Going it Alone

Recalling Dacia’s home-grown supermini.

Since its takeover by Groupe Renault in 1999, the Romanian automaker Dacia really has flourished. Using proven but not outdated technology provided by its parent, Dacia has produced an interesting range of practical and unflashy cars that offer excellent value and meet the needs of their owners perfectly⁽¹⁾. The typical Dacia driver tends to be someone who regards a motor vehicle as a useful appliance rather than a status symbol. That said, there is almost an inverted snobbery to owning a Dacia these days that says, “I’m too smart to pay up for a fashionable badge.”

Renault’s association with Dacia goes back all the way to 1966. On 6^th September of that year in Bucharest, a framework contract between the Romanian Government and the Régie Nationale des Usines Renault was signed for an initial period of ten years whereby Dacia would build Renault cars under licence. Production started with the rear-engined Renault 8 in August 1968, which was sold under the name Dacia 1100 until 1971. This was supplemented in 1969 with the Dacia 1300, a Romanian version of the front-engined FWD Renault 12. It is this car that would form the core of the Dacia range for the following thirty-five years, when it was finally replaced by the Renault-designed Logan saloon.

What is rather less well known is that Dacia harboured ambitions to produce its own in-house designed car and began working on one in the mid-1980s⁽²⁾. Because of financial constraints and the upheaval in Eastern Europe surrounding the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the new Dacia would not reach production until 1995. It was called the Nova⁽³⁾ and was a transverse-engined FWD B-segment five-door hatchback with more than a passing resemblance to the 1981 Renault 11 and, to a lesser extent, the 1985 Peugeot 309, thanks to its curvaceous rear windscreen.

The front end was a dead-ringer for the 1983 Alfa Romeo 33, minus the Scudetto, of course. The Nova stood on a wheelbase of 2,475mm (97½”) and had an overall length of 4,030mm (158¾”). The former was pretty much the class average for contemporary superminis, but the bustle tail made it around 300mm (11¾”) longer than the norm. it was commendably light at just 940kg (2,072lbs).

The Nova’s 1980s design references meant that it was rather outdated looking by the mid-1990s, when curvy organic designs were very much in fashion. Its engine was also rather geriatric, being the Renault Cléon overhead-valve unit that dated all the way back to 1962. In the Nova, it was offered in 1,397cc and 1,557cc capacities, producing maximum power of 62bhp (46kW) and 72bhp (54kW) respectively. These were mated to a five-speed gearbox designed in-house by Dacia. Claimed top speeds were 150km/h (93mph) and 160km/h (99mph) and the Nova was liked for its lively performance and good roadholding.

However, Dacia’s inexperience soon began to reveal itself in build quality and reliability that was inferior to the Renault 12-based car, now badged Dacia 1310. Early examples also suffered from premature corrosion. A relaunch was ordered for 1996 with a facelift that included shallower, more curvaceous headlamps and a slimmer front grille in an attempt to give it a more contemporary appearance.

Later, and rather strangely, the heavily curved rear screen was supplemented by an almost flat alternative that gave the car a rather different side profile. Perhaps the intention was to make it more saloon-like in appearance, to appeal to conservative local market tastes? The two versions appear to have been marketed alongside each other before the original was dropped.

The Nova remained on the market for five years. Towards the end of its life, Renault completed its takeover of Dacia⁽⁴⁾ and began development of a new small saloon that would be launched as the Logan in 2004. In the meantime, Dacia needed a stop-gap model, and the Nova was re-engineered to accept the 1,390cc 75bhp (56kW) SOHC engine and five-speed manual gearbox from the Renault Clio. Equipment levels were improved to include air-conditioning, electric windows and alloy wheels on more upmarket versions, but the external appearance was pretty much unchanged. The car was renamed SupeRNova⁽⁵⁾.

In 2003, the SupeRNova was facelifted to become the Solenza and received new front and rear-end treatments. At the front, the Solenza featured new trapezoidal shaped headlamps and a ‘V’ shaped grille that anticipated the style for the forthcoming Logan. At the rear, smaller triangular tail lights replaced the rectangular originals, allowing for a wider boot opening. Mechanically, the only significant change was the addition of a 1,870cc 63bhp (47kW) diesel engine. The Solenza had a short lifespan of just over two years before it was discontinued shortly after the Logan was launched. The rest is, of course, history.

_{(1) The sort of cars Škoda produced in the early 21st Century before the Czech marque was neutered by its jealous parent.}

_{(2) Dacia did also launch a fibreglass-bodied city car called the Lastun in 1988. It was dreadful and was soon shunned by buyers and discontinued.}

_{(3) A model name for which General Motors held the copyright, surely?}

_{(4) Initially purchasing a controlling 51% stake, later increased to 99%.}

_{(5) The apparently random capitalisation is correct. Perhaps it was a reference to Renault?}

Author: Daniel O'Callaghan

Shut-line obsessive...Hates rudeness, loves biscuits. View all posts by Daniel O'Callaghan