Start with what the Renault 15/17 is: a 2-door fastback hatchback coupé with Renault 15, built from 1971 to 1979, as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry. What it meant takes a little longer.
The story
The Renault 15 and Renault 17 are two variations of the same coupé designed and built by French automaker Renault between July 1971 and August 1979. The R17 was sold as R177 in Italy, respecting the heptadecaphobia superstition. The two were effectively coupé versions of the Renault 12.
The main differences between the two cars were their headlight configuration (the 15 had two rectangular headlights whereas the 17 had four round headlights) and their rear side windows. Some markets show the 17 with the rectangular lights for TL versions. The Renault 15 and 17 were presented at the Paris Motor Show in October 1971.
What is underneath
The engine is Renault 15; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Drive goes through a 4-speed Manual transmission / manual / 3-speed Automatic transmission / automatic. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2440 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
In the Renault line-up the Renault 15/17 has a clear place: it replaced the Renault Caravelle; it handed the line to the Renault Fuego; the factory was Maubeuge (Chausson Maubeuge), France. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the American Motors Corporation AMC Gremlin, the Suzuki Jimny, the Chevrolet Impala. Nearby in the Renault catalogue sit the Renault 10 and the Renault 10CV.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Renault 15/17 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.