Renault 4 Ever Concept: Obendorfer’s Revival of a Childhood Impression

The Renault 4 Ever Design Competition is asking the world’s up-and-coming designers to pen a modernised take on the brand’s iconic Quatrelle hatchback.

Here’s one design that really impressed us: Italian David Obendorfer’s “Revival of a Childhood Impression”. Like Fiat’s Nuova 500, Obendorfer’s Revival takes the classic lines of its inspiration and wraps them around modern underpinnings.

Obendorfer explains:

“I have explored the nature of this model's surfaces and tried to capture the proportions that give it a strong personality. [Such] features are the r4's long wheelbase, quite short front overhang, car body with a typical forward-facing incline, different front and back fenders, front headlights close to each other, straight rear hatch, etc. [Of] course it has been necessary to update the vehicle volumes respecting - among other things - the standard for pedestrians' protection and the current requirements of safety and comfort in general.”

In other words, the Revival is a homage that does not skimp on creature comforts and occupant safety. It’s like the Hyundai i30 Estate in a way; a five-door hatchback with a wagon-sized boot.

It’s a modern design with retro-styling cues, perhaps designed to be built on an existing architecture. And like most new cars today, the Revival has been designed with alternative power plants – such as hybrid and all-electric ones – in mind.

Much like the exterior, the interior is attractive in its simplicity. The instrument panel retains the look-and-feel of the original Quatrelle, though uses an LCD screen that folds away when the engine is switched off in place of analogue gauges.

There’s also an LCD satellite navigation screen, a dashboard-mounted shift lever and conventional push button / turn knob controls for the radio and HVAC.

Of all the entrants, I feel this one looks the most production-ready. It surprises with its practicality: how it’s not some way-out design for a future that will never come.

Obendorfer’s Revival was one of the fifty projects shortlisted in DesignBoom’s Renault 4 Ever competition, and is definitely one of our favourites. You can check out our full gallery below and leave a comment if you wish.

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