The Renault alliance GTA wasn’t their last car here in the states. That honor goes to the Renault medallion. Weirdly enough, even though was sold for two model years, the first year was sold as a Renault, and then the second year was sold as an eagle
My parents bought a Medallion (Renault nameplate) in the fall of 87 for the 88 model year. They had previously had an Alliance and had relatively good luck with it. The Medallion on the other hand was awful. Worst car I’ve ever seen. Problems galore.
@@scottdavis_34 I worked with a woman who had pretty good luck with one, but I guess cars, especially non-Japanese cars, are always a crap shoot. In Europe, the Medallion was sold in versions with both longitudinal and transverse engines, depending on the model, and the wagons had a pretty substantial wheelbase stretch. The Eagle Premier and Dodge Monaco were really Canadian versions of the Renault 25, which had been used as a state limousine for French President Mitterand. I bought a '92 Monaco in late 1991, fully equipped for $12,999; it was one of the better "Chrysler" cars I've ever owned. The interior had much better fit and finish than any U.S.-designed Chrysler product of that time.
Technically the last Renault in the United States and the Lesharo Winnebago and Freedom Mack. Techniquement la dernière Renault aux Etats Unis et la Lesharo Winnebago et Freedom Mack .
@@retrocompaq5212 Had one from new and they were pretty much this height. Over time the rear torsion bars started to sag with age and the front became higher, at least mine did. The back end being higher means that the guy might have just adjusted to torsion bars back to original
Great review Zack!! So glad you are not critical! Honest but not critical; beat the poor car up critical. GTA did have some interior quality issues but the fun, free slick shifting nature of this quirky car made up for it. My Dad bought one identical to this example new in '87. I thought it was quick enough and LOVED the handling with the original tires. So much fun! Dad bought his with a beautiful Jensen cassette deck and the optional 7 band graphic equalizer below the radio in the cubby. looked fabulous at night with orange lighting at each button. This was the first car he had a cassette deck in. He listened to nothing but talk radio! He asked me to put a song on a 90 minute tape. I asked what songs; he said Jackie Wilson's Your Love Lifts Me Higher. That was it over and over for 90 minutes!!
There are still many people in Turkey who actively use it. I am one of them. I own a 1992 model Renault 9 spring. It was sold in Turkey under the packages named spring, broadway and fairway. If I remember correctly, it remained in production until 2001. It was produced with 1.4, 1.6 and their injection models. 9,11 and 12 are still used and very popular vehicles in Turkey.
Bought one of these brand new with my first job in '86. They were not as slow as he lets on, weighing only 1975 lbs. With that weight and the torky engine, I would beat 5L Firebirds and any GTIs on the road, but could not quite keep up with 5L Mustangs. The Michelin Sport XGT tires they came with didn't come on any other production car and made the car the best cornering vehicle sold in North America that year. The seats, when new, fit like a glove, so maybe 40 year old foam is letting them down now. Here in Canada they were badged and registered as Renault GTA, with no Alliance badge anywhere.
Awesome review! I grew up in an 87 GTA! Same color and same options as the one in this video except we had the upgraded stereo with equalizer. My father worked for the Jeep/Eagle/Chrysler/Renault dealership in the 80s and bought one from his own lot. I learned everything about this car before I was old enough to drive and eventually got to drive it for a short time. Learned how to drive a manual in one of these too. Unfortunately it broke a timing belt on us twice so we sold it to a local Renault enthusiast in the North Seattle area who was a genius with these things. Unfortunately due to health problems he let it rust away in his front yard. What I wouldn't give to go back in time and rip that car out from under him. Such a terrible end for a great first car.
Really nice car. Remember when new and almost bought one. Brother had a one year only rare 83 Alliance MT 2 door manual very similar and use to like that car too
I was a h.s. senior in 1987. I liked these better than a VW GTI, and certainly more than a Escort GT. The Omni GLH was kinda hot with it's turbo, but those cars were not very refined. Also, you get a GTA in a convertible! The GTA was "Euro" like a GTI, but in my parts VWs were expensive and the nearest dealer was 50 miles.
Nice-looking car and a rare survivor. I've seen an Alliance convertible, it sort of had a baby BMW vibe to it. These did decently well but not well enough to compete with all of the other subcompacts with easier to find dealers and parts. AMC simply didn't have the might to compete and if it weren't for Renault propping them up they would have been gone long before Chrysler bought them out. Chrysler only bought AMC for Jeep. The Alliance name came about because this car was an alliance between AMC and Renault and was built in AMC's Kenosha factory.
