Renault 4 CV

From August 1947 through July 1961, Renault produced and marketed the Renault 4CV, a small rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive budget automobile. Before being eclipsed by the Dauphine, it was the first French vehicle to sell a million units. The 4CV was a 3600 mm long monocoque vehicle with suicide doors in the front. The 4CV was developed and constructed surreptitiously by Renault engineers under the German occupation of France during World War II when the firm was under tight instructions to design and manufacture exclusively military and commercial vehicles. To avoid being discovered t the 4CV development was categorised as a low priority offshoot from a programme to design a new engine for a post-war return of the Juvaquatre. German departmental superiors were definitely not trustworthy regarding 'Project 106E,'. During the occupation, Renault was controlled by Wilhelm von Urach, a German engineer from an aristocratic family who happened to also be a francophile, who managed to turn a blind eye to the entire project.