Rennara Automotive

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History

Rennara has it’s humble origins in pre-war Sweden (Hetvesia), where circumstance brought together 3 men in the 1940s who would come to create their idea of a luxury cruiser. Brothers Joel & Erik Bolander were engineers at Volvo, with a close working relationship to test driver Alex Kaufmann. The trio began working on a weekend passion project using surplus material they had purchased, and quickly put together a functional, if rudimentary “Type 1” chassis in the spring of 1943. A near-fatal crash in the fall led to a quick redesign for the “Type 2”, which Joel damaged during a strenuous braking test during a particularly harsh winter. With Kaufmann able to resume driving in the summer of ‘44, the future was looking good for the team; no fatal flaws had plagued their “Type 3” chassis.

However, in January 1945, when the trio went forward with their ideas to sell the vehicle, and make more of them - Volvo quickly limited access to their powerplant of choice - the EC Straight-6. This forced the group to find a financial backing to either develop or import an engine of their own. They lucked upon Matsuzaki Reijiro, who owned a small shop and was willing to help them along. In the fall of 1948, the 4 men - along with Reijiro’s 6 other employees, settled on their 2 basic engine offerings; a lightweight straight-4 creatively titled “Type 1”, and a larger, albeit identical straight-6 “Type 2”. The team completed their paperwork and entered the automotive market in January 1952, with the Rennara Type 4 offered in a wide range of configurations - made possible by the limited volume of the shop and commonality of many components.

Rennara would survive on their bold - if dated - Type 4 for another 8 years; when sufficient numbers of their second model; the Torva T5 (Type 5) could be shipped out of a brand new factory.

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Rennara Models, (1958-present)

Tanza - competes w/ Honda Civic, Mazda 3, Nissan Sentra, etc. Rennara’s entry-level model, in its most spartan offerings, is intended to be a premium alternative to an otherwise austere and basic market. In its higher-end trims, it competes with the entry-level compacts from brands such as Alfa Romeo, BMW, and Audi. It is offered in both sedan and hatchback styles from the second generation on, while offering a wagon in its first generation.

Sava - competes w/ Honda Fit, Mini Cooper, VW Beetle, Peugeot 205/207, etc. Slotted just above the Tanza, the Sava is a premium hatchback for Rennara customers who need more space, but not necessarily more cost than the Tanza can provide. While sharing a number of engines and other options, the Sava also has access to some higher-end goodies from larger models. The Sava also offers a wagon and coupe style on occasion, most notably in later generations.

Vivka - competes w/ VW Golf, Vauxhall Corsa, Renault Megane, etc. The Vivka wiggles just in-between the Sava and Rihana in Rennara’s lineup, and is the firm’s bread-and-butter hot hatch. In its lifetime, the Vivka serves in multiple touring and rally racing series, and on occasion touches the status of super hatch. For most of its life, the Vivka is offered solely as a 5-door hatch, but has had a wagon style in more than one generation.

Rihana - in its first generation, the Rihana was a compact 2-door sedan intended to be the company’s entry-level model. It was marketed as a family sports car, despite being built to compete against JDM sport options and the American Pontiac Fiero. However, its suite of optional performance goodies and well-appointed interior destined it to be upsized, and become a more family-oriented alternative to the firm’s popular Torva. It competes with all the big-name midsizes; the Honda Accord, the Nissan Altima, the Ford Taurus, the contemporary Volvos, etc. A number of options and/or base offerings are also offered for top-level Sava and Tanza packages.

Torva - the firm’s mainstay model, in production since 1958, and competing against any and all contemporary luxury sedans; Jaguar, Volvo, Alfa Romeo, BMW, Audi - this is Rennara’s answer. It became the first model Rennara sold after debuting with their venerable Type 4 chassis. A number of features; including the long list of options are carryovers from the Type 4, and showcase the firm’s origins as a boutique brand.

Zentoa - nestled just above the Torva, the Zentoa is a hotbed of performance options and daring thinking; the firm’s main sports car. It had its debut in 1966, and by the time 1972 rolled around, was entering paddocks around the world as a touring car. None of the cars were standouts, but led to Rennara formally acquiring the Jaznyr Motors tuning shop, which dramatically improved their racing efforts in the future. Most Zentoas are 4-seat affairs, but some trims cut the backseat for improved performance.

Nevyta - the firm’s SUV offering. Rennara was relatively quick to enter the SUV market, thanks to extensive experience with AWD systems and mud-ready performance wagons. The Nevyta is a more mature, refined experience - but Rennara’s namesake performance is still under the hood.

Avera - the firm’s entry-level sport option. They take all the fun bits of Rennara performance, with a touch of leather for good measure. They don’t have quite as many options as some other models, but they do have an exhaustive list available to them - at quite the attractive pricepoint.