Looking somewhere between a VW Camper and a Citroën H-Van, the Estafette was Renault’s chirpy flagship from 1960-1980.
As with the Citroën H-Van, the idea with the Estafette was to create a front wheel drive front mounted engine, in order to keep the rear of the vehicle as uncluttered as possible.
This meant that the Estafette could have a low floor relative to the road, and therefore a low loading height. This sped up logistical efficiency, improved weight distribution and increased load capacity, whilst keeping the vehicle relatively small.
This also meant drivers could walk right into the van without having to bend over, opening up other possibilities for the vehicle. As a result the Estafette became a common choice for food truck conversions and remains a very popular choice for vending to this day.
The Renault Estafette is a piece of living history, an ode to French post war styling and is packed with practical engineering marvels, but is it the right vehicle for you?
In this article, we break down the pros and cons of Renault Estafette hire, enabling you to find a best fit vehicle.
Legacy
The Renault Estafette is as iconic as it is practical, a real win-win in a sampling vehicle.
Pros
Designed initially as a post-war cheap and cheerful courier, the vehicle has come to epitomise the carefree times that accompanied the nonconformist “swinging-sixties”, a look today admired as vintage and retro.
Styling similar to the VW Camper tie this vehicle to the counter cultural movement characterised by free love and ‘hippies’; something it’s chief competitor, the Citroën H-Van, doesn’t have.
This makes the Estafette ideal for brands, embracing the cultural sixties aesthetic, freedom, disruption or counter-culturalism.
The Estafette has become something of a collector’s item over the years, and vehicles are jealously guarded by their owners. As a result seeing an Estafette is a rather novel experience, and the vehicle attracts people on its own merit, even before you’ve branded and customised it.
Cons
If your campaign doesn’t embrace disruption, it isn’t counter cultural or is at odds with the sixties aesthetic, this may not be the vehicle for you.
In this case the Citroën H-Van may be a better fit. The vehicle was remembered as the country’s courier, and is more of a blank, if stylish, canvas.
Size
At nearly 4.6 metres long, these Renault Estafettes offer plenty of space for vending or sampling and are large enough to be seen out on the road.
Pros
This vehicle is ideal for largescale branding thanks to its large flat surfaces and boxy shape.
The Renault Estafette is 360 degree brandable, meaning we can brand every part of it to help you stand out.
The vehicles relatively small size enables them to vend almost anywhere, which is a major advantage when it comes to complying with venue display restrictions. It also makes it easy to park and setup in cities or other urban environments.
Cons
If you do feel you need extra space our Airstreams are larger, and our Exhibition Vehicles larger still. If you want something smaller our Piaggio Apes are ideal, or if you want to go micro, we also do promotional bikes.
Customisability
Our Estafettes are highly customisable, we respect your brief to the letter. They are primarily designed for vending or sampling and are suitable for any industry.
Pros
The serving hatches on this vehicle run the length of the rear compartment, making this vehicle perfect for vending or sampling food, drinks, snacks or products.
Our Renault Estafettes can be adapted to suit many campaign purposes.
We’ve seen the van used by the food & drink industry, beverages, retail, dentistry and many others, from challenger brands right up to household names we all know and love.
Cons
You can’t engage customers inside, so if your activation requires an internal display, you are better off looking at the VW Camper van if you want something small, or our Airstreams if you want something larger.
Logistics
This vehicle is included in our full logistics package. This includes a professional driver, route mapping and of course transporting your vehicle to and from each venue for each activation day.
Pros
Although this vehicle works better as a static display, it is drivable around your locations of choice.
As with all our vintage vehicles, the Estafette is social media ready, meaning it is capable of short journeys of 5-10 miles, providing a moving platform for photo ops and general customer engagement.
Cons
It is worth noting however that the vehicle is slow and cannot be driven on motorways, which is why we transport it for you over long distances.
Cost
Our Renault Estafettes are priced at £5,750 for a one day event, including wrapping and logistics. Internal modifications tend to start around £2000, but can exceed £10,000 if you want unique changes.
Pros
Our Renault Estafette is much cheaper than a Citroën H-Van, which caps the small to medium vehicle range at £6,500. The Estafette is of course also French, eye-catching and has its own interesting legacy that can play into your campaign.
It’s also less expensive than our Ice Cream Vans and Land Rover Defenders, which price out at £6,100 and £6,500 respectively.
It’s about the same price as quite a few small to medium vehicles including the US Postal Vans, Electric Milk Float and VW Pop-Up Camper.
Cons
The regular VW Camper is more than £500 cheaper at £5,230, and if you want to go even smaller our Piaggio Ape is just £3,390.
What are my next steps?
If you are interested in one of our Renault Estafettes feel free to navigate to our budget calculator, where you can ballpark the cost of an Renault Estafette campaign.
We also recommend using our costs and services guide, for a more specific explanation of all our services and how much that might add to your final bill.
