Renault 12CV

The Renault 12CV was the commercial name of a Renault car built from 1909 to 1922. It grew out of the 10CV chassis shown at the 1905 motor show at the Grand Palais in Paris, which sold well to a fairly wealthy clientele, and for 1909 the 10CV became the 12CV, the Type AZ. The engine stroke went from 75 to 80 mm and the displacement from 2,120 to 2,410 cubic centimetres. Model codes changed almost every year: AZ in 1909, BZ in 1910, CB in 1911 and 1912 and DG in 1913 and 1914, and the line was resumed after the armistice until 1923 with types such as EU, JM and ME. The DG, which reached about 65 km/h with a four-speed gearbox, had a bore of 130 mm giving 2,610 cubic centimetres. The 12CV was not an unreachable luxury model: the chassis, with a 3.06 or a 3.30 metre wheelbase, could take made-to-measure coachwork or more modest bodies. It was launched as Louis Renault was introducing assembly line production at Billancourt, which caused a strike in February 1913.