1987 Renault Bus S 45 R – Exterior and Interior – Retro Classics Stuttgart 2024
The 1987 Renault Bus S 45 R belonged to the final years of a long-running French coach formula that had become familiar on school runs, interurban services, and SNCF replacement work. It was not designed to impress through novelty. Its interest lies in durability, straightforward engineering, and the fact that by 1987 this established vehicle was still relevant enough to receive a visible restyling. That makes the 1987 Renault S 45 R a useful example of how practical coach design evolved gradually rather than through abrupt reinvention. The approach and sectioning here follow the tone of your reference examples .
Technical Details
The Renault S 45 R was the short-wheelbase member of the S 45 / S 53 / S 105 family, a range that had its roots in the earlier Saviem school and interurban coaches. A specialist French transport source explains that the S 53 R succeeded the S 53 M and retained its engine within the wheelbase, under the floor, while the short S 45 followed the same line of development. The same source states explicitly that the S 45 underwent the same evolutions as the S 53. That is important for a 1987 vehicle, because in that year the family was restyled and the updated form was identified with the RX designation. In other words, a 1987 S 45 R sits exactly at the transition point between the long-familiar R version and the facelifted RX appearance.
Technically, the concept was simple and robust. The engine was mounted centrally, under the floor and within the wheelbase, a layout that helped free the rear for a luggage compartment accessible through two rear-hinged doors. The S 53 page on Transbus gives that configuration clearly, and because it states that the shorter S 45 shared the same developments, it provides the best grounded description available for the 1987 S 45 R as well. This layout suited a vehicle intended for mixed duties: school transport, regular line work, and light touring or contract service.
External catalog and parts data consistently associate the S 45 R with the MAN D0846 diesel engine in its later years, and several catalog references group the S 45 R and RX together, indicating continuity between the final R models and the facelifted RX generation. Those sources are not as authoritative as manufacturer literature, so they should be treated cautiously, but they do support the view that late S 45 R vehicles used the MAN D0846 family rather than the older engines fitted to earlier S 45 variants.
- Manufacturer: Renault Véhicules Industriels
- Model name: Renault S 45 R
- Year of manufacturing: 1987
Design
The design of the Renault S 45 R was driven by function and by the economics of repeated daily use. It was a compact standard coach rather than a luxury grand tourisme vehicle, and its shape reflects that without apology. Transbus notes that the later family received a more rectangular roof profile and taller side windows than its predecessors, changes that improved the sense of internal space and made the body look more upright and practical. The same source also records multiple front-screen arrangements, including one- or two-piece windshields and versions with space for a destination display above the glass. These variations show how adaptable the basic body was to different operators and uses.
By 1987, the design had become visually familiar across France. The short S 45 format gave the vehicle a more compact and slightly stubbier presence than the longer S 53, but it shared the same basic aesthetic language: a practical side-window rhythm, a functional body shell, and only limited decorative intent. Better-equipped versions could have curtains and wheel trims, yet even these additions did little to change the overall impression. The vehicle looked like a working coach first and foremost.
What makes a 1987 example visually interesting is that it belongs to the facelift year. Transbus states that in 1987 the vehicle was restyled and renamed RX, receiving a new front face. That means a 1987 S 45 R sits either at the very end of the pre-facelift look or at the threshold of the revised one, depending on build timing and registration. For design history, that gives the year unusual relevance: it marks the moment when Renault tried to modernize a long-lived coach line without abandoning the underlying structure.
Historical Significance
The Renault S 45 R matters because it represents a long continuity in French coach transport. Rather than being remembered for technical revolution, it is remembered for ubiquity. Vehicles of this family served in school transport, interurban services, and rail-replacement roles over many years. Transbus describes the S 53 family as a basic coach used in many different contexts, from school services to SNCF lines, and the short S 45 shared that same role. This broad operational spread is central to the type’s historical importance. It was part of daily mobility rather than a niche product.
A 1987 vehicle belongs to the closing period of that story. By then, the design had already been in service evolution for many years, but Renault still considered it worth refreshing. That facelift suggests there was still a market for a straightforward, compact coach even as expectations around safety, comfort, and refinement were rising. Transbus notes that the family was later replaced in Renault’s range by the Tracer, making the late S 45 R one of the final expressions of an older generation of French coach design.
Its later fate also says something about changing standards. Transbus records that by September 2015 all S 53s were withdrawn because, lacking seat belts, they were no longer permitted in service, and that many had already been replaced from the late 1990s onward by more modern coaches equipped with ABS. While that statement is made on the S 53 page, the source treats the S 45 as part of the same evolutionary family, so it is a reasonable indicator of how the entire range aged out of service. The 1987 S 45 R thus stands near the end of one regulatory and technical era in French road passenger transport.
Quirks and pop culture
The Renault S 45 R’s cultural presence comes less from glamour than from repetition. For many passengers in France, especially in rural and suburban contexts, this kind of coach was simply part of the background of daily life. School transport is particularly important here. Transbus illustrates the closely related S 53RX in school-service use, and auction reporting from 2018 still listed large numbers of Renault S 45 R and RX vehicles among ex-military or institutional disposals, showing how long these coaches remained embedded in practical fleets.
There is also an enthusiast afterlife around the type. Transbus mentions a dedicated book by Nicolas Tellier, La Fabuleuse aventure du S45 ou 40 ans d’histoire des cars Renault, which is telling in itself: a coach once treated as ordinary daily equipment has become important enough to justify historical preservation and specialist literature. The same page also notes that the Saviem S 53R exists as a 1:43 scale model, another sign that these formerly routine vehicles have entered collector culture.
A final quirk is that the family’s nomenclature can be confusing to non-specialists. The distinctions between S 45, S 45 R, and S 45 RX are subtle unless one already knows the chronology. That complexity reflects the way French commercial vehicles were often developed: incrementally, through long-lived platforms and visible but not radical updates. In enthusiast circles, that layered evolution is part of the appeal.
Display and preservation
The vehicle was presented at Retro Classics Stuttgart 2024, one of Europe’s largest gatherings for historic mobility. From 25 to 28 April 2024, more than 70,000 visitors explored around 80,000 square metres of exhibition space, with over 2,000 classic vehicles displayed across six packed halls. The show combined strong commercial activity with carefully curated anniversary themes, including 50 years of the Porsche 911 Turbo, 60 years of the Ford Mustang, and 70 years of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “Gullwing” with a special exhibition on tuning culture from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Conclusion
The 1987 Renault Bus S 45 R was a practical, late-generation member of a long-serving French coach family. Its underfloor engine, compact format, and adaptable body made it suitable for school transport, interurban routes, and institutional use. In design terms, it remained functional and restrained, but the 1987 facelift moment gives it added historical interest. More broadly, it represents a transport philosophy built on durability and gradual improvement rather than constant reinvention. Today, the 1987 Renault S 45 R stands as a useful reminder that much of automotive history is carried not by headline vehicles, but by the dependable machines people used every day.
