56 10/2015 LA renaultclassiccarclub.com RENAULT

Club Officials

Chairman Gary Creighton 01507 327784 Vice Chairman John Pigeon 01507 328364 Club Secretary Tony Topliss 01476 573212 Treasurer Fred Parker 01825 712916 Membership Secretary Fred Parker 01825 712916 La Renault Editor Fred Parker 01825 712916

Registrars & Coordinators

4CV / 750 Robin Redrup 01480 434984 R4 / R6 Derek Flavell 07816 586642 R5 Tony Topliss 01476 573212 R8 / R10 Nigel Patten 01276 25426 R12 Robert Doran 01395 271116 R16 Paul Draper 01962 793375 R15 / R17 David Kelly 01978 843253 R18 / Fuego Richard Birchenough 01270 764912 Alpine 110 Phil Gardner 01446 710682 Dauphine Malcolm Rogers 01933 357556 Floride / Caravelle Malcolm Rogers 01933 357556 Competition Secretary Nigel Patten 01276 25426 Spares Coordinator Robin Redrup 01480 434984 National Events Len Kiff 01992 420305 Wales Dave Wheeler 02920 309815 Scotland Steven Swan 01738 633788 Ireland Seamus McElvanna 07751 057707 North West David Austin 07850 656663 Peter Bell 01606 44586 Yorkshire Derek Sparks 01845 597942 Lincoln & Yorkshire Duncan Topliss 01476 563753 East & East Anglia Len Kiff 01992 420305 South East Tony Nappin 01329 285160 South West Robert Doran 01395 271116

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Editor's Ramblings! [email protected]

The most obvious answer is the magazine. I have now been editor for a few years and have churned out nearly thirty magazines. I am quite happy doing this and unless I fall under a bus or get eaten by one of my giant rabbits I will continue to do so. I can- not do it by myself, however, and rely on you - the members - to help me out and this is where the diversity of cars becomes one. (A variety of articles in the mag). We have regular correspondents, whose names you all recognise, and then we have others who send in occasional contributions. When elcome, to this, our largest maga- I asked for Renault 16 memories I hoped zine ever! It breaks two records that you would rally round and you did. I at the same time, the most num- sincerely hope I haven't lost anything on Wber of pages and also the largest number the way but an upgrade to Windows 10 has of copies printed, three hundred and fifty! made one or two programs behave in a very odd way. Our accounts are now all in For a little club this is a huge achievement. American dollars and I can find no way to If you consider that the population of this return them to pounds. I am not totally country is approaching sixty five million computer illiterate and I have the support and a popular magazine such as Classic of two teenagers and three twenty some- Car Weekly, available in retailers through- things to help out if need be and we are all out the UK, has a circulation of only twenty stumped! If you sent something in and it thousand, the whole classic car market is hasn't appeared please let me know and I actually tiny. Factor in the number of older will instigate a search for the missing Renaults currently on the road and our own items! potential market is also ... extremely tiny! So, anyway, the point of all this rambling is We have two renewal dates, April and Oc- to say an enormous thank you to those tober, and notices go out in the magazines people who did write in. I was really im- for those months. Most of April's renewals pressed that so many members took the have now come in and, once again, we time to send me their own Renault 16 have had a very high percentage renew. memories - some in the very distant past! What concerns all of us on the committee, However large or small, your contribution however, is the number of more recent is very much appreciated. In particular members who do not renew, which brings Richard Allen who has spent hours and us to the question - what do you expect hours gathering material together and, I from your club? Nearly sixty members have suspect, is using a steam powered com- 4CVs / 750s, just behind them is members puter running Windows 95 or earlier! with Renault 4s. The only real similarity between the two cars is that they have a I would also like to say an enormous thank Renault badge so how on earth can we you to Mark Waller at Renault UK. Gary keep both groups of owners happy? We contacted him regarding the possibility of a also have a lot of 5s, 8s, 10s, 12s and 16s, small contribution to our stand at the NEC again totally different cars. My own cars a and he really has come up trumps, funding 10 and a Caravelle have nothing in com- a considerable part of our display. mon with a 16, so what do we do to inter- est everybody? Mark, thank you very much! 3

Editor's Ramblings! 01825 712916

Also, thank you very much to Dave Stevens for his artwork which he has contributed without charge. If you are at the NEC this year do come and visit us. Our stand will obvi- ously feature various different models of the 16 in celebration of its 50th birthday. If you get lost we are opposite the Renault Owners' Club, next to the Fiat Owners' Club and X19 Owners in Hall 5.

