It was the hatchback for young people, the second city car aimed at women, as well as, among others, the first car with plastic bumpers and no handles. An icon of France, inferior in celebrity and myth only to the Déesse celebrated by Roland Barthes, the Renault 5 – renamed as the “Supercar” – rises from its ashes 50 years after its launch in the guise of a new electric concept car.

Changed demographics, market and mobility prerogatives, the pop origin of the ’72 car is inscribed with the new “Diamant” in a different air du temps. Aficionados will not fail to rediscover the characteristic line designed by Michel Boué and updated only with a slight beveling that rounds off the edges and brings the large headlights out of the bumper where they were integrated. What then changes is its unexpected color, a hint of pink dulled through the addition of gold pigments to the paint, the most obvious outcome of the retrofit overseen by designer Pierre Gonalons, author of some of the most prolific interior design and furniture collections in France.

It is the cabin, however, that evokes the comfort and aesthetics of a small room and rediscovers the interior designer’s stylings. An emblematic example is the marble steering wheel, the most original element not only for its material, a reference to Gonalons’ Loggia armchair, but especially for its spiral shape. Launched together with a series of dedicated NFTs, Diamant will be auctioned off in the only example produced and will paving the way for the imminent launch of the new range of electric R5s.