On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of its iconic 4L, the car manufacturer Renault left it in the hands of the French designer Mathieu Lehanneur. The goal: to make the Renault 4L an exceptional modern vehicle.
For the 60th anniversary of the iconic Renault, designer Mathieu Lehanneur had fun transforming a 4L into a moving hotel room called Suite n°4.
We are seeing more and more companies converting vans into small homes on wheels. The number of motorhome registrations continues to increase year after year. And the number of gadgets to transform your car into a bivouac is increasing. In short, nomadic travel is on the rise. This is certainly what inspired Mathieu Lehanneur to revisit the Renault 4L, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of “the” little French car.
The designer created Suite N°4, an “open-air hotel room” in a real Renault 4L. This collaboration was prompted by Arnaud Belloni, the Marketing Director of the Renault brand. “We invited him to imagine a concept capable of expressing his vision of the 4L. The result is exceptional: a car that perfectly represents the brand’s objective within the framework of the “Renaulution” strategic plan, to create modern and innovative cars that transmit emotions.
Entire sections of the bodywork and the tailgate disappear, replaced by glass parts. The roof too, but it is covered with a grid of solar panels. These have the advantage of letting light through and powering… the battery of the 4L! Indeed, Renault launches thus, the air of nothing, in the electric retrofit. Inside, we find yellow velvet on the seats and the dashboard in the front, and chenille fabric on the sofa/bed in the back. Light sconces and a host of comfortable cushions complete the picture of a mini-suite on wheels. All “made in France”, of course.
According to Mathieu Lehanneur, the Suite N°4 is even “better than a suite in the most beautiful palace, it is exactly where you want it, facing the sea, in the middle of a field or moving in the city of your dreams”. The body is covered with a “cement” livery composed of three layers of paint. A spectacular signature of the designer is the crumpled polished aluminum grille. Finally, an option that we thought was reserved for the big Land Rover adventurers, a bench unfolds in the back to sit and enjoy the view. We imagine that the Suite N°4 will not be marketed. But it will be possible to admire it “in real life” at the Atelier Renault on the Champs-Elysées from December 1, then during Maison & Objet from January 20 to 24. After that, we’ll have to wait, at least until 2024, before seeing the modernized and electric versions of the Renault R5 and 4L on the market.
