1959 RENAULT Frégate Cabriolet Letourneur & Marchand

Only 69 examples produced Very rare on the market Nice condition Belgian registration title Chassis n° 3309169 The first presentation of the Renault Frégate dates back to the end of 1950. Renault finally shows it at the Salon de l’Automobile in October 1951 and started to market it by the end of the year. Its lines are tighter than those of its contemporary 4CV, but the rear fenders are still beautifully drawn. The 1,996 cc 4-cylinder engine was finally modernized with an overhead-valve cylinder head. Reliable but not exactly high-performance, it develops 65 hp, enough to move the new flagship sedan of the Losange brand. Renault soon thought of converting it into a convertible and called upon its preferred coachbuilder in Italy, Ghia, who drew a prototype called «Ondine», whose design strangely resembled the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia of the same period. The automotive press of the time was unanimous: the greatest French coachbuilders had to work on the new sedan. In 1952, Pichon-Parat was the first to build a 2-door convertible for the Frégate. Bigger names such as Letourneur & Marchand, Mignot and Henri Chapron followed. Among the coachbuilders who worked on the Frégate, Letourneur & Marchand is certainly the one who made the most of them, since it built 69 cabriolets between 1953 and 1959. These rare Frégate were made by hand, making the production process long and costly, and the car was therefore only available on order. Among its main modifications, the Frégate saw its front grille widened, its roof fitted with a canvas top, its chromes asserted, while it was equipped with new front and rear lights. The interior is more sophisticated with a neat finish, although it has all the components of the classic version. Mechanically, it uses the same engine as the Sedan. The end of the Frégate is of course the end of these elegant convertibles, but also the end of Letourneur & Marchand, a great French coachbuilder who survived only through this contract with Renault. The very last example was ordered by the Régie on the occasion of the visit of Prince Rainier of Monaco, and is still today part of the collection of the late prince. Before that, another Frégate Letourneur & Marchand cabriolet had the honor of driving Queen Elizabeth II of England on an official visit! Today it is difficult to know how many convertibles have survived. Ours, registered in November 1959, is one of the very last ones built, and one of the eight made on the basis of the Transfluid Frégate. Its current owner acquired it in 2013 at an auction in southwest France. Restored in the late 1990s in two shades of beige, with tan leather interior, and equipped with Robergel wheels and many Robri accessories, this Frigate is still in very nice condition. Much rarer than a Peugeot or a Citroën cabriolet of the same period, this Frégate will satisfy lovers of beautiful French custom bodied cars.