40th anniversary photos - the exhibition, the SOVAM and other pictures
sent by Martin Jonker in Nijmegen
Here's a shot from the exhibition at the museum, which displayed
various Renault 4 promotional material and advertising posters from the past
few decades.
I must admit I callously ignored this model on my trek around
the cars, thinking it was an imposter. However, Martin Jonker who took these
photos tells me it is a SOVAM, which was built on an R4 base and had an R4 850cc
engine. It was designed by Jacques Durand in the mid 1960's for a small French
company who manufactured about 80, in addition to later versions which had larger
engines. Other parts were taken from different cars, such as some of the body
panels from the Dauphine. Martin says the model here is number 1 of the first
5 imported to the Netherlands, and is the only one still driving around regularly.
It was a show model of the dealer until the business collapsed, and was used
by a secretary for some years. The site http://www.chez.com/debrito/Sovam.html
contains more details on SOVAM vehicles.
