Renault Racoon

History

The Racoon came from Renault's design department, then led by Patrick Le Quément. He later described it as a playful study about escape and adventure that was never planned for production ^[1]. Le Quément credits Jean-François Venet as project director, Mark Walters with the exterior and Axel Breun with the interior, and says the car was built by D3 ^[1].

Renault introduced the car with a short film in which a computer-generated Racoon was placed into real footage of roads, a village, a trail and a lake ^[1][2]. The Ars Electronica archive says the film premiered at Imagina '93 in Monaco before the car itself was built, and that it received an Honorary Mention in the 1993 Prix Ars Electronica ^[2]. Le Quément writes that a Jeep Cherokee fitted with sensors was used to record realistic suspension movement and body roll for the film, and he credits the young architect Bruno Simon with the computer-imaging work; the Ars Electronica entry names Philippe Gassie and Bruno Simon as the film's authors ^[1][2]. The physical concept was shown at the 1993 Geneva Motor Show and then at several other shows ^[1][3][4]. Some sources date the film, or the car, to 1992 instead ^[3][6][7].

Design and how it works

The Racoon had a steel body on a separate steel chassis, wheels of 20 in at the front and 21 in at the rear, and no conventional doors ^[1][4][5]. Occupants stepped up on the front suspension arms while the rear glass slid back and a large glass canopy swung forward, a sequence that Planète Renault says took about 13 seconds ^[5]. Inside were three seats, two in front and a raised one behind for a navigator ^[3][5]. Hydraulically controlled suspension arms changed the ground clearance from about 30 cm (12 in) to more than 50 cm (20 in) ^[5].

Power came from a 2,963 cc twin-turbocharged V6 rated at 262 bhp, driving all four wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox ^[1][3][4]. Renault announced a top speed on land of 155 km/h (96 mph), according to autoevolution and Le Blog Auto, while Planète Renault gives 150 km/h (93 mph) ^[3][5][6]. For water, Renault's specification listed two water jets (Le Quément calls them turbines) that it said would move the car at about 5 knots (5.8 mph, 9 km/h) ^[1][3][5]. The car also showed equipment that was unusual in 1993, including satellite navigation, cameras in place of side mirrors, an infrared camera, a head-up display and an ultrasonic system that cleared rain from the glass instead of wipers ^[3][4][5].

Did it swim?

Renault's specification described a water mode, but the lake scene in the launch film was computer-generated, and autoevolution writes that Renault never showed what the car could do outside the film ^[1][2][3]. Le Quément recalls that Giorgetto Giugiaro asked him at Geneva whether the car really floated, and writes that the team had bluffed him ^[1]. None of the sources consulted describes a water test of the physical car. The Racoon was never planned for production, and none of the sources says where the show car is today ^[1].

Photos

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