1932 Renault Vivastella "PG7" two seat cabriolet
In Latin, "stella " means "star", and viva means "live long". Apparently, viva stella means “living star”, or perhaps “long live(d) star”. With the capital letter and conjoining of both words, Vivastella becomes, “Star of Life”!
Each translation might fit Renault's Vivastella. The Renault Vivasix of 1926 to 1930 was superseded by the Vivastella design of 1928. An all new model, the new living star would certainly live long in production, running from 1929 to 1939 with only WW2 halting production; for obvious reasons. The design was popular, of excellent value and beloved of its owners, whosoever they might be. It was indeed, often the star of their lives.
Louis Renault's new 15hp 6-cyl engine, which debuted in 1926, would evolve to become the 3.2Ltr inline 6-cyl motor for the 1932 PG7 series Vivastella car. However, in 1926 the radiator remained behind the engine, as it would until 1930. Each year the Vivastella evolved, offering 4, 6 and 8-cylinder engines and an ever developing line of “beautiful cars” of differing bodywork styles, largely aimed at the executive market.
Despite economic upheavals of the depression, French drivers still desired powerful and reliable cars. Cars that had style and comfort in keeping with the artistic revolutions as well as the engineering ones. New grills for the front mounted radiator and more streamlined bodies came into the Renault catalogues from 1932 and sporty two seater convertible emerged too; complete with a mother-in-law seat, as the boot mounted dickie seats were sometimes humorously called.
The looks alone set the Vivastella cars apart from others in it's class. When the prices and powerful but economical engines are added in to the equation it is little wonder they were marketed as "The ideal car for the city and for tourism”. The 1932 Renault Vivastella “PG7” was the standard front engined rear wheel drive layout of the era. It had a high-quality 3180cc, inline six-cylinder petrol engine rated at up to 65hp and a 3-speed manual gearbox in a new rigid chassis, giving a claimed top speed of 120kph.
Regarding the chassis, a contemporary advertisement stated, "A new trapezoidal chassis, even more rigid and robust, makes its handling more perfect and has given it a new silhouette, with lower, very slender lines.” Running on a wheelbase of 3,110mm or 3,260mm (122.4–128.3in), the overall length could range from 4,450 to 4,930mm (175.2–194.1in) with widths from 1,700 to 1,800mm (66.9–70.9in); all of which meant, depending on the body style, the Vivastella could offer 5 or 7 perfectly comfortable seats.
Often referred to as a luxury version of the Vivasix, the bodywork designs, mechanical features and range of accessories available to the Vivastella set it apart in the executive car class. A most remarkable, luxurious and quality car the Renault Vivastella was the realization of Louis Renault's equally remarkable imagination and ability. When it was the norm for the Renault catalogue to list multiple generations of models simultaneously, the Vivastella constantly held a place only a little below the newest “Queen star”. The Reinastella.
Released in the early 1980's Heller's 1/24th scale kit of a 1932 Renault Vivastella 'PG7' cabriolet lives up to the firms reputation for nicely detailed models. Kit #724 has been re-released a couple of times with different boxes being the only changes.
It is a nice kit of a car, Britains would easily overlook. Probably not a popular build for car modellers in the UK the kit has sold in other countries and as the Viva- range was a step forward for the Citroen this kit deserves to be part of the discerning car modellers collection.
A straight from the box build by Rod in the 1990. Halfords acrylic car spray cans took care of the priming and major bodywork colours. The interior colours are Humbrol enamels applied by brush.
