Renault Nervasport des Records

The Renault Nervasport des Records is a single-seat competition car of 1934, derived from the Renault Nervasport (1932 to 1935) of the French maker Renault. After the success of the endurance and speed records of its 1926 Renault 40CV des Records, Louis Renault had his design office conceive this new model on the chassis and engine of the Renault Nervasport and Nerva Grand Sport of the time. The streamlined and very narrow body, with a fastback rear, is supported by a wooden frame and was designed by Marcel Riffard, an aeronautical engineer of the Caudron aircraft company, bought by Renault in 1933, inspired among others by the fuselages of its record-breaking racing aircraft. It has an in-line eight-cylinder engine of 4.8 litres and 108 horsepower, with a top speed of nearly 200 km/h. On 4 and 5 April 1934 it took three world records in its 3 to 5 litre class after 48 hours 3 minutes 14 seconds on the Linas-Montlhéry autodrome, including 8,037 km in 48 hours at an average of 167.445 km/h, and records for average speed over 4,000 and 5,000 miles. The Renault-Riffard and the gas turbine Étoile Filante succeeded it in 1956, and a reconstructed replica is in the Renault Classic collection.