In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re huge fans of the original Renault Twingo. Whether we’re meme-ing it on our socials or marvelling at one that’s being turned into an N24 racer, we can’t help but be charmed by its cute proportions and doe-eyed expressions.
Now, we think we might have found our favourite example ever for sale on Car and Classic. It’s a 1995 Twingo De Plage, a coachbuilt homage to the ‘beach car’ trend of the 1960s.
Renault Twingo De Plage – front
Those original examples of the breed – things like the Fiat 500 Jolly, Mini Moke and Renault 4 Plein Air – followed delightfully simple recipes: take a normal small car, get rid of trivial things like the roof and doors, and paint it a bright colour so it looks right at home slowly ambling around a chic Mediterranean seaside town. Or Filey, if you’ve got a big jacket.
The De Plage (literally, ‘The Beach’) was created by boutique Italian coachbuilder Vernagallo Stile, which is still carrying out similar conversions today, albeit on far less likely vehicles like, erm, the Nissan NV200 van.
Renault Twingo De Plage – side detail
To create it, Vernagallo carried out much of the same procedure as the makers of those earlier beach cars: get rid of the roof and chop the sides down. The latter, though, was cut away in a curving wave pattern because, y’know, it was the 1990s.
To stop it turning into a floppy mess, the chassis and windscreen were both reinforced, and there’s a rollbar with three purposes: extra strengthening, something to mount a canvas awning to, and to stop something truly unspeakable happening in the unlikely event of a rollover.
Renault Twingo De Plage – interior
To complete the transformation, the De Plage’s interior was retrimmed in waterproof faux leather, usually in a fairly lurid two-tone combo, based on the images we’ve seen online.
Other than that, though, it’s as you were with the original Twingo: it has the same little 1.1-litre, 59bhp four-pot driving the front wheels. According to this ad, only 18 De Plages were made, although there was one notable owner: chassis number one was built for former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Renault Twingo De Plage – rear
That isn’t this car, though, so you can put your UV light away. It’s the second one built, which has covered around 53,000 miles and has undergone a full restoration, according to the ad. Located in northwestern Italy, it’s listed at €33,000, or around £27,300. Obviously, that’s a lot for a Twingo of any stripe, but be honest with yourself: you want it.