In other news ... Duncan Topliss has launched a Facebook page. For those of you who are on Facebook this can provide an immediate way of contacting other members and like minded people and we hope that it will grow rapidly. The Yahoo Group is still out there but when I upgraded to Windows 10 I lost my log in and so can't post anything. The Facebook page is far more satisfactory! While on the Topliss family our very best wishes go to Tony for a speedy recovery and we hope he is soon back behind the wheel of his 16. As he told me, his operation was a bit like a "cut and shut"!

This summer has been a busy one for Renaults in the press. My Caravelle was in Classic & Sportscar (picture previous page) and the same magazine also ran a feature on the 16 with three of our members' cars. The centre page of this issue of La Renault features a picture courtesy of Classic & Sportscar, the picture was taken by their photographer Tony Baker. (As was the one on the previous page).

And finally ... don't forget the NEC and the AGM.

First picture ever of the R16. See pages 31 - 32

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY RENAULT 16

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An Earthquake Rekindled My Interest In A Renault 16

a Mini, I was not in a position to acquire a 16 until the end of the eighties. The cars I eventually saw were either falling apart or were rusting very badly; at which point, I resigned myself to the fact that I would never end up owning a 16 during my lifetime. Furthermore, I started to lose interest in the car as the years went by – until February 2011.

As you may recall, it was during that time that the city of Christchurch in New Zealand was badly damaged by an earthquake. For me, it was a very lucky escape, as the earthquake struck the city just seventeen hours before I was due to arrive there to spend the first night of my holiday. Even so, I had to hastily rearrange my itinerary on arrival in New Zealand, as well as assuring other family members and friends in the UK that I was fine.

As a result, I ended up going to Nelson to start my trip around the South Island. Whilst looking around the town, I spot- ted a Renault 16 going past me, which he very first time I went in a Ren- certainly brought on a bit of a mid-life ault 16 was c.1968. At such a crisis. young age (I was only six at that Ttime!), I did not fully appreciate what a The possibility of owning a 16 as a clas- great car it was, until I started to learn sic car only dawned on me when I was to drive. Unfortunately, owing to a lack looking around the ‘Wonderful World of of finances and also confidence in driv- Wearable Art and Collectable Cars' mu- ing a somewhat larger car compared to seum on the outskirts of Nelson the fol- lowing day. Moreover, my garage at home had sufficient space to accommo- date an additional car, next to a Renault Avantime, so at least I could keep my future car protected from the elements.

On my return to the UK, I started to look through the various classic car magazines to see if any 16s were being advertised for sale. The breakthrough finally came in March 2012, when a TL Auto came up for sale near Merthyr Tyd- 6

Anthony Horwood

fil, however the car needed extensive come, which enabled me to take the car work to bring it up to an acceptable over to France in order take part in the standard. Then shortly afterwards, like recent 50th anniversary celebrations of buses, two more 16s came up for sale – the 16 this year. This would not have a TL Auto at a local garage and a TS at been possible, had it not been for all the an auction. Being a manual, the TS advice and help I have received from would have been my preferred choice, fellow 16 owners within the club, to but it had been off the road for the past whom I am extremely grateful. Further- ten years. Not knowing what I was go- more, I am very indebted to Mike ing to be taking on from a liability point Stokes for sorting out the ‘Can of of view, I decided not to attend the auc- Worms’ I gave him last year, and for the tion to place a bid. On the other hand, continuing improvements he is making the body work and interior of the TL to my car, as this will enable me to take Auto were in such good condition for its part in more trips and events. Finally, I age, that I went ahead and purchased wish to pass on my sincere thanks to the car. Malcolm Bailey who kindly sourced my car in the first place, thus fulfilling a Soon afterwards, I found out that the long time wish to own a Renault 16. car had belonged to a former RCCC member, who had sadly passed away. However I did meet up with his widow Finally, making it to France for the 50th Anni- who very kindly gave me past service versary Celebrations of the Renault 16. records dating back to when the car was first registered in this country, as well as other literature relating to the 16. Also, the car was affectionately known as ‘Thum’, due to its number plate being ‘THU 245M’.

