Car manufacturer Renault pays homage to fans of the R5 with a cassette player bearing the effigy of its iconic vehicle: the Renault Player 5. Manufactured in collaboration with the French brand We Are Rewind, this Walkman uses all the visual cues of the future electric Renault R5. A collector’s item that should delight fans of the brand and lovers of the 80s.
To pay tribute to the iconic Renault R5, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, the French manufacturer is tackling an icon of the 1980s: the Walkman. The brand intends to ride the growing nostalgia wave, due in part to the success of the Netflix series Stranger Things, the movie Guardians of the Galaxy and the return of synthesizers in music by many artists, including The Weeknd and Dua Lipa.
To revisit this timeless portable product, Renault has teamed up with the French start-up We Are Rewind, which has been bringing the cassette player up to date for over two years. The company has taken its WE-001 model and customized it based on the upcoming Renault R5 electric car, which is expected to hit our streets in 2024.
The Player 5 has the Renault logo and a black and yellow finish, one side of which is striped to recall the vehicle’s bumpers. The inserted cassette can be seen through a red window, a nod to the car’s tail lights. The aluminum chassis is very sturdy and should make it a long-lasting model, just like the R5.
Much more modern than the Walkman of the 80s, the Renault Player 5 is equipped with a Bluetooth transmitter, allowing you to wirelessly stream your tapes to Bluetooth headphones, True Wireless IEMs or a Bluetooth speaker, for example. The use of hi-fi headphones or wiredin-ear monitors is of course possible thanks to a 3.5mm mini-jack output. Models like the Koss PortaPro also recall the golden era of the Walkman.
Not very ecological, the usual AA batteries are replaced by a rechargeable battery offering up to 10 hours of autonomy. Like the most comprehensive vintage models, the Renault Player 5 also has a microphone, allowing it to be used as a dictaphone.
The Renault Player 5 Walkman will soon be available on the Renault website for €189. It will allow you to enjoy cassettes at home, on the road and in the future Renault R5 which will unfortunately no longer be equipped with an integrated cassette player. To satisfy the most nostalgic among you, it will be accompanied by a blank cassette and a pencil. Younger listeners may have some difficulty figuring out the connection between these two objects!
