Estonia, a small country within the USSR, was especially famous for producing household appliances. Its sound equipment was always “sold out” to the Soviet republics. People queued for them; they signed up and waited at night under the stores, hoping to own such an everyday “miracle.” Such appreciation for the company’s products was well deserved, given their high quality and beautiful design, which received special attention in Estonian production. But in the current country, motorcycles were not so successful. Its history in this direction is rather modest.
They attempted to restart production twice in the 1930s, but the war hindered its development. Then, in the 21st century, local engineers sought to restore the country’s title as a 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 came from the logo: the graceful face of a chanterelle. The company’s founder, J. Lään, loved all things French. In Tallinn (Estonia), he began producing engine-powered bicycles 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 at the top that forms “ears.” The color is a steel-silver gradient. The interior suggests volume. Inside, you can clearly guess the shape of the fox’s face, with closed eyes, reinforced by a black figure resembling the letter “V” that tapers toward 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.”