There certainly have been quite a few challenges since the acquisition, as the car had been out of use and not been serviced for some while. These have been steadily (and continue to be) over- 7

When Renault Set The Standard

Michael Hamilton's beautiful example

hen Renault released the first press photographs of its “1500” in October 1964, it unknowingly introduced drivers to a new form of motoring life. Fifty years ago, the idea of a medium-sized, front-wheel-drive saloon with five doors aimed at the sort of Wyoung architect who affected Jean Luc Godard shades indoors, would have been as outlandish as Edward Heath playing keyboards for Gerry & The Pacemakers. Renault’s first front-driven hatchback was the R4 of 1961 but that was a rival to the Citroën 2CV, while the 16, as the “1500” was now badged, was an alternative to the Simca 1500, the Peugeot 404 and the Citroën ID19. The 16’s aluminium 1,470cc engine was new, and also powered the Series 1 Lotus Europa. There were front disc brakes and the styling by Philippe Charbonneaux was dis- tinctive and airy; there was little of the thick-pillared gloom still felt by the occupants of an Austin A60 Cambridge in this slice of effortless Gallic design. The soft ride was designed to cope with autoroute and rural track alike, while in order to accommodate the torsion bar sus- pension, the 16 had an asymmetrical wheelbase, the distance between the wheels on the left being nearly three inches longer than on the right.

The 16 was formally launched in March 1965 and at that time the combination of a 1.5-litre power plant and a hatchback invariably meant an estate version of an utterly conventional, rear-wheel-drive family saloon to most British drivers. BMC made smaller front-drive saloons but neither the Mini nor the Morris 1100 was ever officially offered as a hatchback. Although the Austin A40 Countryman had a tailgate and “two-box” styling, it was a much smaller, cheaper and far more conventional car than this new offering from Renault. The 16 was in fact the best of both worlds, a saloon with a hatchback and the space of a van if required. “Today’s car for today’s man,” stated the adverts and Renault’s publicity made much of the seven differ- ent seating configurations; the rear bench could be adjusted fore and aft or removed 8

Andrew Roberts

Wind tunnel testing from Richard Allen

altogether and, should you so wish, the backrest could be suspended from the ceiling. The dashboard looked as though it hailed from a science-fiction B-film spaceship and the handbrake was a masterpiece of awkwardness, but these minor foibles could not mask the 16’s blend of comfort, versatility and sheer verve. In the UK the £919 asking price of a 16 GL might also have bought you the leather-trimmed respectability of a Wolseley 16/60 but that already be- longed to a past England of smog and Woodbine cigarettes. Meanwhile, the distinctly French Renault represented the opportunity to become renowned as the Alain Delon of Weybridge.

In 1966 the Renault 16 became the first French product to win the European Car of the Year award and two years later the TS version was fitted with a 1,565cc engine and extra instru- ments to make it a veritable Cortina 1600E rival. September 1973 saw the debut of the ulti- mate 16, the TX, with a 1,647cc engine and a rear roof spoiler.

The equipment list included central locking, electric front windows and a five-speed gearbox with which to tempt Dolomite Sprint owners towards front-wheel-drive motoring, but for all of the TX’s flamboyant Gordini wheels, it was still very recognisably a 16. Renault did not believe in change for its own sake; a steering column-mounted gear change, originally fitted to create a completely flat floor, was retained until the end of production. When the last 16 left the Ren- ault works in January 1980, few other young pretenders – the chronically underdeveloped Aus- tin Maxi, the VW Passat, the Chrysler Alpine or even the Citroën GSA – could ever seem to match the 16’s sheer charm or its impact. Sales in the UK were strong but few examples re- main on British roads, largely due to corrosion. But whether a cherished survivor is the sober looking TL or the quad headlamp magnificence of the TX, any 16 is a vivid reminder of the heights to which a mass-produced car could aspire. 9

From The Archives ...

ome years ago, member David Wadsworth sent me the letter opposite and the photos on this page. He has not renewed this year and I have been unable to S make contact.

