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Renault Floride: American Beauty
Words and Photos by Renault Group
In the mid-1950s, Pierre Dreyfus, then president of Régie Renault, dreamed of America and decided to launch a convertible to attract US customers. And so here is the Renault Floride. It will be decided (wisely) to rename this model Caravelle in the United States, so as not to offend customers in the other 49 American states.
Renault Florida means freedom. The freedom to choose the preferred version of this “American” Renault model: coupe, cabriolet or cabriolet “convertible” into a coupe. On the other hand, the convertible version didn’t even require removing the top to go from coupe to cabrio, thanks to the removable roof.
A Renault Floride coupe or cabriolet, equipped with an 845 cm3 engine and, what’s more, at a very affordable price compared to its competitors? What more could you want?! Not much, since there was no lack of success. To the point that Renault will be overwhelmed by demand and will have to increase its production capacities by asking for help from the Chausson and Brissonneau-et-Lotz factories.
To create this convertible designed to conquer American customers as soon as possible, Renault takes up the technical basis of the Renault Dauphine, already sold promisingly across the Atlantic. Thus was born the Floride, the USA-branded Renault project. In the post-war period, people want to forget the deprivations: it is the time for exuberance. In this context, numerous coachbuilders appear. One of them, Ghia, receives the task of designing a “dress” for the future model that will win over Americans, the Renault Floride. But it would be wrong to reduce the Renault Floride to just an export model, because it also had a clear success in France. Brigitte Bardot herself will become testimonial of this convertible. A world-famous godmother.
After the launch of the Floride in 1958, Renault will offer the Renault Floride S and the 2+2 Caravelle from 1962 (which is not the original Caravelle, i.e. a Renault Floride rebadged for the American market: you can’t get lost!). If the first Renault Floride was derived from the Renault Dauphine, its two successors are equipped with the mechanical elements of another Renault model: the Renault R8. From ’59 to ’68 – counting both Floride and Caravelle – a total of 117,000 examples were produced.
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