Renault Trafic comment

The Renault Trafic is a light commercial vehicle produced by the French automaker Renault since 1981. It is also marketed as the Nissan Primastar and Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro in Europe. Previous versions of the Renault Trafic have been sold by Chevrolet and the original generation is now sold in India by Tata Motors.

Vauxhall has confirmed that they will produce the next generation Vivaro at the GM Manufacturing Luton plant in 2013.

First generation (1981–2001)

The original Renault Trafic was sold from 1980 to 2000 and was somewhat revised and updated during its lifetime. Originally the van had some variations in the front end shape depending which engine was fitted, with the original 1397cc motor fitting behind a flat grille, and the diesel engine and larger 1647cc petrol engines requiring an extended plastic grille and deeper bumper. The 1721cc OHC engine replaced the 1647cc OHV in the mid 1980s, which fitted under the shorter grille but required a small lump in the bonnet. 

The diesel and 2.1 petrol carried on with the extended grille. In 1990 the Trafic underwent a major front end facelift with rounder shape and a plastic bumper, the new longer body shape covering all varieties of engine. In 1995 the Mk1 Trafic got its final facelift, with new grille, new tail lights, large double rear view mirrors and a new interior with modern dashboard and multi-adjustable seats. This version was also sold as the Opel Arena from 1997.

Winnebago

The chassis and cab of the 1980s models were used as the base vehicle by Winnebago Industries to build the Winnebago 'LeSharo' from 1983,[3] and Itasca Phasar. In order for the chassis and cab version to meet United States safety and emission requirements, this version was sold with Renault's J6T/J7T: 2165 cc badged as 2.2L.

Campervan Variants

The Mk1 Trafic became popular for professional conversion into budget family motorhomes due to the flexibility of the design and the generous internal space for what was a relatively small van. Popular converters were Auto-Sleepers and Holdsworth (now defunct). Other motorhome builders using the Trafic Mk1 as a base include Elddis, Eriba and Autostar.