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2311

Tony Gomis John Waterhouse

hen we returned to the UK in see you are looking for R16 pho- 1983, I set about getting my- tos. Given the slightest encourage- self a suitable car. I wanted ment … Wsomething comfortable, versatile and a I good tow car, as I was already compet- ing in the R8G and, later, in the Alpine. An R16, preferably a TX, fitted the bill.

By chance, I came across one at a local Renault dealer, Red Lion Garage, in Barnes, SW London. It was in metallic grey, 30,000 on the clock and ideal for me; however the dealer was reluctant to sell it, preferring to pass it on via 'the trade' because it had a couple of minor faults, including what they termed a gearbox leak. Clearly they My father’s 16TS, when brand new in didn't want any complaints from 1970 in Adelaide, South Australia. stroppy customers. By convincing them that I was a Renault enthusiast, and had reasonable mechanical under- standing, I was able to convince them to sell it to me on an 'as seen, no come -backs' basis.

The gearbox leak consisted of a mild weep, requiring topping up every 5000 miles or so. I've always believed that if a Renault of the 60's and 70's DIDN'T leak, then it couldn't possibly be a genuine one ... A 16TS at Collingrove Hillclimb in South I had the car for four years. We did 30 Australia (the Sporting Car Club of SA or 40 thousand miles, with absolutely claims to be the second oldest such club no problems. I towed the rig (well ex- in the world) ceeding the max towable Description opposite top. weight ...) out to Spain several times. It was fast ( by the standards of the time), very comfortable and exceed- ingly versatile. My only gripe was the absence of somewhere to park one's left foot, because of the proximity of the clutch pedal to the central tun- nel (only a problem, I suppose, on RHD cars). I regret selling it, it was a great car, and a trusty friend.

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John Waterhouse

Easter camp, near Adelaide, South Australia, 1982.

Four friends all with R16s – quite popular in Oz at the time!

(Bottom of previous page). A 16TS in velour seats, metallic paint, the steel the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon, sports wheels and a TX steering wheel, cruising through a creek bed in the Flin- but really were bog standard 16TS mod- ders Ranges of South Australia. els, albeit by then with the much stronger South African front suspen- sion. We had two of them and they were fabulous – I used to cruise at 140 kph between Adelaide and Melbourne.

I want one too, but with power steering and air conditioning not driven from the wrong end of the camshaft!

A couple of photos of our 1976 16TS Special, one owner on from us. This car is completely original and drives near perfectly (by now at some 220,000 km I imagine) and lives in Melbourne. The 16TS Specials were the final batch as- sembled in Melbourne and had French 13

he celebration of the Renault 16, We had a spectacular cake made by my 50th anniversary took place over local baker to celebrate the occasion the weekend 14th-17th of August with different coloured R16s emblazoned Twhere eleven R16s and one R5 took part on it. One of the hotel staff kindly had in the event and twenty four of us at- us stand on the stairs and took a flatter- tended the celebrations. Many of us had ing picture of us all. We had the cake an unpleasant journey getting to the after our evening meal and it tasted de- Hotel Rendezvous in Skipton having en- licious. countered bad weather and accidents, but the hotel soon relaxed us with its The Saturday started with a short drive warm welcome, polite staff, excellent and walk to Goredale Scar where a big food and comfort.

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Tony Cansfield surprise awaits when you finally turn the corner at the end of the path. It is like walking into a great cathedral but with no roof. A waterfall bursts out of the rock and tumbles down to a stream.

Next we drove one and a half miles to the village of Malham, parked up and then walked to Malham cove, a natural feature of rock face of some three hun- dred feet high and one thousand feet wide, shaped like a great amphitheatre. Some of us walked up on to the top of it where you discover a limestone pave- ment full of clints (blocks) and grykes (gaps). Over millions of years, water and ice has fractured the rock to cause the patterns you see today.

