(Redirected from
Renault Alliance)
The Renault 9 and Renault 11 are compact automobiles, launched in the early 1980s, by the French car manufacturer Renault.
The 9 was a 4-door sedan, launched in 1982, and was winner of the Car Of The Year award of the same year. A version of the 9 was produced by American Motors in the United States, where it was known as the Alliance from both AMC and Renault. The American Alliance was on Car and Driver's Ten Best list for 1983. Besides the 4-door, the Alliance was offered as a 2-door sedan, and (from 1984 on) a convertible.
The 11 was a 3 or 5-door hatchback, and was launched in late 1983. The US version was known as the Encore.
Although the two cars had different names, and silhouettes, they were in fact identical under the skin, and were intended to jointly replace the older Renault 14 . The 11 was also distinguishable from the 9 by its front end, which featured the square twin headlights already used on the Alliance in North America.
Both cars were somewhat unremarkable, using Renault's archaic C-type overhead valve engines in 1.1 or 1.4 litre format, and a basic suspension design which resulted in a rather ordinary driving experience. The newer F-type engine which had been developed in collaboration with Volvo appeared in later years in 1.7 litre guise.
The 11 did have one moment of movie stardom in the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill, where Bond steals a Renault 11 taxi from a Parisian cab driver and uses it to pursue an assassin. The car has its roof torn off in the resulting car chase, and is then chopped in half in a collision with another car (a Renault 20 !).
The Renault 9 and 11 continued in production until 1988, when the 19 hatchback and 19 Chamade saloon were launched as replacements.
