Million-Guiet began building buggies and carriages in 1860, and within four years had turned their focus to coachbuilding. From 1900 onward, they earned particular acclaim for striking designs executed on behalf of Hispano-Suiza. They also completed work for Minerva, Bugatti, Peugeot, Rolls-Royce, though their Parisian neighbors at Renault were their greatest customers. Despite the very close relationship between the two companies, there are today relatively few extant examples of Million-Guiet coachwork upon a Renault chassis.

Renault Classic documentation on file shows that this unique 1927 Two-Door “Big” Cabriolet was originally provided as a one-off show car with coachwork executed by Million-Guiet. This unique design utilizes a shortened 40 CV chassis, and its near-perfect proportions belie its size; it is the only extant “big” chassis, open two-door, prewar Renault. With this car, Million-Guiet in essence created an open, sporting version of the 40 CV.

Delivered new for display at the 1926 Paris Motor Show on 7 October 1926, a wealthy American couple immediately purchased the car and forwarded to their summer residence in the famously affluent village of Southampton, New York. En route, the car was displayed at the 1926 New York Auto Salon on 4 December—a likely contingency of the purchase agreement between Renault and its buyers.

This Renault was retained by that Southampton family until 1989, by which time it had fallen into a preserved but disused state. At this point it was acquired by a Connecticut-based collector. Between 1989 and 1991, it was completely torn down and treated to a meticulous restoration, which it still wears today, and promptly entered in that year’s Great American Race. The car was then returned to storage and rarely used until it was rediscovered by the consignor in 2017.

Under the consignor’s care, this unique cabriolet was put through an extensive mechanical recommissioning by eminent prewar specialist Byron York, proprietor of Restorations by York in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Most recently, York fitted a new clutch, and the consignor reports that the car has traveled approximately 100 miles in the past few months without issue. Service invoices on file from York illustrate over $30,000 in line items to bring this special, coachbuilt Renault back to road-running operation.

It is presently powered by its numbers-matching straight six engine and a four-speed manual transmission shared with a contemporaneous 40 CV. Furthermore, it retains many of its attractive and correct period fittings, including Marchal headlamps, trafficators, factory wood-spoke artillery wheels, dual sidemount spares, luggage trunk, J.M. shock-absorbing bumpers, and full suite of Jaeger Paris instrumentation.

This unique 1927 Renault Two-Door “Big” Cabriolet by Million-Guiet is accompanied by a Renault Classic build record, tool kit, documentation, recent service invoices, and photo albums illustrating its 1991 restoration and 2017 rediscovery.