1987 AMC / RENAULT ALLIANCE L 3 door hatchback 1.7 L, 5 speed manual trans

Up for bids is this 1987 RENAULT and American Motors ALLIANCE L 3 door hatchback; equipped with 1.7L 4 cylinder engine and 5 speed manual transmission. It has 144,000 miles on it. It was built in Kenosha at the American Motors plant before May of 1987. This car was owned by a late friend of mine and it was his daily driver until he had gotten in an accident with an uninsured motorist in 2015. A few months after, he passed away from unrelated causes but left the car to his brother, in which until 2 months ago it had been kept in a garage just as Johnathan had done when he drove it regularly. He was an avid American Motors and Renault historian, with a brilliant mind that soaked up so much information at only 20 years old.

Since purchasing the car he had bought the aftermarket wheels until he could find factory alloys, and just a few months before the accident had bought 4 brand new tires as shown in the photos. Johnathan had also put a new exhaust on it. It does have an aftermarket CD stereo that has decent speakers in it. About 6 months before the collision, I was able to drive the car myself, and the suspension, tight steering, and the beefier 1.7L engine in the car I can speak for performs admirably. The car has not been started in over a year unfortunately due to Johnathan’s brother misplacing the keys to the car. I will be glad to put you in contact with his brother in the event he ever finds the keys, but in the meantime I would plan on replacing the lock cylinders.

The car due to the accident does now have a salvage title but I am selling the car as if it has no title. I have not had the time to meet up with his power of attorney, to have the title signed over to me, so I will be happy to put you in contact with her if you would like to have the salvage title to the car if you want to get the car back on the road. I have spoken with a professional body man and he said that the front clip can be straightened back out and due to the fact that none of the glass cracked (its all very good), the structural integrity of the car is not weakened and it can be repaired and driven again, he has repaired much worse.

I bought this car wanting to fix it but have too many other projects (I own 15 vehicles), am getting married in a month, and would like to see this car either be appreciated or used for parts for another RENAULT enthusiast. AMC built 600,000 combined Alliance and Encore vehicles but you’d never know that now, so every one left is important to preserving the history of the Alliance at the end of the life of American Motors Corporation. The odometer works however the speedometer does not. I remember Johnathan driving with a digital speedometer on his phone he would set on the dash.

Though the car is 30 years old, I do know the engine runs very strong, and is very responsive upon acceleration. The 5 speed manual transmission shifts smoothly through all the gears and the clutch is good. The radiator was cracked upon impact and will need replaced.

The body is solid and rot free however will need as stated need a body shop to pull the front clip before replacing the bumper, radiator, hood and fender. The car has been repainted once though the body shows absolutely zero evidence of any bondo or rust repair. The body and unibody is very solid and rust free. The car was bought new in Monroe NC and has been in the Carolinas its whole life.

The interior of this car is in very good condition for being 30 years old. This car was evidently garaged most of its life as the seats are very nice except for one tear at the bottom of the drivers seat. The dashboard is uncracked. The headliner is very nice. The heat and air work as well as the rear window defroster. The car is missing its trunk package tray cover, however Johnathan’s brother may still have it if he can find the keys.

I believe this car does deserve to be fixed, however if you happen to have another Alliance or ENCORE, with a bad engine or a bad automatic trans setup, this would be the perfect donor car to make one hot little Renault again. This car rolls freely, the front tire does not rub the bumper however steering is locked straight so it will need to be trailered or towed home on a tow dolly.

If you have any questions, please ask! Thanks for looking and please check my other auctions for a 1984 ENCORE S 1.4L 4 speed manual hatchback that was also a daily driver until the clutch went out in 2016. It has a solid body; if you’re low on parts you may be able to make one good car out of the two. For the AMC-only buffs I also will be auctioning a solid 1973 Matador 4 door sedan, a former Perdue Farms fleet vehicle with full ownership documentation. I need to thin the herd!