Estonia, a small country within the USSR, was particularly famous for its production of household appliances. Its sound equipment was always “sold out” to the Soviet republics. There was a queue for them; people signed up and were on duty at night under the stores, hoping to become the owners of such an everyday “miracle.” Such high appreciation of the company’s products was well deserved, given their high quality and very beautiful design, which received special attention in Estonian production. But with motorcycles in the current country, everything was not so successful. Its history in this direction is rather modest.
An attempt to create their production was made twice in the 30s of the last century, but the war hindered its development. Then, in the 21st century, local engineers sought to return the country to its title of motorcycle manufacturer, aiming to revive the brand that had ceased to exist 70 years earlier. Thanks to them, we can say that Estonia has become a country of one brand, the only producer of two-wheeled machines, thereby preserving its status as one of the European motorcycle manufacturers.
Renard
Such an original brand name was acquired thanks to the logo, the graceful face of a chanterelle. The company’s founder, J. Lään, was a fan of everything French. In Tallinn (Estonia), he began producing bicycles with engines based on French frames, including a “tandem” version. The company became known as Renard Cycles. During the German occupation, the production of the first motorcycles, which started before the war, continued. They sold well to German officers. But a direct bomb hit in 1944 halted the work without any further restoration. In 2008, a group of Estonian enthusiasts decided to revive the brand by recreating the Renard GT prototype in its modern form.
The brand’s logo is a stylized “fox,” formed by an inverted isosceles triangle with smoothly rounded corners and a slightly downward curved arc-shaped line in the upper part, forming “ears.” The color is a gradient of steel silver. The interior gives the impression of volume. In it, it is really possible to guess the shape of the fox’s face, which has closed its eyes, reinforced by the black figure resembling the letter “V,” which tapers towards the bottom, visually creating the appearance of the animal’s nose. Under the sign, the text reads “Renard” in black. Below it is the inscription in very thin letters “MOTORCYCLES.”