It probably wasn’t Renault’s plan to name one of its cars after a mildly unpleasant human condition. Still, the condition in question was what many people thought of when the Wind was mentioned.
Which is a shame, because wind of the wind-in-the-hair variety was what this dinky little Renault was supposed to be about. A completely reskinned and rather stylish two-seat machine based on the Twingo, the Wind also benefited from RenaultSport-tuned suspension.
It was a combination that promised some satisfyingly deft moments on country backroads, especially as both the engines offered were decently perky: one a turbocharged 1.2 of 100hp, the other a 136hp variably-valve-timed 1.6.
The Wind’s cool roof
The whole process was automated and took only 12 seconds, although you needed to be stationary for the car to perform its lightly spectacular transformation.
This design avoided the humiliating surprise potentially suffered by occupants of Ferrari’s limited edition 550 Barchetta, whose flip-back roof simply folded onto the car’s bootlid. Come a sudden downpour, that rain-collecting lid could part-fill before spilling its contents over your head as you closed the car from the rainstorm above.
The Wind’s system was much better thought-through and would doubtless have been more expensive to make, even if it was less complex than the folding roof of your traditional cabriolet.
The entire Wind project can’t have been cheap to develop, in fact. Not only were no exterior panels shared with the Twingo, but neither was its interior, the car getting a bespoke dashboard, centre console and door trims.
It was just the kind of intriguing niche derivative that journalists often chivvy manufacturers to build, rave over briefly at launch, and then forget about. Your reporter is among the guilty.
And there was quite a lot to rave about. The Wind’s low weight – just 1,173kg as a 1.6 – and well-sorted suspension produced an entertainingly nimble drive, its agility heightened by its small scale and relative peppiness.
In some ways the 1.2 turbo was the better buy, this engine generating barely any less torque than the 1.6, and earlier in the rev range. Carefully weighted and well-placed pedals, a slickety-snick gearchange and revvy engines made a modest entertainer of this Renault, even if it wasn’t blazingly fast.
Cool Wind
Gallery: XR: The Fast Fords that defined an era (Retro Motor)
XR rebellion
Sporting Ford RS models have made car enthusiasts swoon for decades. But what about the models that sit below them? For years, Ford had given them a multitude of names, without settling on just one. In 1980, though, unity was achieved. This is the story of the Ford XR.
What went before
There were sporting Fords before the XR brand. As with the vividly-coloured Mk2 Escort pictured above, some were simply called ‘Sport’. There were also Escort Mexicos and the Fiesta Supersport, but no single name that defined everyday fast Fords as RS did for the exotica. That was, until someone within Ford had an idea…
1980 Ford Escort XR3
In 1980, a brand new Mk3 front-wheel-drive Escort arrived – as did an all-new sporting version, the famous Escort XR3. It only boasted 96hp, but with its cloverleaf alloy wheels, Sunburst Red paint, front foglights and large rear spoiler, it looked the part from the outset. An icon was born.
1981 Ford Fiesta XR2
Ford quickly followed it up; the unassuming Fiesta Supersport became the far more assertive Fiesta XR2. Masterminded by the same crack Special Vehicle Engineering (SVE) team at Ford’s British engineering HQ, the 84hp 1.6-litre Fiesta was good for 0-62mph in 9.3 seconds. Tasty stuff for 1981.
1982 Ford Escort XR3i
Just two years after launch, Ford honed the XR3: enter the XR3i. As its name suggests, the 1.6-litre CVH engine was now fuel-injected, meaning 104hp and 0-62mph in 9.6 seconds. By now, the hot Escort had a five-speed gearbox, while Ford also tweaked the suspension to improve handling and lowered the ride height for a sportier stance.
1983 Ford Sierra XR4i
The 1983 Sierra XR4i took the car’s controversial looks to the extreme. The glassy three-door bodystyle was given a sporting makeover that included a head-turning bi-plane rear spoiler. The suspension was tuned up, and the famous pepperpot alloy wheels first seen on the Fiesta XR2 made a fresh appearance. Powering the Sierra XR4i was the same 2.8-litre V6 engine fitted to the Ford Capri 2.8i, for 0-62mph in around 8.5 seconds.
1984 Ford Fiesta XR2
The second-generation Fiesta XR2 was a more sophisticated development of the original. It now used the same engine as the Escort XR3, producing 94hp in non-injected guise. With black wheelarch extensions and a wraparound rear window spoiler, it looked fantastic. This was backed up by lowered, stiffened suspension, along with front and rear anti-roll bars, wider tyres and bigger brakes. It would go on to sell tremendously well throughout the 1980s.
1985 Ford Sierra XR4x4
By 1985, Ford had abandoned the three-door Sierra bodyshell. The XR4i was thus replaced by a sophisticated new five-door range-topper: the XR4x4. This executive express used a rally-developed four-wheel-drive system, in combination with a 150hp 2.8-litre V6 engine. This running gear would later evolve further, into the Sierra RS Cosworth – but that’s another story entirely…
1986 Ford Escort XR3i
The Ford Escort was facelifted in 1986. It was comprehensive enough for the range to be termed Mk4, although things were largely the same beneath the surface. The XR3i gained a swoopy, sophisticated new look and an upmarket all-new interior, albeit no more power. A basic form of anti-lock braking was available as an option.
