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Sovam 850

Bobble

Bobble

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Rutland
Anyone seen or heard of this before, seems it did'nt do very well so production stopped after a short while. Apparantly they made an 850cc 1100cc and 1300cc but i've never seen or heard of them before but i bet someone on here has ?

http://jide-scora.fr/Sovam.html
 
god there ugly:eek:

never heard of them
 
Me thinks they're "kind-a" cute!! and today much sought after by Les afficionados..
-Remember they were based on the R4!!!!!!!!
must admit the TILBURY was looking better Also based on the R4
-They used parts from every car imaginable fX the front windscreen is an upside down mounted rear-screen from a R.Floride/Caravelle
 
I think that in the book Album Renault 4 there are a few pages devoted to this car (because, as Reidalpine says, they were based on the R4).
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Album Renault 4 by Robert Sejourne is a great R4 book. In French of course, and very hard to get hold of. ISBN: 2-85120-482-3
 
There was a book on ebay Album Renault 4 by Robert Sejourne and it went for about £35 including postage which i though was reasonable.
The Sovam was based on the Renault 4 chassis and personally i like to see one in the flesh so to speak to make a comment about it but it certainly looks different.
 
It seems Sovams are very rare nowadays. Maybe only very few of them had been made. There was an article on a past issue of "4L Magazine" about a Sovam survivor. Its restoration had not been completed, and the owner (or previous one) had fitted a GTL engine.
 
Hi there Angelos-Hope all is well in Athens!
I have no idea how many Sovam-survivor there are today,but I have seen surprisingly many when in and around France..
The Sovam-company (Andre Morin)started manufacturing these R4-based cars in 1966 There were two different ones..That is TWO based on the R4 the third one was 1300cc but I'm not sure it was based on the 4
One had the 845cc and the other one with the 1108cc-motor

Some stats:
SOVAM 850 VS (Vehicule Sport)
(845cc) boreXstroke:58X80 45Hp SAE at 5500rpm comp 9,2:1 gears: 3 Topspeed 142km/h Standing start to 400m.21secs
consumation 0,6l/100km.

SOVAM 1110 VS
(1108cc) boreXstroke:70X72 62Hp SAE at 6300rpm comp 9:1
gears: 4 Topspeed 162km/h. Standing start to 400m.17secs
consumation 0,8l/100km.
-looking at these cars with Todays glasses on they might look.. Ahem-
Odd,but in 1966 I suspect they looked The Part! -R.
 
Even the 1300cc SOVAM (R8 Gordini engine and 5 speed gearbox) was still built on an R4 chassis.
Very interesting that some of them still survive! Finding body parts for them must be a little challenging...
 
So the 850 could do almost 90mph?, can't imagine the Sovam being all that much lighter than a standard 4 so was the engine tuned?, or perhaps the gearing changed?. maybe the swoopy shape did it?.
Alan.
 
Hi Alan! How's it going in Ecosse -Need some more snow over there?
-I'm not sure how they did it-I have no info they tuned the engine other than exhaust-headers..Could also be the case of manufacturer being a tad over-enthusiastic in their sales-brochures-Not unheard of even today huh..
 
Actually, we're snow free in this area, seem it's down south and up north, I like it that way!.
Tuned headers, now there's a thing I was thinking of last night whilst walking the dog!. I'm almost ready with my Mikuni carb conversion, just got to make the choke actuating levers. I was wondering whether a less restrictive exhaust might be benificial?. Any photo's or information?. I'm looking to a better fuel consumption and less noise really rather than searing horsepower!.
Alan.
 
Lucky you - I'm snowing in over here! I think we need to hear from Derek, Angelos plus the rest of the guys that's really knee deep into the tech-side
but in my opinion a less restrictive exhaust Should be beneficial on itself and more so in conjunction with other carb -All to a degree of-course..
Less restictive exhaust Could mean slightly better fuelconsumption too.
-As of now I have no pixes as the ones I waited for so long turned out to Nada..
I have however been in contact with IRESA (Sp) problem is they want
a boatload of money to make me one..
The 4 lends itself to fairly easy DIY soundproofing,Treads elsewhere -R.
 
Ah yes, thought I might have a go at making my own exhaust manifold, I looked at a BMW K1100 system, thinking it was roughly the right shape and position, but from photo's it doesn't look right, I think I might be best modifying a motorcycle 4 into 1 system, double skinned so should be quieter too. Problem is of course time, lots of other things I should be doing I suppose, but right now, shovelling snow isn't one of them, I'm glad to say!!!.
I'll try a quick post on the technical section.
Alan.
 
The text in "Album Renault 4" about the 850 Sovam, reads something like this: " Two versions had been presented, one with an 845cc Dauphine engine, slightly souped-up with a special manifold, producing 45HP SAE , and three speed gearbox (142 km/h)...".

In "La Renault 4 de mon pere", there is a very nice photo of the Sovam 850 engine, showing clearly the 4-in-1 manifold (an Autobleu indeed-too bad I don't have a scanner). The carburettor is different (can't judge if it's a twin choke) and there is also a free-flowing air filter fitted.

It is not clear if the engine was a Dauphine Gordini one...I'm talking about the R1091 Gordini, with the 670-05 engine (40HP DIN, should be around 45 SAE). It had the same valve sizes as our engines (but maybe had the inclined valve head-not 100% sure about this),same compression ratio, hotter intake camshaft timing (exhaust remained the same), slightly higher valve lift and a single choke 32mm carburettor.
 
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