5k: Rolling punchline: 1982 Renault 5 LeCar

 “Nice LeCrap.” “Has your car SURRENDERED to rust yet?” “Claude, it seems my eclair has become stuck in your hood scoop.” LeCar owners are conditioned to accept lines like these, to the point of admitting it in their listings. “If your [sic] looking for one of the worst cars ever made this is it.” You, too, can have a car worthy of such praise for just $4,500. Find this 1982 Renault 5 LeCar for $4,500 in San Francisco, CA.  Words by DT contributor slowcarSLOW-MPGlol.

They say heaven is where the engineers are German, the cooks are French, and the police are British, and hell is where the cooks are British, the police are German, and the engineers are French. That’s unfair criticism for a nation that’s cranked out some decent cars, but for some reason bringing up a French car turns every American into a comedian. Anyway, the LeCar was good enough to land the titular role in the 2000 stoner comedy Dude Where’s My Car.

Comparisons to the Mini are accurate, if you ignore the Renault’s copious body roll. Both are simple to the point of being Spartan, efficient with space and gas, and full of quirk. This one lacks at least one quirk, the canvas sunroof, but rest assured it still has the clever unequal-length wheelbase.

This LeCar has new parts, no rust anywhere, and an engine bay you could distill Bordeaux in. It’s likely the best driving LeCar you can get, if you’re ready for all the “constructive criticism.”

See a better way to save money on lug nuts? Email us at tips@dailyturismo.com 


slowcarSLOW-MPGlol knows how many licks it takes to reach the
center of a Tootsie Pop, and he’s not telling. As someone with a B+
blood type, he considers himself an optimist. Unless it has structural
rust.