AutoCult Renault Ligne Flèche (1963) (France)

About the Original

The Arrowshape

It was in 1960 when the ‘Corvair’ saw the light of day at Chevrolet in the USA. In designer circles, this car started a new era. Until then, the car designs were characterized by curves, but suddenly that changed to horizontal lines, an overall elongated, but slender and low shape. The front and rear end were completely balanced. Many experts regarded the design of the Corvair as the new era of automotive design. Several vehicle manufacturers around the world took up this design and developed it further.

One who contradicted this development was the French designer Robert Broyer. He criticized that the flat, straight lines lacked any form of dynamics. For this consideration, the idea matured in him how a dynamic design could be taken up again, which at the same time also conveyed speed. The young designer gave free rein to his thoughts to find the future solution – a design solution for the “post-Corvair era”. His answer was the shape of an arrow – the “Ligne Flèche” (French for arrow shape).

The distinctive feature of his concept was the front end, which ascended towards the front and, in combination with the bonnet, could certainly be interpreted as an arrowhead. In future designs of passenger cars, based on the size of the Renault 4, this design pattern was more or less strong reflected. Ultimately Broyer’s design was found in the Renault 12.