The first 4CVs reached Australia early in 1949, with sales commencing in the week beginning 21 st  February  that  year.  These first vehicles were produced late in 1948 and at least one from this first batch still exists. Apart from being built as right hand drive, these cars were identical to their French cousins.

 

The Australian government encouraged vehicle production in Australia, so local assembly of the 4CV (known in Australia as the 760, then 750 because of its engine size) began in 1951

 

At different times, at least two Renault distributors operated assembly plants for Renaults in Australia. It is interesting to note that the later and more major plant  also assembled other vehicle marques including Studebaker, Peugeot, Citroen and NSU. Renault purchased that assembly operation in 1966 when it established its own company in Australia. Strange as it may  seem, even under Renault ownership, various models of Peugeots and Renaults continued down the same assembly line until the factory finally closed  in 1981 with the Peugeot 504 and Renault 20 then in production.

 

Not all Australian 4CVs were assembled here, some also arrived from  France fully assembled.  Magazines of the time list  slightly different prices for fully imported and locally assembled 4CVs.

 

The choice of  "imported" and "local" may account for one of the more perplexing differences - about half the Australian 4CVs have external petrol fillers.  The brackets for the usual engine-bay mounted filler  are there, but a hole is cut in the bodywork and a large external filler is mounted on the driver's side.  This change may have been made to vehicles assembled in Australia because, in the 1950s, petrol station attendants unfamiliar with the 4CV were known to put petrol into the external radiator filler.

 

Shortly after the war, motor cars were nearly impossible to buy and there  were large waiting lists but, as the 1950s progressed, Australian expectations  of motor cars became more demanding.  Over half the local market  was taken by the Holden with a six cylinder engine.  The 4CVs,  which had taken 2 percent of the 1951 new vehicle sales, found themselves competing with a huge range of cars of all types and sizes from Europe (mainly the United Kingdom) and the USA.  For much of the 1950s, they  were the  cheapest cars available in Australia.  But while it was acceptable for the "Thriftmaster"  (the "Affaires" in France) to be basic and inexpensive, it was equally  important that the "Deluxe" model look as distinctive as possible in order to compete. The Australian Renault agents achieved a more distinctive appearance by having "stone shields" made locally and fitted between the bumpers and the bodywork. 

 

The colours of 4CV's assembled in Australia were not restricted to the  range available in France.  Thus, although no 4CV's were painted red by the factory in their homeland, the red was a popular choice in Australia.  Somewhat less visible, and unlike the 4CV's of France, the Australian 4CV's from 1956 were fitted with an electrical fuse under the dashboard.