We pulled out of Malham at 12 am to drive 49 miles to Bolton, the late Fred Dibnah’s home, and had to arrive there for 2 pm. Now it is one thing in itself to begin to think where guests would like to be taken and shown, but working out weekend. the timescale to fit all the things in is something else again and you can’t help We arrived at Fred’s old place for 1.45 having the fear of coming across an ac- pm in good time for the gates opening, cident on the road that might hold where Leon Pownsney, the current things up or a road closed sign. owner greeted us. He suddenly went into a frenzy when he saw all the R16’s Well, it was to my horror the latter sud- parked along the road and wanted to denly appeared. Leading five of the cars take pictures, because he once owned a along twisty narrow lanes, and ten miles 16 in the same colour as mine, sea to go before we got onto the motorway green metallic, and seeing them brought the last thing you want to see is a back memories. “ROAD CLOSED AHEAD”. I slowed right down wondering what to do but decided The visit was very entertaining with to gingerly drive on with the others fol- Leon pointing out the intentions of lowing, expecting any moment the road Fred’s projects, the problems Leon had would be barred off. We passed another had getting permission for opening the sign and I was getting rather worried. place up to carry on as Fred would have However we came to a third sign that wanted and to make people aware of had cones beside it where we were able the beauty and fundamentals of Victo- to drive on through. Road works were rian engineering. Alf Molyneux, one of being done but the council had moved Fred’s best mates who steered the Avel- the cones to allow access during the ing and Porter traction engine on the 15

Renault 16 Anniversary Tour

and banks of Yorkshire, but anyway, it didn’t worry Gerry and he managed magnificently the rest of the way.

Driving over the moor to Reeth, we were passed, going in the opposite di- rection, by a convoy of old Bentleys. The hills came alive by the hoots of melodi- ous horns making the sheep do a dance.

Then something spooked Richard’s car. He told me, when we got to Reeth, that it suddenly went into auto wash, spray- ing windscreen wash everywhere. He had to frantically stop and pull the wir- ing off the water bottle pump to stop it.

Reeth, in Swaledale, was our lunch stop, where we parked on the green to give the public a chance to have a close look at our lovely motors.

Tan Hill Inn, the highest inn in England was our next stop where it was rather “Made in Britain” TV documentary in busy and we just managed to safely 2005, spoke of his encounters and park all the cars off the road. I asked amusing times in being deeply involved Patrick if his beer tasted any better at with Fred and his amazing life and char- altitude and he said “Yes, most defi- acter. nitely!”

On Sunday we drove to Castle Bolton in Again, while driving to Tan Hill the Wensleydale where we were entertained spook that Richard experienced earlier by a falconry display. It is a castle of jumped onto my car and started to interest with nice gardens where Mary make the instruments go off and come Queen of Scots resided for six months back on but this turned out to be a loose after she was defeated in 1568 at the fuse. battle of Langside. We then turned south, driving out of Until now we were all enjoying our anni- Arkengarthdale back into Wensleydale versary except it seemed for some of to Hawes. This road is part of the fa- our cars, which have a way of telling mous Beamish reliability run where one you and at the most awkward times, hundred and fifty vehicles older than that something is wrong. When we 1956 take part in a one hundred and parked at the castle, Gerry’s hand fifty mile jaunt taking in some real hard brake, of all things, stopped working. driving. When we arrived in Hawes I Well this wasn’t a good thing, especially learned we had nearly had a casualty, when you are motoring around the hills because Robin’s Renault 5 front wheel 16

Pictures: Anthony Horwood

got the wobbles. John was ready with a built by two thousand navvies and a tow rope, (just in case), but a bit of el- hundred of them were killed in con- bow grease applied to the wheel span- structing it. ner did the trick. We hope you like the picture as it took a few goes to get all the cars parked with Having bought some cheese from the Robin’s R5 propping the ten 16s up like Wensleydale creamery, petrol and other a book end. nice things, we set off for the famous Ribblehead Viaduct. Up in the wild and With that being the crescendo of the bleak fells of Whernside, Blea Moor and scenery and final stop off, we headed Simon Fell, stands this magnificent back for the hotel. And by the way, the structure built for the Settle to Carlisle weather greatly improved for the Satur- railway in 1870. At one hundred and day, Sunday and Monday so I hope you four feet high, twenty four arches all had a much better journey returning stretch a quarter of a mile long. It was home.

