"Founded by Louis Renault and his brothers Marcel and Fernand in 1898, the company that would become France’s biggest automobile manufacturer started humbly enough, with a solitary 1¾hp De Dion-engined prototype, the sprung rear axle of which would soon be copied by many contemporaries. Production at the Billancourt factory was soon under way on a large scale, demand for its products being enhanced by the performance of Renault cars in the great inter-city races so popular in France at the turn of the 19th Century.
From the outset Renault engineering was of the highest quality and the arrival of multi-cylinder models really put the company on the map. By 1904 Renault was building its own engines: large-capacity fours at first, followed by the AX twin that later developed into the AG, famous for its WWI role as the ‘Taxi de la Marne’. Messrs Renault and Frères exhibited five different models at Olympia in 1905, ranging from the twin-cylinder 8/12hp AX to the four-cylinder 35/45hp model. The 14/20hp was powered by a conventional, four-cylinder side valve engine of a little over three litres capacity, and featured the traditional Renault ‘coal-scuttle’ bonnet, rear-mounted radiator, semi-elliptic suspension, rear-wheel brakes, cone clutch and a three-speed gearbox. This model was still in the range in 1909 as the ‘BX’, although the days of its ‘paired cylinders’ engine were numbered, and by this time was being built with a four-speed gearbox.
This 20/30 VB model is a very well-presented example indeed. Fitted with its original body, which was built by Stareys & Woolleys of Nottingham, the Renault looks superb and has a wonderful patina throughout. Included in the sale is a sizeable history file containing invoices going back to the 1960’s. The leather at the rear is believed to be original as is the majority of the vehicle with stamps on the body dated early 1900’s. In very good running condition the Renault comes from a private collection and is ready to be used immediately."