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The 5 was produced in two distinct generations between 1972 and 1996.

1 Phase 1: 1972–85

The original 5 was Renault's first foray into the supermini market, and its most prominent feature was its styling by Michel Boue (who died before the car's release), which included the steeply sloping rear hatchback, and front end. Boue had wanted the rear lights to go all the way up from the bumper into the C-pillar, in the fashion of the much later Volvo V70, but this was not to be. The lights remained at a more conventional level.

Underneath the skin, it borrowed heavily from the Renault 4, using a longitudinally mounted engine driving the front wheels with torsion bar suspension. Engines were of overhead valve design borrowed from R4, R8 and R12, and ranged from 850 to 1400 cm³.

Early 5s used the idiosyncratic dashboard mounted gearshift in true French style, but this was later dropped in favour of a floor mounted item. Other versions of the first car included the Alpine (Gordini in the UK), Alpine Turbo, and the "Renault Le Car", which was designed exclusively for the US market. There was also a highly successful rallying version, but this, being rear engined, and rear wheel drive bore little resemblance to the road-going version.

A four-door sedan version was called the Renault 7 and made by FASA-Renault of Spain.

2 Phase 2: 1985–96

The Phase 2 Renault 5, often referred to as the Supercinq or Superfive, appeared in 1985. Although the bodyshell was completely new, the classic 5 styling parameters were left untouched. The biggest change was the adoption of the transversely mounted powertrain taken directly from the 9 and 11, plus a less sophisticated suspension design, which used MacPherson struts.

The most popular version would prove to be the 5 GT Turbo, which was a car beloved of "boy racers" through the 1980s. The end of the road for the venerable 5 came in 1991, when it was replaced by the Renault ClioThe Renault Clio is a supermini-class car built by Renault in France and introduced in late 1990 ( UK: 1991). The Clio largely replaced the Renault 5 (built until 1996). It has seen substantial sales and critical success, helping to improve the marque's r. However, production was moved to SloveniaThe Republic of Slovenia ( Slovenian: Slovenija is a coastal sub-Alpine country in south central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north., where the car remained in production until 1996 in order to provide a cheap entry-level model to the Renault range.