Survival of a 17S Australian homologation special
By Peter Stoner, Hiedelburg Victoria Australia
Now this may seem strange, you're wondering what the hell is a seventeen
sedan, "How come l have never heard of one!" l hear you say. Well
we will tell you a tale of a small sedan secretly built by Renault Australia
to combat against the likes of the Ford Escorts and 4 cylinder Torana's
of the time. Renault had a great car, the R12 as we all know it, it had
won Wheels car of the year here in Australia in 1974, but one of the comments
were that these little French cars did not have enough power.
France had the 12 Gordini which at this stage was burning up the competition
scene with the Rally prepped 17TS's, but Australia was lacking a power car
like the 12 Gordini. As the 12 Gordini was very expensive to import, Renault
Australia come up with a secret plan and decided to start up a program to
develop an Australian 17 sedan, why 17 sedan you ask, it was to build onto
the highly successful 15/17 range.
The 17S development started very early in the life of the Australian
12. In the January 1971 Wheels magazine, Rob Luck had stumbled on something
he should not have seen. Possibly the first transplant of 17 monkey glands
into the humble R12 body. However Australian Government regulations precluded
the production of such a car, and the R12 had to make do with the 1251cc
motor. (It is roumoured that the Government succumbed to pressure from Ford
and GMH who were feeling the pinch from Renaults' motorsport success, as
they had just won the 1970 rally championship. It is history now that a
Torana GTR won the 1971 championship)
Following the editorial scoop of the year, the item was followed up in
the February edition. Bob Watson demonstrated a 12S, rumoured to be on the
lines of a R10S. No pictures were allowed of the engine, and in combination
with the published 12 Gordini details it is possible that the car had 17
running gear. The 12 Gordini would be too expensive to produce, as it was
LHD. The 17S conversion was considered relatively simple for a limited production
run of homologation specials.
So Renault Australia needed to create the Homologation 17S and the 15/17
range offered that, thus top management decided to start developing a few
test models, home grown in Australia the 17S was to use alot of the 15/17
mechanical's, such as larger front suspension like 17 vented discs, driveshafts
and a 17TS disc rear end. A larger engine that was taken also from the 15/17
range, it was a 1565cc with the gearbox also being transferred. Various
engine configurations were used with either single downdraft Weber and twin
sidedraft Weber conbinations. Other things were used such as R15 front head
lights and various interior bits also where crossed over from the 15/17
as well.
It would be at this time that Adam's vehicle was produced, a more elaborate
version with the Momo wheels and flared wheel arches. Most 17S prototypes
were R1170 bodies with the oval plate between 230000 and 330000, being built
mainly in 1971-72.
This was a bold move by Renault Australia's management as it would have
created such a stir in the Australian market, till this day a lot of the
former Renault Australia management will not talk about the project because
once Renault France had heard about the project, and cost projections were
calculated, the 17S was abandoned and the project was buried deep within
Renault Australia out at Heidelburg. This was a fairly secret affair and
when an ex-Renault Australia employee approached us with pictures of this
strange model and some original documents to prove the authenticity of the
project, we were stunned.
It was like a covert department had operated within Renault Australia.
The man who gave us this information, wanted to remain anonymous, but he
had told us that Adam's R12 was in-fact one of the 17S test models, after
we had checked the numbers on the block and chassis we stood there stunned.
We had indeed found a truly incredible car. Now the truth could come out,
as he had been amazed to find the car had survived the dismantling of Renault
Australia, this was when the manufacturing plant closed down. It was common
knowledge that Renault had crushed and thrown most of its stock out. Various
cars such as the famous R16's that had been rallied in the Round Australia
Trial were repainted and sold as standard car so the public could not get
their hands on them. Well a similar fate must of befallen the 17S and it
was not until 20 years later that we are able to tell you of this amazing
find.
Peter told us that Motor Motor Magazine in 1973, the heading saying "Renault
withdraws from motorsport activities" they had speculated that at this
time the Australian development of the 17S has stopped, most prototypes
were crushed to hide the project. He had also said that due to the 12 Gordini
not being a large success in motorsport, and due to the introduction of
the 15/17 range, the 17S featured in the Sept 73 Motor Motor could have
been the last gasping breath of the French management trying to inject life
into the idea. That was until they stopped their 17S project and of course
the Australian 17S project.
Have a look at the photos and the scanned in pages of the Sept 73 Motor
Motor article which proves the authenticity of the car, this is truly a
amazing find and in the near future Adam will have this car at French Car
days so people can see this unique 17S.
Happy Motoring Regards Peter Stoner.
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