Renault Alliance

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The Renault Alliance was a compact automobile built and marketed in North America by the American Motors Corporation (AMC) through its partnership with its majority owner Renault between 1982 and 1987, when the Chrysler Corporation acquired AMC. The Alliance was based upon the Renault 9/11, but received its interior styling courtesy of AMC's Richard Teague. The Alliance was joined in the 1984 model year by the Renault Encore hatchback, which shared many of its components with the Alliance.

The Alliance was a 2- or 4-door sedan, launched in June 1982 as a 1983 model. Although it was branded as a Renault, the car bore AMC's logo on rear window decals. The Alliance appeared on Car and Driver's Ten Best list for 1983 and was the 1983 Motor Trend Car of the Year. In addition to the sedan, the Alliance was offered as a a convertible between 1985 and 1987. In the 1987 model year, the Encore, an Alliance-based hatchback, was renamed the Alliance hatchback.

For the final 1987 model year, a limited production, high performance model version of the Alliance was marketed as the Renault GTA. It came in 2-door sedan or convertible form and had a 95 hp (71 kW) 2.0 L engine.

The Alliance afforded AMC the opportunity to field a new compact car without the expense of its design and tooling, still the alliance with Renault exacted a heavy price on AMC, which was required to shed its profitable AM General line of commercial and military vehicles because of U.S. Government regulations prohibiting foreign companies from owning domestic military suppliers.

The Alliance, however, used Renault's archaic C-type OHV engines in 1.4 L or 1.7 L displacements, and a basic suspension design that resulted in a somewhat ordinary driving experience.

[edit] Reliability

Despite the auspicious Car of the Year award, the car would not live up to expectations of owners, who may have assumed that the award also reflected on the reliability of a car. The 1986 Consumer Reports "Annual Auto Issue" surveyed owners after five years of ownership. The 1983 Renault Alliance scored in worst ratings in "Engine", "Clutch", "Driveline", "Engine cooling", "Suspension", "Exhaust system", "Automatic transmission" and "Manual transmission" ratings. A Car Talk survey also showed poor ratings for reliability.

While initial sales were promising, these concerns hurt sales. AMC's declining profit picture, combined with Renault's concerns with declining sales, hurt the Alliance's chances in the American market. Alliance production at the Kenosha plant ended in June 1987, shortly after Chrysler's buyout of AMC was announced. The damaged reputation of the Alliance would also affect attempts to launch other Renault cars, including the brief appearance of the Renault Medallion, and Eagle Premier (which would be the basis for more successful Chrysler automobiles).

The Alliance provided many donor parts (engine and suspension) for the Sports Renault racecar, a single make series created by the Sports Car Club of America. Designed by Roy Lunn, it was a low-cost purpose-built racer. More than five-hundred were built. Most cars still exist, although the majority have been converted to use a Ford engine and are now known as Spec Racer Fords, still running in the SCCA club racing program.

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v • d • e American Motors road car timeline, United States market, 1954–1988
Type	1950s						1960s										1970s										1980s
	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Subcompact																	Gremlin									Spirit					Encore
Compact	Rambler				Rambler American												Hornet								Concord
	Jet																					Pacer								Alliance
Mid-size			Rambler Six					Classic						Rebel				Matador
				Rebel V8								Marlin									Matador Coupe
Full-size	Nash				Ambassador																														Premier
	Hudson
Sports															AMX
															Javelin
Crossover																											Eagle
SUV																	see timeline of Jeep models
Captive import	Metropolitan																									LeCar
																												Renault 18i/Sportwagon						Medallion
																													Fuego
Military vehicles						Mighty Mite												AM General trucks, Jeeps, and the HMMWV

v • d • e Renault car timeline, 1940s–1980s — next »
Type	1940s					1950s										1960s										1970s										1980s
	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Economy car																	3 / 4
Supermini																												5 / 7													Super 5
Small family car		4CV										Dauphine						8/10						6								14						9/11
Large family car	Juvaquatre																							12										18								21
Executive car							Frégate														16										20/30								25
Gran Turismo																						Torino
Coupé																											15/17									Fuego
Roadster														Caravelle
Off-roader																									Rodeo 4/6												Rodeo

v • d • e « previous — Renault car timeline, 1980s–present
Type	1980s										1990s										2000s
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
City car														Twingo														Twingo II
Supermini	5 / 7					Super 5					Clio I								Clio II / Thalia							Clio III
Small family car	14		9 / 11						19							Mégane I								Mégane II						Mégane III
Large family car	18						21								Laguna I						Laguna II								Laguna III
Executive car	20 / 30			25									Safrane									Vel Satis
Leisure activity vehicle															Kangoo I														Kangoo II
SUV																													Koleos
Mini MPV																									Modus
Compact MPV																	Scénic I						Scénic II
Large MPV					Espace I							Espace II						Espace III					Espace IV
Coupé	Fuego																					Avantime
Roadster																Spider