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The Renault 16 is a car with an at first unusual hatchback body, produced by French automaker Renault between 1965 and 1980 in Le Havre, France. The reviewer in the May 1965 edition of the English "Motoring Illustrated" described the car as follows: "The Renault Sixteen can thus be described as a large family car but one that is neither a four door saloon and nor is it quite an estate. But, importantly, it is a little different."[3]

The R16 was voted European Car of the Year by a board of European motoring journalists in 1966. Over 1,845,959 R16s were produced during the model's lifetime.

Series production started in March 1965 at the company's recently completed Sandouville plant, a few kilometers to the east of Le Havre.The car sold well in most of Europe, winning praise for its spacious and comfortable interior. Equipment levels were also high for the price. Initially, Renault sold the R16 with just a 1.4 L gasoline engine in GL specification for which 55 PS (40 kW; 54 hp) was claimed;in March 1968 there appeared at the Geneva Motor Show the 1.6 L I4 TSwhich could top 100 mph (160 km/h). An automatic transmission version, designated the Renault 16 TA, was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show early in 1969.The top-line model was the TX, was launched at the Paris Motor Show in October 1973, featuring a 5-speed manual transmission.Equipment included power windows for the front doors and central door locking, features previously unknown on family cars in Europe.

Production of the Renault 16 lasted until 1980 when it was finally replaced by the less successful Renault 20. Even by this stage, when it was nearly 15 years old, the Renault 16 was still one of the most popular and highly rated family cars on sale in Europe. Current Renault styling chief Patrick le Quément has made no secret his admiration for the R16 — and incorporated a subtle tribute to its "bird-beak" grille in the corporate look he devised for many of the models (Laguna, Mégane, Scénic) that the company launched in the 1990s.[citation needed]

By the time the Renault 16 ceased production most other European manufacturers had at least one hatchback on sale. At the time Renault had six hatchbacks on sale, the R4, R5, R6, R14, R20 and R30.

One peculiarity of the R16 design is that the two back wheel shafts were not in-line. The left wheelbase was 70 mm (2.76 in) longer than the right wheelbase, to accommodate the torsion bar suspension. A second peculiarity, though one that would by 1965 have been familiar to Renault 4 drivers, was that the engine was mounted north-south in the front, behind the gearbox/transaxle. This contributed to the excellent handling and balance of this car by keeping the weight closer to the centre of the car. Traditional front drive layouts are either east-west or in some cases north-south but with the engine to the front.

Gear changing was performed by means of a column mounted lever which allowed for a more spacious front cabin, although column mounted gear changes were by this time becoming unfashionable in major European markets.

The rear seat could be reconfigured into several positions, or removed completely. The car was thus remarkably spacious, as described by Vicar in Motoring Illustrated in 1965[3].

The 16 had no major competitors until the arrival of the Alec Issigonis designed Austin Maxi in 1969

When the Renault 16 was launched, rumours of industrial espionage on Citroen's project F abounded but were unproved.

(Wikipedia)

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1961 erteilte der damalige Leiter von Renault, Pierre Dreyfus, den Auftrag zur Entwicklung eines neuen, familientauglichen Fahrzeuges. Gaston Juchet entwarf daraufhin das Design des R16. Das Resultat war eine Mischform aus Stufenheckkarosserie und Kombi.

Ab dem 2. Dezember 1964 wurde die Nullserie gefertigt, im Januar 1965 begann die Serienproduktion. Er gilt als das erste Fahrzeug mit einer Schrägheckkarosserie in der oberen Mittelklasse und wurde in einem neu gebauten Werk in Sandouville bei Le Havre produziert. 1965 wurde der R16 zum Auto des Jahres 1966 gewählt. Die Bauweise von Frontmotor und Frontantrieb in Verbindung mit einem Schrägheck wurde später in der Autokompaktklasse zum Standard, aber auch in der Mittelklasse und der gehobenen Mittelklasse gibt es hierfür ebenfalls Beispiele.

Von 1973 an wurde der Renault 16 in einer TX-Variante mit 93 PS angeboten, der sich äußerlich durch Doppelscheinwerfer von den übrigen Modellversionen unterschied. 1974 wich der Aluminiumgrill bei einer weiteren Überarbeitung einem aus Plastik.

Der Motor war längs hinter der Vorderachse (wie auch beim R4 und seit 1934 bei den großen Citroënmodellen 7, 11 und 15CV) angeordnet. Der R16 wurde ausschließlich als Fünftürer angeboten.

Ferrari Club of Ohio Meet in Little Italy Cleveland.

The F430 Scuderia not only bears the name of the company’s Formula 1 outfit, it also reflects many details found only in the company’s single-seater racing cars. Michales Schumacher was actively involved in the development of the Scuderia, so it was fitting the car was first unveiled to the public by the seven-time F1 champion at the IAA Motor Show in Frankfurt last September.

The F430 Scuderia was built to compete with the likes of Porsche’s GT RS models and Lamborghini’s Gallardo Superleggera, both stripped out to save weight, with more horsepower and a bigger race track bias while remaining street legal.

With a curb weight of 2,756 lbs, the Scuderia is certainly light, weighing about the same as a Mazda 3 sedan, with over three times as much power. This also happens to be about 220 lbs lighter than the regular F430 thanks to the use of lighter materials, including carbon fiber, carbon fiber Super Racing seats, and the removal of sound insulation and carpets. The engine, in the meantime, has been tuned to produce 510 horsepower at 8,500 rpm, a 27 hp improvement. The Scuderia’s power to weight ratio drops to 5.4lbs / horsepower, versus the F430’s 6.1 lbs. Top speed is rated at 198mph while 62 mph arrives in less than 3.6 seconds from a standstill. Ferrari says the 430 Scuderia laps its Fiorano test track in the same time as the company’s own 650hp Enzo supercar. Just like on that flagship, the brakes are carbon ceramic.

Aerodynamics on the Scuderia were also improved compared to the standard car, and changes include a re-sculpted leading edge of the front bumper, a new central lower flap, more angular front air intakes in the bumper and wider-meshed grilles up front. The rear gains downforce thanks to a more aggressive lip spoiler and a new rear diffuser. Ride height is also lower by 0.7 inches on the Scuderia. These changes are good for 165 lbs of downforce at 93 mph and over 660 lbs at top speed.

The Scuderia also sports the exclusive car maker’s F1 Superfast electronic transmission with the latest programming that reduces shift times to just 60 milliseconds, according to Ferrari. The Scuderia represents the first use of a combined E-Diff electronic differential with F1-Trac stability control, settings for which are controlled by the steering wheel-mounted manettino dial.

Buyers can further personalize their 430 Sucderia through Ferrari’s Carrozzeria Scaglietti program, that focuses in this case on the Racing and Track areas.