90 Years of Renault Reinastella
If you nowadays think about the French car manufacturer Renault, you either see some solid family cars or electric vehicles in your mind. The fact that Renault once belonged to the big names in the automobile upper class, has been forgotten by almost everybody. Especially for this purpose they developed between the two World Wars for the first time an inline eight-cylinder engine and a new ladder-frame chassis. This vehicle debuted under the name Reinahuit at the Paris Motor Show 1928 and went into mass-production a year later as Reinastella. Internally, the model received the code RM. Ex factory, five different body styles were offered. In addition to the normal sedan (Limousine), there was a Pullman Limousine with eight seats (optionally also available as a Landaulet with a convertible roof above the rear seats), a Coupé, a three-seater Cabriolet or the big six-seater Cabriolet. Therefore they relied on coachbuilders like Binder, Kellner or Weymann. This was possible by the wheelbase of 3.71 meters and the total length of up to 5.60 meters, making the Reinastella one of the longest production cars every produced in Europe.
Under the very long bonnet hides the already mentioned eight-cylinder engine with 7.125 liters of displacement and 110 hp. This performance, which was above average for the time, had to move around 2.7 tons. Of these, about 1.8 tons came from the chassis without bodywork and interior. Nevertheless, the topspeed was up to 135 kph (83.8 mph). For the last model year (1933) the engine power increased to 130 hp. From the end of 1929 Renault also offered the Nervastella in parallel with a smaller, 4.24-liter eight-cylinder engine. Until 1939, the engine capacity was increased to 5.4 liters in the Suprastella. For the Reinastella the prices at French Renault dealers in 1929 were between 120,000 and 180,000 francs, depending on the version and body. Today, this great high-end vehicle is rarely offered. The best opportunities to get one arise within France.
Images: Renault
