The floating SUV: Renault Racoon

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Renault

We are less and less used to seeing a shocking concept from a manufacturer. Now, you have to please as much as possible. We are not particularly nostalgic, but it must be recognized that the 80s and 90s were wackier. The one concept car that most marked the beginning of the 90s is undoubtedly this very orange and very spherical Renault Racoon. It was presented at the 1993 Geneva Motor Show.

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Nothing special, except a V6 in the central position of 3.0 L producing 262 horsepower, but that's not all. This concept is equipped with a twin-turbo engine!

Renault Racoon was amphibious! The Racoon project was crazy! This vehicle, just over 1,500 kilos, could, thanks to two turbines, sail on light waves at maximum 5 knots (about 9 km / h).

But that's not all! It has no doors: it has a door, the canopy tilts from rear to front to allow access to the three interior seats (2 + 1). And then have you ever seen such an interior? You would have to have damn long arms to reach the steering wheel, right? You should also know that the V6 was coupled to a 5-speed mechanical gearbox.

There are also some rather original ideas for the time. We find a projected head-up display, a geolocation system, an onboard telephone and an infrared camera system for night travel.

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Wait, it's not over, but at this level, it's detailing. Most observers of you have probably noticed that there was no wiper at the front. The explanation is simple, even futuristic! Indeed, an ultrasound system travelling right through the canopy is responsible for driving out the most stubborn drops of water in order to offer an always impeccable windshield.

The Renault Racoon is the first car to have been digitally modelled in a real environment. This means that to better visualize the car in an environment, it was embedded on a video, by the same process as special cinema effects.

The floating SUV: Renault Racoon

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