Sacré bleu! A Renault R4 Van

 
  
Am I wrong to think that with a little work, this little French van could easily make a fantastic parts hauler? 
 

According to the seller, this is the only R4 van in America.  While I can’t dispute that claim, I would imagine they are probably rarer than hens teeth.   The seller goes on to copy/paste the Wikipedia into the ad and mentions that he was going to plop the body onto a 4×4 Suzuki drivetrain.  Nooooo!  Someone save that van!!
The body looks to be in decent shape and that patina just adds to its eccentric French charm. 
Find it for sale in Idaho for a rather steep $5000 S’il vous plaît.

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  1. Tim Odell Avatar
    Tim Odell

    What's going on with those rear wheels?

  2. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
    Peter Tanshanomi

    Yes, you are wrong. Remove "a little" and "easily" and replace them with "enough" and "eventually", and then I'd wholeheartedly agree with you.

  3. soo΄pәr-bādd75 Avatar

    Screw France, LSX swap FTW!

    1. dukeisduke Avatar

      Yes, an LS3 crate motor hooked up to a Tremec 6-speed, along with a Ford 9-inch. Fun.

  4. mdharrell Avatar

    Duallies.

  5. mdharrell Avatar

    Obscure… small… green… boxy… French… automobile. Yes, this has nearly everything going for it. Regrettably, in this condition five grand is way too much.

  6. dwegmull Avatar
    dwegmull

    Drop a zero from that price and it maybe a good deal. It might still be cheaper to ship a running one from France…

  7. DeadinSideInc Avatar

    I KNOW! HOW AWESOME IS THAT??

  8. DeadinSideInc Avatar

    The seller seems to suggest that we should buy @ $5k because other R4s have appeared in the background of movies or obscure song lyrics. Now that is what I call provenance!

  9. tonyola Avatar

    Buy it in the hope that you'll get it running enough to haul the parts you bought for the Maserati Mexico (see elsewhere in today's posts and buy it now!). That way you can have two hopeless causes decorating your driveway and angering your neighbors.

  10. Alff Avatar

    I have a spare 2.0 Alfa engine, transmission and radiator waiting for a new home. Now, if only I can find a wiring harness from something British.

  11. citroen67 Avatar

    Hmmm…those rear tail lights have a very Ford Maverick look to them. I wonder if they are just a factory coincidence, or are they a DIY custom job?

    1. BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ Avatar
      BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ
  12. sam Avatar
    sam

    this thing could be a "cars" character. very charming piece.

  13. mdharrell Avatar

    That is way awesome. I'll even go so far as to say that is way, way awesome. This thing is heartbreakingly close to irresistible.

  14. Ambersand Avatar

    Is that an old aircooled VW in the background? GIMMEEEEE! Er I mean – AWESOME VAN YEAH!

  15. oceansizedlake Avatar
    oceansizedlake

    here's one for sale, with the special ladder opening in the roof back http://www2.chileautos.cl/auto.asp?codauto=136756
    about 1500 US running, with annual inspection cleared

  16. BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ Avatar
    BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ

    Ha, when I was in engineering school me and a friend of mine used to own one and we named it Tits.
    <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4124306249_6c45cbc87d.jpg"&gt;