Founded by Louis Renault and his brothers Marcel and Fernand in 1898, the first Renault design was a solitary 1¾hp De Dion-engined prototype, which featured a sprung rear axle which would soon be copied by many contemporaries.

Large scale production was next to come from their Billancourt factory, and they would soon become the largest automobile manufacturer in France, helped by their susccesses in the great French inter-city races at the turn of the 19th Century.

By 1904, Renault was producing its own multi-cylinder engines that would cement their reputation, with 1905 seeing the launch of the twin-cylinder AG.

1908 saw the launch of the Type AX, fitted with a twin-cylinder engine of 1,060cc of 8hp that would propel itself to 35mph.

The AX arrived at a time when the general public were starting to find favour with the 'horseless carriage' and Renault had ironed out many unreliability issues thanks to a simple design that also ensured ongoing maintenance was particularly easy for ...