1989 Ford Fiesta XR2i
The 1989 Fiesta XR2i marked a step up in sophistication for Ford’s sporty little hot hatchback. As the ‘i’ indicated, it used a fuel-injected 1.6-litre CVH engine, which produced nearly 110hp. It could sprint to 60mph in less than 10 seconds, although adding a catalytic converter did slow it down slightly. The only thing it lacked was power steering, so it gave drivers a workout behind the wheel.
1992 Ford Escort XR3i
The Mk5 Escort was a real flop when it was launched in 1990. Ford had to scurry back to the drawing board and rush out a series of improvements – from which the 1992 Escort XR3i benefited enormously. The centrepiece was a new 1.8-litre engine, called Zeta, which produced up to 130hp. Handling was crisp and enjoyable, too – although Ford had to tone down the styling to help combat rocketing car thefts and subsequently spiralling car insurance bills.
As we’ll see, this would ultimately prove costly to the Ford XR brand itself.
1992 Ford Fiesta XR2i
Ford also fitted the smooth new Zeta engine to the Fiesta, further improving the car’s appeal. Suspension remained stiff and sporty, but a glowing 130hp made it more relevant than ever. What a pity that, just as the Fiesta XR was reaching new levels of performance, the insurance question became insurmountable.
The decline of XR
It was car thieves that ruined the XR party. The models were becoming almost uninsurable, and Ford had no choice but to phase out the XR brand entirely. Its sporting models would now wear nondescript badges such as Si. Just like perms, leather ties and shoulder pads, the XR’s 1980s exuberance had no place in the 1990s. XR was no more.
ST: the new XR
By the early 2000s, things had changed. Car thieves no longer ruled the roost, thanks to modern levels of car security. Buyers were also demanding sportier and more charismatic versions of everyday models. Ford needed a new sporty sub-brand and decided on ST, which stands for ‘Sports Technology’. After a hesitant start with the Focus ST170 pictured here, the firm hasn’t looked back.
Luckily, neither car thieves nor insurance companies show any signs of spoiling this party yet. Let’s hope it remains that way.
1996 Ford Falcon XR6
Although the XR brand faded from the UK in the 1990s, it remained surprisingly alive and well Down Under. Well, maybe not so surprisingly: the first XR-branded car was actually Australian, not British, and the 1996 Falcon XR6 was simply the latest in a long line.
1998 Ford Falcon XR6
An all-new Falcon XR6 arrived in 1998. Compared to the British XRs’ 1.6-litre engines, this was on another level entirely, with a 4.0-litre six-cylinder engine and rear-wheel drive platform. You could even get a Falcon XR6 Turbo.
Windy downsides? Despite being an open-top car, this Renault’s curiously high flanks, big and steeply raked windscreen and small roof meant that you didn’t feel particularly exposed to the sky above, even if you dropped the windows.
Its steering was a bit too numb, the 1.6 motor needed a lot of revving to give its best and the road noise yelling from its mildly fat tyres could be enough to have you longing to get out. The will to escape was not countered especially strongly by the Wind’s interior, either.
It may have been bespoke, and flaunted an instrument binnacle shrouding some rather stylish dial shrouds, but the low-grade plastics were almost as disappointing as the steering wheel, which could have come from one of Renault’s vans.
But for all that it was quite an agreeable car, a lot more fun than your average cabriolet on the right road, and it looked pretty different. Renault launched the Wind in the middle of the summer of 2010, with prices starting from £15,500 and a range of no less than six models – later expanded when the GT Line and Gordini were added.
That turned out to be a lot of derivatives for relatively few buyers, the Wind’s life abruptly cut short by the sales and profitability crisis engulfing Renault UK during 2011.
Wound up
A persistently unfavourable pound-to-euro exchange rate meant that models had either to be sold at a loss-making competitive price, or the reverse. And the effect was to trigger a sharp decline in sales and profits, prompting Renault’s UK managers to initiate a rather brutal cull of their range.
All the company’s low-volume models were to be deleted, including several supposedly high-volume cars that weren’t, such as the Laguna, Modus and Kangoo, besides the niche Wind and Espace.
So early in 2012, after not much more than 18 months on sale, Renault’s unusual two-seater had gone from the UK, and would only live another year in mainland Europe, being deleted in June 2013.
The result was that the Wind made as much impact on the British car market as the softest zephyr nuzzling a doldrum-marooned yacht. Only 2,300-odd were sold, because the Wind’s UK life was cut short.
An ill Wind
Like many speciality models, it was a bit of a firework car: sales climbing high at first, only to fall to earth like a spent rocket. You could see that in its sales graph, the Wind initially registering around 300 sales per month, then 200, then 100 by the end of 2012. So it was already fading out when it was dropped.
That Renault also terminated around a third of its dealers around this time can’t have helped, but neither did the Wind’s slightly effete look, which ran counter to its more dynamic innards. It was not a blokes’ car, and that closed it off to plenty of sales.
Now it’s almost forgotten, unsurprisingly given that the already small pool (or should be whirl?) of 2,300 Winds is being reduced by attrition. You don’t often see one.
For Renault, the Wind was ultimately an ill one (sorry), but the good news is that the company was not discouraged from selling niche models, as the rebirth of the Alpine A110 so gloriously proved.
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Keyword: Great Motoring Disasters: Renault Wind