Abstract
Louis Renault was born in February 1877 into a bourgeois Parisian family. Louis was a pampered child. He developed, at an early age, a great enthusiasm for all mechanical things, including engines and electricity. Studies were not his strong point but he had 2 vital assets for getting on in life: he was both intuitive and practical.
He made a brilliant entrance into the emerging world of the motor car at the age of 20. He converted his tricycle into a small, four-wheeled vehicle and added another of his inventions that would soon propel the motor car into a new era: the first gearbox. In Christmas Eve 1898 confident about his invention, he bet his friends that his vehicle could climb the 13% slope of the Rue Lepic in Montmartre. Louis didn't only win his bet, he also pocketed his first 12 orders, along with cash deposits. His career was under way. A few months later he filed the patent for the direct drive system that would make his fortune. It was soon adopted by all the manufacturers of the time.
His 2 brothers, who ran the family business prudently, set up the Renault Brothers company in 1899. They left Louis the ownership of his patent and paid him a good salary on condition that he shows results. It was through racing that Renault Brothers became known (with Louis and Marcel as drivers).
The victories were the most efficient form of advertising and direct marketing that the brothers could have wished for. An admiring public made their order books bigger with every race. The cars were sold for 3 000 francs (equivalent of 10 year's average salary). The company expanded rapidly. The Renault catalogue integrated several models, including the 1st saloon car of the market. In the same year he introduced the 1st engine, with 4 cylinders and horse-power of 24. Soon after, he patented the 1st turbo.
