Renault Sport Spider — transporting you back to 1990s summers

If you’re looking for a road-legal track-day car but think a Caterham 7 is too obvious and a Radical SR3 SL is just a bit too, er, radical – why not consider this well-preserved Renault rarity?

The Renault Sport Spider first went on sale in 1996 when small, fine-handling two-seaters were enjoying a return to popularity. At the time the Williams F1 team was on an extended winning streak with Renault power so, keen to promote its competition credentials , the French marque introduced the Spider as its first road car under the ‘Renault Sport’ banner.

Combining a massive and stiff aluminium chassis with a mid-mounted 2-litre engine and completely open plastic-composite bodywork, the Sport Spider weighed in at around 930kg and was good for a top speed of more than 130mph.

Built at the Alpine factory in Dieppe, the cars were intended to be usable on the road while also being sufficiently dynamic to enable the creation of the one-model Spider Trophy race series, for which engines were tweaked to provide 180bhp – which was 30bhp more than the standard model.

The inaugural championship in 1996 was famously dominated by Jason Plato, with 11 wins out of 14 starts, a record only broken by Andy Priaulx in the 1999 season with a clean sweep of 13 wins out of 13 races.

Of the 1800 Sport Spiders built, the vast majority were fitted with aero screens – but 100 made their way to the UK in right-hand-drive specification, each with a full-sized windscreen and even a wiper.

 

The example on offer with Renault 5 Turbo specialist CGB Motorsport is one of the 100 and it was previously owned by Stephen Dell, president and founder of the Renault Alpine Owners Club.

Finished in the popular colour combination of Renault yellow and graphite grey, the car has covered just 16,000 miles from new and is still fitted with its original Spider steering wheel and accompanied by the aluminium document case with which each car was supplied.

What’s slightly different about this Spider, however, is the fact that the engine has been tweaked to provide “nearly 200hp”, helped by an Orbisound exhaust system.

The car is also fitted with rare Spider Trophy wheels (clad in Toyo Proxes tyres) and comes with the perfunctory waterproof cover that was designed as a ‘get you home’ measure in the event of being caught short by an unexpected rainfall.

A decade or so ago a half-decent Sport Spider could be bought for around £15,000, which was more than £10,000 below the original £25,950 asking price.

Now, however, the combination of looks, rarity, performance and parts availability (the engine is the same as that used in the Clio Williams) has led to a substantial increase in the value of the best-cared-for examples.

This car undoubtedly falls into that bracket – and the fact that it is an original UK version makes it all the more appealing.

It might not be as hard-core as its more minimal, home-market siblings. But anyone who has experienced that needles-in-the-face sensation of driving a fully open car in a downpour will know that a windscreen really is a luxury worth having.

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1997 Renault Sport Spider

On sale with CGB Motorsport, Telford. Asking: £32,950. cgbmotorsport.net

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It’s a Sellers market for ‘Grail Mini’

• Pink Panther actor Peter Sellers owned around 120 cars in his lifetime; Spike Milligan said they were his “metal underwear”. One such motor was this 1964 mini cooper s 1275 radford de ville, inset right – a demo car before being bought by Sellers. JD classics in Chelmsford calls it the “Holy Grail” Mini, with all manner of extras including a hatchback. £POA

  

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• Less Clouseau and more Godzilla, this 1990 Nissan NPT90, 90-03, below, was the sometime steed of Geoff Brabham in his title-winning IMSA GT championships in 1990 and ’91, including victory in the 1991 Sebring 12 Hours. Ready to race, it’s on sale, £POA, at Ascott Collection in France.

  

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• This time last year we reported that Bentley and Rolls-Royce were boasting record sales. Well, 2022 proved even more successful. Bentley flogged 15,174 vehicles, up 4% on ’21, while Rolls exceeded 6000 car sales for the first time in its history, a rise of 8%. Lamborghini, too, smashed its own record with 9233 vehicles sold – a 10% increase; more than half were Urus SUVs.

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• Luxury dealer HR Owen has become the sole UK retailer of Hennessey, those preposterously fast Texan hypercars. The range includes the 300mph+ Venom F5 Roadster – the world’s fastest convertible . Just 30 will be made with a price around £2.7m. More F5 variants are planned

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• Proving the car industry can still give a job for life, hats off to sales progressor Steve Harvey, 75, who has worked with the same dealership, Vertu Bolton Jaguar Land Rover, for 60 years. “I’m not finished,” said Harvey. “I’m carrying on.” LG