, while the dashboard was turned into a work of art by Jacques Arpels of the world famous jewelers Van Cleef et Arpels. Other Dauphine trademarks were its two-tone car horn, a front trunk, and a spare tire that would spring from the "mouth" of its happy little face.
All these goodies were supported by a monocoque (single shell) chassis more than 30 centimeters longer than its predecessor's, while the rear-mounted, water-cooled engine's extra 85 cc's provided enough horsepower to propel the Dauphine from 0 to 60 mph in a staggering 32 seconds (they might as well have named her Escargot). Nevertheless, a souped-up Dauphine called the Gordini would fare remarkably well in car races, clinching places one to four in the Mile Miglia and winning first prize in the Rally of Monte Carlo.
The Renault Dauphine would enjoy great popularity well into the swinging sixties, and when in 1968, the last Crown Princess rolled off the assembly line, 2.120.220 had been sold worldwide.
For more Dauphine info, folders, postcards, brochures, photos, and links to Dauphine websites the world over, visit: http://dauphinomaniac.dauphstock.org/
