The Hot French Maid

The French gave us two things that had an impact on the international community. One was the French Kiss, the other was the Hot hatch. Which one is more important? Thats a question I shall leave you to answer! 

The French basically invented front wheel drive, and have stuck with it ever since. One of their first creations was in 1898 and then later on popularised by the iconic Citroen Traction Avant. 

Yes, the French were known for making love and cooking great food, but were they any good with motors? As with everything they do, they loved to do things differently and their cars featured the same formula. 

You had back to basics cars like the Renault 4, the super advanced Citroen DS and rally bred heroes like the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 and they've even dabbled in the Supercar genre with the Alpine A110. But theres one kind of car that they do better than everyone else! 

And thats the Hot hatch. Or at least they used to....The French hot hatch managed to decimate the British sports car market in their hay-day with cars like this Renault 5 GT Turbo and delectable Peugeot 205 GTi. Even to this day the Renault Megane RS is a formidable entrant in the hot hatch category, only that its crown seems to have been stoled by the Japanese now thanks to the GR Yaris! 

The first generation Renault 5 Gordini/Alpine Turbo was considered the worlds first hot hatch, launched a mere two months before the VW Golf GTi it catapulted this new segment of performance motoring for the masses. This was what was so alluring about the hot hatch, they were immensely fun to drive but yet practical enough for the daily commute and everyone bought them in droves! 

These Renaults have a cult following the world over, even in Sri Lanka. Everyone fondly remembers how quick these cars were on the track and at the Mahagastote hill climb. This particular car is one of five second generation Renault 5 GT Turbos and has just received  a complete ground up restoration. 

Styled by the great Marcello Gandini, the second generation R5 hasn't aged a bit ! 

Further accentuated by these chunky AZEV wheels from Germany, they scream 80s tuning!

The front rotors have been upgraded to slotted items to improve braking performance, to help manage the monstrous power from the tuned and rebuilt engine that was imported from UK.

The driving experience is quite entertaining, you are treated to loads of turbo lag and then all the boost is delivered to you in one giant helping. Combine that with great handling and feel, the R5 is quite the hoot and you understand why these cars garner so much respect in the motoring world.

The interior is typically French, with a very quirky dash layout which is sadly finished in brittle plastics that love to disintegrate. An infamous feature of many French cars from old times. 

The analog gauges by Jaeger are a welcome sight, compared to a LCD screen that one would see in a modern car. 

The ultimate bragging rights back then, was having those five letters plastered on the side of your car and a nifty little boost gauge inside. Turbocharging back then was only reserved for the rich and exclusive, and the technology was considered to be a dark art. So you could imagine the fan fare when one was installed in a humble supermini. 

Most of the interior is very original, the owner has gone to great lengths and expense to renovate this car back to its original condition apart from a few tasteful upgrades. 

Like the red Bride bucket seats up front, that compliment the factory red carpets well. The car requires a few more finishing touches which will be done in due course. 

Restoring this car to this level has been an uphill battle, but been no stranger to fast hatches from France, the owner has managed to save an iconic classic car and put her back on our roads. 

Thats a wrap on this, but stay tuned as we will be visiting the R5's rival in an upcoming feature !

Watch this space .....