Renault Frégate Coupé Louis Rosier Motto

The Renault Frégate Coupé by Motto was a coachbuilt variant of the Renault Frégate sedan, produced in limited or singular quantity by Carrozzeria Motto of Turin around 1956. The base vehicle, the Renault Frégate, was introduced in 1951 and served as Renault’s principal postwar executive model. It featured a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout with a steel unibody construction. The donor chassis retained the original mechanical layout. Power was provided by a water-cooled inline four-cylinder engine, available in two displacements during the production cycle. Early models used a 1,996 cc unit producing approximately 64 horsepower, while later variants were fitted with the 2,141 cc “Étendard” engine, delivering between 77 and 80 horsepower. The engine was coupled to a four-speed manual transmission with column shift. Suspension consisted of an independent front setup with coil springs and a live rear axle. Braking was via hydraulically actuated drums on all four wheels. The conversion by Carrozzeria Motto involved the construction of a two-door coupé body using lightweight aluminium panels mounted over the original monocoque structure. The coachwork featured a lowered roofline, reduced greenhouse area, and revised proportions compared to the original four-door configuration. The body design eliminated the sedan’s verticality in favour of a more streamlined profile. The design is not attributed to a specific stylist but reflects the broader formal language of Motto’s output during the 1950s, particularly its emphasis on restrained volumes and clean surfacing. No production figures have been published. Sources suggest that the Renault Frégate Coupé by Motto was constructed in either one or very few examples. No chassis or engine numbers specific to the Motto-bodied version are available in public registries or marque literature. The vehicle was likely privately commissioned and not distributed through official Renault channels. No ownership history has been documented, and no surviving examples have been identified in institutional collections or auction records. The Renault Frégate Coupé by Motto illustrates the mid-century practice of modifying series-produced executive platforms through Italian coachbuilding. It remains a rare instance of French mechanical components paired with Italian artisanal bodywork and is known solely through photographic and secondary references in coachbuilder documentation.