Renault Kangoo 1.4 RT
The first passenger Kangoo took the useful height and sliding door of a little van and turned them into a cheerful family room on wheels.
Renault Kangoo.jpg · Thomas doerfer · CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL 1.2+
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
Renault launched the first Kangoo in Europe in 1997 and built it at Maubeuge in northern France. The passenger version shared its upright outline with the commercial Express but added rear seating, windows and family equipment. In RT 1.4 form, a simple 1.4-liter E7J gasoline engine and five-speed manual moved the front wheels. The important idea was packaging rather than speed: a tall roof, long wheelbase and sliding side access created generous space within a body under four meters long.
Look a little closer.
The Kangoo's boxy roof made it look van-like, but that same shape gave children and adults unusually generous headroom in a car shorter than many ordinary hatchbacks.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Passenger Kangoo and Express were different jobs
The first-generation family Kangoo and the Kangoo Express work van shared their basic shell, but this profile follows the glazed passenger RT with rear seats. That distinction matters: cargo volume, doors, mass and equipment listed for a two-seat panel van should not be silently copied onto the combispace.
Source: Renault Media · Kangoo manufactured at Maubeuge since 1997 ↗A launch-year badge with a calendar caveat
The Kangoo family appeared in 1997, while national catalogues did not all list the RT 1.4 on the same date. Dutch registration data place RT 1.4 delivery from December 1997; other European references start it in October or label it 1998. Joyride therefore treats this as the late-1997 European launch configuration, not proof that every market sold the trim for the full calendar year.
Source: AutoWeek Netherlands · Kangoo RT 1.4 catalogue history ↗Where these facts come from
- Renault Media · Kangoo heritage and Maubeuge production
- Renault Media · Four million Kangoos built at Maubeuge
- AutoWeek Netherlands · RT 1.4 market dates
- Automobile Catalog · 1997 European Kangoo 1.4 technical record
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed October 2, 2026.