Renault Juvaquatre: "At your service!"

Such an English phrase for a French service vehicle is of course not correct. But on the day after the elections, the cry of 'the Divine Bald' haunts the country again.

The Renault Juvaquatre so: A delivery van

The Renault Juvaquatre is a car with somewhat vague roots, it was designed by Louis Renault itself. And who regularly traveled to Hitler's early days to Germany, where he was impressed by the first generation Kadett (1936-1940). And apparently also from National Socialism. The similarities between 'his' Renault Juvaquatre and the Kadetts pointed to the first mentioned.

The issue is employability

But hey: don't all useful things look alike? André's car is an order version, but the Renault Juvaquatres were of course also available as 'normal' civilian models. The van van variant of André alone was there heeeel much for the French postal services. And none of it is left. That is how it went with consumer goods? The only copy in that post-execution is in a museum and is a 'tribute to' not an original ex-postman.

Retired after 54 year

This Fougonette has no postal background, but it does have a very unique, documented history. It was delivered to Mr Pommier, a small garage owner who worked near the villages of François and Secondigne sur Belle, a municipality in the French department of Deux-Sèvres. Secondigne sur Belle currently has a proud 460 population and has therefore survived the departure of the Juva. The place is part of the Niort district. Then the Renault went to Michael Joulain, who took over the garage from Monsieur Pommier. That was on 23 February 1967. Michael Joulain was responsible for the maintenance of garden and agricultural machinery. It may be called a miracle that the car has remained so undamaged in the 54 year that it did its job daily. And the owner apparently saw his transport solely as work.

A traumatized daughter

At least that's what his daughter concluded. Her father never allowed her to drive in the Renault. After the death of her father, Christelle Joulain transferred the Renault to a museum near Poitiers. There the 'Banania' logos were painted on it. 'Banania' was a kind of choco instant powder. The product disappeared from the market for a while because the depiction of what we nowadays neutral as 'the emphatically pigmented fellow human being' was seen as discriminatory. In the meantime 'Banania' is back on the shelves. Now the brand's 'face' has become that of a slightly tinted young man.

But whether that would contribute to a sales success with us in the Netherlands, that will be something the viewers of 'Opsporing Verzocht' will undoubtedly look into. There is always something like that. The brave Renault was discovered in 2011 in France by two Dutchmen who bought the Juva and took it to the Netherlands, where it was prepared for roadworthiness and integration.