While often best-known today for producing stylish and efficient passenger cars, France’s Renault has also built a formidable reputation in racing with many victories to its credit with Renault-built and Renault-powered cars rallies and Formula 1 competition. Without taking a deep dive here into the foundations of Renault’s Renault Sport division in 1976, suffice it to say the entity was based on the legendary French racing firms Alpine and Gordini, with the former focused on racing chassis and the latter expanding on its engine-tuning and development wizardry.
Aside from such racing legends as Alpine’s A110 Belinette, Gordini’s wild R8, and Renault’s own bonkers R5 Turbo, the Renault Sport Spider of the late 1990s stands today as a true racing car with license plates. This 1998 Renault Sport Spider is currently listed on Doug De Muro’s very successful Cars and Bids online auction site and online community, and while this operation requires very little, if any, introduction to legions of car enthusiasts and auction participants, the car being offered at auction is an extremely rare and delectable driver’s car in every respect, especially with its hands-on, all-analog character, extreme lightness, and incredible all-around performance.
Inspired by the Laguna (CC) Concept Car shown in 1990, the Sport Spider debuted at the March 1995 Geneva Motor Show and wowed all onlookers with its no-frills nature, upward-opening doors, mid-engine aluminum chassis, double-wishbone suspension, and driver-centric cockpit. Looking more like a track-ready, weapons-grade race car, the Sport Spider also featured a nod to Amedee Gordini’s tuned Renault R8s of the 1960s with its unforgettable quad-taillight rear treatment. The amidship 2.0L Renault inline 4-cylinder engine is rated at 148 horsepower and delivers amazing performance with the Sport Spider’s extremely lightweight chassis via a 5-speed manual gearbox. As the first automobile produced under the Renault Sport banner, the Sport Spider was hand-built at the former Alpine production facilities in Dieppe. Just 1,726 were produced.
Finished in retina-searing Sport Yellow paint with a Black-upholstered cockpit, this 1998 Renault Sport Spider is a truly rare sight in North America, as none were sold here when new. According to the auction site, this example is an originally a Japanese-market car with left-hand drive, reportedly imported to the United States in July 2023. Equipped with an instrument cluster calibrated in Imperial units, this Sport Spider currently shows approximately 12,500 miles. A CarVX vehicle-history report and lemon Squad pre-purchase inspection report – both of which I will need to learn more about – are included with this Sport Spider.
With fresh coverage in Road & Track magazine’s online newsletter, this 1998 Renault Sport Spider is sure to garner a great deal of interest and attention, in addition to the attention and bidding it will garner on Cars and Bids, where it is currently offered at auction. Given the low production of the Sport Spider, few sale results are available, but the data masters at Classic.com do list 14 sale listings for this racing car for the road reported over the past 5 years.
Below is the sale data for the Renault Sport Spider, compiled by Classic.com:
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