UK's rarest cars: 1974 Renault 6 TL, one of only two left

Telegraph

16-05-2025

Some cars are so taken for granted when new that it is not immediately apparent when they start fading away. The Renault 6 was once the vehicle of choice for the individualist motorist of a limited budget, but today Terence Byrne's 1974 TL is one of only two remaining on the road in the UK.
Renault commenced Project 118 in 1965 and its role was to be the ideal car for buyers who aspired to greater luxury than offered by the ubiquitous 4 and who could not afford the larger 16. It would also have to rival Peugeot's new front-wheel-drive 204 and, more importantly, Citroën's forthcoming Dyane, a five-door hatchback based on the 2CV.
The result was the 6, which shared a platform, asymmetrical wheelbase and dashboard-mounted gearchange with the 4. The two also had an 845cc engine in common, although the 6's unit was in a slightly more powerful form. Renault unveiled its new model at the 1968 Paris motor show, with a delightful commercial illustrating its strong points.
UK sales began in late 1969. This newspaper found the 6 'a sensible and civilised car'. Meanwhile, Renault GB claimed: 'It doesn't have a lot of complicated controls.' The upmarket TL debuted the following year and its specification included a 1.1-litre engine, front disc brakes, front door armrests and separate (rather than a bench) front seats. An impressed Car praised the 6 TL's fuel economy and thought it possessed 'more character than any of its classmates'.
Renault facelifted the 6 in 1973 with a grey plastic grille and promised the TL could reach 70mph 'without fuss or fatigue'. Autocar regarded it as 'not perhaps the most beautiful small estate around but certainly the most practical'. By then, the 6 TL cost £1,030 compared with £816 for the Citroën Dyane 6, although the Renault was more powerful and better appointed.
Nor was there a direct UK-produced rival to the 6 as a compact front-wheel-drive five-door saloon. British Leyland never built the Austin Allegro in hatchback form while the Austin Maxi 1500 was larger than the Renault and more expensive at £1,379. A potential 6 TL buyer might have looked to the £1,056 Simca 1100 LS, although its strongest competitor was probably the Renault 4 De Luxe, which offered much the same formula for only £947.
However, investing in a 6 TL meant not only greater performance but luxuries beyond the dreams of the average 4 owner; winding windows, reclining front seats, heated rear window, rear childproof locks, ashtrays for the back seat passengers and a dipping rear-view mirror. Renault further assured UK drivers the 6's lack of front quarter-light windows was because they were 'the thief's usual method of entry'.
French production ended in May 1980, while the last of 1,743,314 examples of the 6 left Renault's Spanish plant in March 1986. Byrne's interest in the 6 began 1981 when a yellow 1976 TL replaced his Ford Escort Mk1. 'Being an electrician and part-time farmer, it was so versatile, floating up fields and stone lanes with ease,' he says.
That 6, as with so many cars, eventually succumbed to corrosion, but Byrne never forgot it. Decades later, 'my lovely wife Jennifer passed away' and he decided to find another example 'because of her love for the old Renault 6'. Byrne kept looking and in 2018, during a visit to the Classic Car Show at the NEC, he met Brian Whiteside of the Renault Classic Car Club.
Whiteside told Bryne that he owned 'a yellow R6 but was not selling. However, as a member of the Renault Classic Car Club, I noticed that in 2021 he was selling some of his collection.' Byrne travelled from County Down to Wimborne in Dorset to collect the 6 TL. Today, it is driven at least monthly and 'gathers a lot of interest at shows'.
The Byrne TL goes by the name JEN 74, in honour of his late wife. From a 2025 perspective, its rather appealing lines are a reminder of how different the Renault seemed from the likes of the Hillman Avenger or the Triumph Toledo. The interior provided space for four well-proportioned adults, while the strip speedometer resembled a gauge from the 1964 TV series Stingray.
And JEN 74 is also a prime example of how the memories invested in an old car are as important as the engineering and design.