Page 26 - Marcello Gandini Maestro of Design Revisited

412rENAuLT prOJECT X-45
REVISITED
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replacing. In March 1985, several full-scale models were
revealed, including the versions from Renault’s in-house
Marcello Gandini.
RENAULT
PROJECT X-45
1984
With the successful launch of the Renault
Super 5 in 1984, the French giant was back at
considering a model to slot in below the Super
5, a putative heir to the legendary Renault 4. Internally
designated as Project X-45, one step away from the
of 1.48 meters.
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designers, and outside consultants such as Matra and
Gandini’s proposal was narrow, yet stocky and almost
van-like in proportions and detailing. In the sloping bonnet
line, it was not dissimilar to his proposal for Project X-44,
in being almost “one-and-a-half-box” in profile, yet with
pronounced height and a long roofline that gave the car
the look of a minivan from the rear three-quarters. At
the front, the use of a pair of standard-issue round lamps
and identical indicators for both the left and right were
designed to keep investment and replacement costs
down. Single mold composite bumpers wrapped around
so that panel sizes at the four corner fenders remained
small, thereby reducing the costs of dies and toolings.
With similar cost considerations restricting the body
panels to relatively simple, flattish sections as well as
limited ribbing for the purpose of strengthening, the
X-44, the vehicle envisaged was significantly longer than
the original VBG from a decade earlier, with an overall
length of 3.54 meters, width of 1.57 meters and a height
The design brief also reflected the spirit of the Renault
4 in giving importance to the internal height of the
vehicle, the possibilities of three or five doors as well as
a wide and deep tailgate, which would provide access
to a low and flat floor. The specifications also noted that
the replacement for the Super 5, the project then known
internally as X-55 (which would eventually become the
Clio), would be more upmarket than the model it was
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shape of Gandini’s X-45 proposal remained somewhat
compromised. Like most of Gandini’s proposals at the
time, the mock-up was asymmetrical in proposing the
five-door version on the left side, and the three-door
version at the right. And like many other proposals, X-45
was eventually abandoned in favor of the W60 project
that followed the year after.
 Narrow yet stocky in stance and shape, Marcello Gandini’s
proposal for the X-45 was functional, and managed to capture in
some ways the practical style of the original R4 in the inset round
lamps, the tall upright look, and the six-windows glazed section for
the five-door version (which is featured on the left-hand side of the
mock-up). COURTESY CHRISTOPHE BONNAUD
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