Renault kills the Wind

Thu, 12 Sep 2013

We wouldn't blame you if you never heard of it, but the Renault Wind was, in areas it was available, one of the more intriguing affordable convertibles on the market. It was based on the Twingo, but shared a couple of vital attributes with the Ferrari 575 Superamerica. One, of course, was the innovative Leonardo Fioravanti-designed flip-top roof. The other was its limited production numbers. But while Ferrari restricted production of the Maranello-based roadster, Renault had apparently hoped more people would buy the Wind. Having fallen short at that, the French automaker has reportedly killed off the quirky little roadster.

This after less than three years of production, which could be down (in part at least) to the minuscule four-cylinder engines it offered. Renault tried to give it a more sporty appearance with the Gordini edition, but despite the racing stripes, it didn't offer anything more in the performance department.

It will be interesting to see if Renault manages a more enticing convertible based on the next Twingo, whose rear-engined platform it's developing in tandem with Smart – which as we all know had a short-lived, high-on-bark/low-on-bite roadster of its own. Here's hoping the next generation has a bit more to offer.

By Noah Joseph