Renault Megane

The Megane I was unveiled in the autumn of 1995, as a replacement of the Renault 19. The car was essentially a reskin of its predecessor, and carried over the 19′s floorpan, engines, transmissions and chassis design, albeit with much modification. Taking its name from a Renault concept car shown in 1988, the Megane further developed the new corporate styling theme introduced by Patrick Le Quement on the Laguna, most notably the “bird-beak” front grille – a styling cue borrowed from the legendary Renault 16 of the 1960s. As with the 19 and the 11 before it, the Megane was produced in Renault’s Douai plant in northern France, and in the Spanish plant of Palencia. 1997 saw the introduction of the Megane Scenic compact MPV. Power came from the Renault E-type (“Energy”) engine in 1.4 L, 1.6 L, 1.8 L, and the F-type unit in both 1.9 L diesel and 2.0 L petrol form, although this time around there was a wider variety of 16-valve derivatives. A 1.9 L diesel engine in both normally aspirated and turbocharged forms was also available.