Renault Sport Spider

A genuine racing car for the road, the Spider remains a forgotten gem

- Matthew Hayward

IF ONLY LOTUS hadn't launched the groundbreaking Elise, the Renault Sport Spider might have stood a chance. Alas, the genius of the game-changing two-seat roadster from Norfolk left this considerably more expensive and compromised Spider standing. Which is a real shame because – like most of Renault's more extreme creations – what it lacked in polish and practicality, it made up for with bucketfuls of drama.

Renault first dabbled with the idea of a two-seater speedster in 1990 with the Laguna concept, which soon evolved into project W94 - the Spider. Making its first public appearance at the 1995 Geneva motor show, it was a real chance for RenaultSport - born out of the ashes of Alpine in Dieppe – to build a low-volume, race-ready sports car. Racing car chassis designer Claude Fior was drafted and given a clean sheet of paper, with just one prerequisite: the Clio Williams-sourced 148bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder F4R engine and five-speed gearbox must fit.