With a limited production run of less than 2,000 units, the Spider was not the typical vehicle in the Renault range.
It came to life in 1996, following the concept version presented in Geneva a year earlier, and it was Renault’s way of promoting its sportier side. The mid-engine, rear-wheel drove speedster was intended to serve both as a road car and a racer, in a one-make series organized by the manufacturer, and it remained in production until 1999.
This particular example left the assembly line at the Alpine factory, in Dieppe, France, in 1997, and it’s part of the 60 right-hand drive models manufactured. It was originally registered in Ireland and its history file shows 2 owners. It had its C00050 engine replaced with a C000721, but there is no info on whether the work was carried out by a Renault dealer.
The stock Renault Sport Spider takes its firepower from a 2.0-liter four-banger, good for 150 HP, enough to propel it to 60 mph (96 km/h) from a standstill in 6.9 seconds and up to a top speed of 134 mph (216 km/h). The car, whose odometer reads 3,781 miles (6,085 km), will go under the hammer at SilverstoneAuctions on May 20 and is offered at no reserve. By comparison, the open-top models listed for sale on the web usually exchange hands for around mid-€30s and over €40,000 (~$39,000-45,000).
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