This was one of the oldest licenses for the old Renault 12 Estate in the world.
It was still under production with various updates over time, since 1979: the Dacia 1310 Break. It was produced in Eastern Europe, in Romania. Its look was barely updated. In 1999, it received a new pair of headlights and a new grille. The edgy design was sweetened here and there with some round corners or minor details.

The car featured manually activated windows and no central locking was available on the standard model. The power-steering was in the hands of the driver. It featured front disc brakes and rear drums. The suspension was an outdated independent system upfront and a semi-rigid axle in the rear. No sound system was offered by the factory, but it was an option for the dealers’ equipment. It didn’t have light-alloy wheels.

It was available in two engine versions: a 1.4-liter and a 1.6-liter engine, which offered 60 hp and 71 hp, respectively. The biggest improvement over the previous model was the fuel injection system. Before that, the engine had a carburetor. Another improvement was on the wheels, which received wider tires: 175/70 R13, compared with the previous 165/70 R13. No factory alloy-wheel was offered, but only steel. The five-speed gearbox was fitted as standard and no other option was available.

The instrument panel had a lot of information for the driver, but everything in the analog-system. Apart from the tachometer and speedometer, it had fuel level, water temperature, oil pressure, and battery charging.

This was one of the oldest licenses for the old Renault 12 Station-wagon in the world.
It was still under production with various updates over time, since 1979: the Dacia 1310 Break.

It was produced in Eastern Europe, in Romania. Its look was barely updated. In 1994, it received a new pair of headlights carried-over from the former Oltcit (Citroen Axel), which was made in Romania as well. A new grille design, with black horizontal slats, was adopted. The edgy design was sweetened here and there with some round corners or minor details. The black, flush to bodywork, door handles were made out of plastic materials.

The car featured manually activated windows and no central locking was available on the standard model. The power-steering was in the hands of the driver. It featured front disc brakes and rear drums. The suspension was an outdated independent system upfront and a semi-rigid axle in the rear. No sound system was offered by the factory, but it was an option for the dealers’ equipment. It didn’t have light-alloy wheels. For the instrument cluster, the Dacia 1410 featured a wide range of information for the driver, on analog dials. Apart from the tachometer and speedometer, it showed the fuel level, coolant temperature, oil pressure, and battery charging.

It was available in two engine versions: a 1.4-liter and a 1.6-liter engine, which offered 60 hp and 71 hp, respectively. The biggest improvement over the previous model was the single-point fuel injection system. Before that, the engine had a carburetor. Another improvement was on the wheels, which received wider tires: 175/70 R13, compared with the previous 165/70 R13. No factory alloy-wheel was offered, but only steel. The five-speed gearbox was fitted as standard and no other option was available.

After a quarter of a century since the first Dacia 1300 rolled out from the assembly lines, the Romanian carmaker introduced another facelift.
This time it was more important.

Thanks to a governmental agreement, Renault sold and helped Romania to produce the Renault 8 and 12. The former was quickly abandoned while the latter was produced until 2004. The license for producing the Renault 12 expired in 1979, but Dacia kept producing and upgrading them. In station-wagon form, the Dacia Break was a very popular vehicle thanks to its ability to carry larger items, not just people inside.

For the 1984 facelift, the carmaker introduced a black plastic grille with a sloped front area that made it look more aerodynamic. Also, an apron was added under the wrapped-around plastic bumper, which replaced the older metallic one. In the rear, the carmaker installed a redesigned bumper that matched the styling of the front one.

Inside, the carmaker installed a completely redesigned dashboard. The new instrument cluster featured a large tachometer and speedometer and gauges for the fuel-level, coolant-temperature, oil-pressure, and charging (ammeter). Unlike its predecessor, the 1310 featured height-adjustable headlights from inside the car. Last but not least, the ventilation system was redesigned, but it still didn’t feature air-conditioning. In the back, the carmaker didn’t install headrests nor a split-folding backseat, which was folded in one piece.

Starting with the 1984 model-year, Dacia offered the 1310 with a 1.4-liter engine and a five-speed manual gearbox as an option.

Dacia brand was born after a contract between the Romanian communist government and the state-owned Renault in the mid-’60s, which led to the Renault 12 model’s production.
In the late ’70s, the R&D department was assigned to improve the already existing model Renault 12, re-named Dacia 1300. The modifications were made on both sedan and station-wagon versions and led to a modified exterior design and some drivetrain modifications.

The most striking difference was on the front fascia. Instead of the older, oval-shaped headlights, the 1310 model featured four round headlights. Instead of the older, chromed grille with horizontal slats, a black plastic one was installed. The door handles were replaced with black plastic ones instead of the metallic chromed one use before. The 13” steel-wheels featured an option for chromed caps.

Inside, the car received a new layout for the instrument cluster, with more dials for the oil pressure, a tachometer, and a battery charging status. The steering wheel was redesigned and covered with a black plastic foam instead of the two-spoke, hard, and slim steering wheel from the previous model.

Under the hood, the Dacia 1310 featured the same 1.3-liter gasoline engine as its predecessor, but with a different single-barrel carburetor. The radiator was modified as well, with more plastic parts which were cheaper to produce.