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Renault 16s et Moi!

clever design touches like the recessed cup holders found on the lid of the pas- senger glove box or quirks with its differ- ent length wheelbases like the Renault 4 and 6. The reviews gave mixed views, some fair, yes that handbrake lever is in an awkward place, some just plain silly, 'the spare wheel takes up too much space in the engine bay' ... really? Just remove it, it takes 5 seconds! but on the whole though it was rightly praised.

My first encounter with the Renault 16 was my dad's '73 TL. Back then the choice was between a 16 and a Maxi and my dad, who had been recommended a 16 by a friend, headed first to the Austin dealership. "Ok, why should I buy a Maxi?" he asked the salesman. The photos show my green 76 TX and the green 72 TS I found in Clapham on "Because it's British" he replied. eBay. The photos of the TS were taken many years before I found it and came "Give me a really good reason to buy it, with the car's documents. It was in a rubbish the Renault." He couldn't. The really bad state. result was one shiny new Renault 16 on our drive. With red paint and black vinyl trim it became very much a part of the hy is it that some cars are ex- family for the next nine years carrying me cluded from the top table of and my siblings to school, my dad to celebrated cars? Is it dare I say work and towing the caravan for our holi- Wlazy or even prejudiced journalism? A days, a vital component for our family fashion thing? The Renault 16 definitely needs. As kids we stuck our sweet wrap- deserves major recognition but doesn't really get it or seemingly begrudgingly so. I've always wondered why. What does it have to do to be recognised?

I'm obviously biased towards the car but doesn't being the world's first modern hatchback count? Just a little bit? Such a fundamental change in car design and yet even now, it's just regarded as an unusual car which did well for its time ... well yes and the rest! Focuses, Cavaliers, Golfs, Maxis etc all owe a massive debt to the Renault 16. It's easily the comfiest car I've ever been. Both in terms of seats and ride and has rather nice touches like the column change gearshift and forgotten 18

Piers Caunter pers in the rear ashtrays and created holes in the vinyl on the front seat tops by jabbing our fingers through. Mind you, on a hot day that vinyl couldn't half sting you with the heat as you sat down!

It was not without its issues. If you oper- ated the rear door handle on a freezing day, it tended to stay frozen open thereby requiring a sturdy rope to tie the door shut till it got repaired. Then the passenger side window became detached from its runner and required a deft hand to guide it up and down. Another time it was handling terribly and my dad put it in for repair. 'Oh it needs a new driveshaft for some reason in its rear light cluster ... gaiter' said the dealer. Money changed Despite its strange past that car took us hands but the problem remained. 'Don't to France for a holiday and still did the understand it mate'. It turned out to be a school trips until it, like the previous car, rear tyre that had been curbed quite se- overheated and gave up. It remained verely and was badly out of shape. The parked up at ours for many years before spare tyre fixed that issue. If only Watch- it too headed to the scrappy. Over that dog had been around in those days ... time and as it rusted away, I discovered lots of expanding foam that Renault saw Eventually it succumbed to an overheat- fit to spray in the sill cavities, not good as ing engine which we were told had to it helped corrode the sills, indeed foam come out for repair and would be uneco- was sprayed in many R16s I believe. nomical. Not having the money, it sat at home for a year before being towed to a By this time my dad had moved on from scrap yard where it sat for a few years 70s Renaults and no 16s were in our lives generously donating its gearbox to an- until I passed my test. Of course I had to other ailing 16 somewhere before it finally have a 16 and a beautiful light blue TX went to that great scrap yard in the conveniently came up for sale where my sky ... dad worked. Scraping together the £250 the fellow wanted, I brought back my By now I was bitten by the 16 bug as was very own 16. my dad and I pestered him to get another one. This turned out to be another '73 16 It was a gorgeous car. Super comfy, elec- TL with green paint and white vinyl trim, tric windows, central locking, that five almost identical to the '73 16 TS seen in speed gearbox. I was in heaven. Trouble the club. was the car wasn't too far off heaven it- self. The MOT two months later sealed its This car had had a rather chequered past fate, in fact it failed on so much that the as it had clearly had a rear shunt at some refusal certificate looked like War and point in its history as the rear parcel shelf Peace. Worn bushes, exhaust, rust, well was badly rain damaged and strange mainly rust to be honest, especially in welding had taken place in the boot. I that Achilles heel for 16s, the rear sus- remember also discovering a set of keys pension mounts. If only Renault had pro- for another mystery Renault 16 hidden tected that a bit better, there'd be a lot 19

Renault 16s et Moi!

accident damaged 16 in my regular scrap yard which were welded onto my TX.