I HATE It when an auto plant closes. So many other businesses depend on it. I was in high school in 1987, but I bet Kenosha hasn't been the same since.😢😢
Excellent video, in France, we had the R9 in the 1.4l Turbo version with 105 hp. Excellente vidéo, en France, nous avons eu la R9 en version Turbo 1.4l de 105 cv.
Two of my friends had these - while they had as much horsepower as a cold chicken salad sandwich they handled extremely well for the day and did rather well in SCCA Solo II (Autocross) - I always wanted one but after cars that handled better came out and my budget was a bit more I'd sort of lost interest in these. My girlfriend at the time (now my wife) _almost_ bought a used LeCar - dodged that bullet ;-) Great to see that at least a couple of these survived.
Genuinely one of my bucket list cars. Just a fantastic find, Zack! I would love to race my '87 Peugeot 505 V6 against this thing! It seems like a worthy rival. :3
You don't need 200hp to have genuinely cool and fun car. I'm sure Zack can think of many small cars as much fun as this one, unfortunately they are all gone and replaced with huge, heavy SUVs with engines making crazy HP plus turbocharger. Simple is nice 👍
I kinda just found your channel a few days ago and have probably watched like 5 of your vids and every single one has failed the big friggin bottle test 😂
I bought a white GTA right after high school graduation. I couldn't afford a VW Golf GTI. The handling on the GTA was so crisp and tight, that it was a blast to take on little back roads.
My father still own his. His however is the convertible edition(red exterior with a tan top and interior). He has owned it since he was 17….he is now 53….and best of all…26k original miles!!!!
It's too bad the Alliance didn't make it; the engine in the GTA (a name gamers would love) should have been standard from day one. The pedestal front seats were the main reason the back had so much legroom. That feature should have spread to other cars, but it was probably a challenge making them strong enough to avoid sagging to one side.
In 1991 me and my coworkers made a lunch run and I sat behind the driver of an '89 Mustang. Packed like a sardine. GREAT CAR but that backseat is Not for anyone older than 12.😊
I have to admit, I love these cars. I worked at a salvage yard when I was in high school and there were still some of these around, I always thought they were very clean style. Your comment about slow cars driven fast, I have to strongly disagree with you. I agree that it can be a lot of fun. But a Ford focus ST is not a slow car. An example of a slow car would be a Hyundai accent. The point I'm making is simply this, when we speak of driving a slow car fast, we're talking about a car that can't build enough speed in normal driving to be in anyway dangerous.
It's a 2 door Alliance not an Encore. The 2 door Encore is a hatchback. The Encore came out a year after the Alliance. Both were available in 2 and 4 door variants.
In Europe it's required to have 1 bright red light facing the car behind you so those drivers can see you in thick fog. Audi's from earlier this century have them built into the regular taillights. Thick fog is a VERY SERIOUS problem over there and MANY have been killed in pileups.😢😢
Quite well. The Renault 9 and 11 did very well. They looked slightly different because the Alliance was Americanized to meet our particular regulations.
Back in the 1990's I had a 1977 Lincoln town car with a 460 V8 running with bad compression as it wasn't taken care of. I was doing like 55 mph and one of these GTA's came up next to me and tried to pass me on the left. I hit the gas pedal and the GTA couldn't pass me. I didn't even have my foot to the all the way to the floor. He had 2 people in the GTA, I had 3 people in my Lincoln. At about 100 mph he backed off because he wasn't getting anywhere and his lane narrowed up ahead. Lol.
@@landonbenford8369 Naaah. Got rid of that years ago. Was getting like 9 miles per gallon and it wasn't in the best shape when I got it. I had to rebuild a lot of stuff just to get it road worthy. Even though it had bad compression in some cylinders I could still take some cars at the stop light. I think the 2 door Mark V is probably more desirable than the 4 door town car.
Trunk key. The ignition key is for the ignition, the other key is for everything else. In the old days you could lock everything up and only give the valet the ignition key so they could drive the car but not get into the trunk or glove box.
@@landonbenford8369 especially the American automakers - GM, Ford & Chrysler all they care about is making higher profits not building good quality cars