I used to love scrap yards, I miss the sense of anticipation as to what lurked within. My regular scrappy didn't have too many 16s in there but I do recall the heartbreak of seeing a mint '79 TL with gleaming red paint with a dirty great Volvo on top of her. I had the theory that the 16 was inherited by someone who didn't want it so decided it was easier to scrap than sell. It still niggles me to this day. Its en- more around now I imagine. It's fair to gine bay was gleaming, very low mileage. say that I learnt a lot about what to look Very frustrating! Amongst the other for- for when buying a 16 with that car, barely lorn 16s dotted about the yard, I remem- two months of motoring and it was scrap. ber one had its rear doors welded up, Undeterred I searched for another and probably owing to rot in the door latches found a P reg green TX in the Exchange like my TX. Interesting too how you'd see and Mart for the princely sum of £100. It how times and fashions have changed, for wasn't too rusty but it had a dud starter instance, go faster stripes spelling 16 TX and was carried on a trailer back to mine on one and bright orange seats in an old to have the starter from the blue car fit- automatic. I did discover an old Renault 12 ted. This is not the easiest of tasks on a brochure in a car which was a nice find. 16 as many an owner will testify, mainly as there's an exhaust manifold in the way. Eventually due to my own dim-witted stu- A day of fettling and swearing, shifting the pidity my green TX set fire to its wiring rustiest of nuts, more swearing and losing loom because I'd fitted the wrong regula- lots of skin on my fingers and the starter tor and the thought of rewiring the whole was in! The car started up fine and duly loom coupled with nasty rust appearing on collected its MOT. Hooray! I loved this car, those rear suspension mounts again con- it was more travelled than Michael Palin spired to end its illustrious career. It was judging by the amount of travel stickers on definitely my favourite 16 though. its tailgate and had a great turn of speed. However the rear door latches were some- Around the same time I was given a tip off what dodgy, being crudely held in place by about a '79 16 TL auto with a broken auto filler. Luckily I found some mint ones on an box that was sat at the back of a Renault dealer. I had a look and she was actually in great shape and had only done 46,000 miles. Another £25 changed hands and she was brought home. I knew this wasn't a terminal case as not long before I'd seen a 16 auto for sale down the road from me that had been converted to a manual, which I wasn't even aware could be done, and so I decided I could fit my TX's gear- box to the TL. The mounts were the same and with a weekend of lots of faffing, swapping of the flywheel and adjusting the gear linkage, I successfully fitted the man- 1220

Piers Caunter

Clapham, a '72 16TS was for sale. It was very rusty but I bought it and had it towed to Mike Stokes to see if it had any future. After ascertaining that it sadly had had its day I decided to have Mike back-retro my auto by swapping the late TL dash for the TS one, swapping the plastic grill for the chrome grill, having its vinyl seats, and converting it to the manual five speed box found in the TS. Yes, I know, five speed- ers weren't standard on TS cars but this one had one, so all good! I've always thought the early 70s 16 TS cars were the ual five speed box and was rewarded with ultimate 16s and the chrome suits the car a car that ran me around very happily until better than the plastic. So I've got a TL my job in London forced me to sell it, per- with TS trim and a TX gearbox. It's a Ren- haps she's still out there ... ault 16 TLSX perhaps! Apart from these conversions I've fitted front fog lights and Otherwise, apart from a scrap 16TX I had the distributor changed from its cas- bought for parts, that was it for a few sette points to the more sensible, tradi- years but I couldn't lose the 16 bug. I de- tional points from an early 70s TL. Now I cided that next I'd do up a 16 for a pro- have my ideal 16 and the gearbox suits ject. Seemed like a great idea! A welder the TL engine but there are still jobs to do was bought, trolley jacks, the works and I in the future, including getting the head managed to find a suitable sounding 16 for stripped for hardened valve seats and sale in Cornwall on eBay. My friend who sorting a water leak from the pump. lived near the car in Penzance, and who probably thought I'd taken complete leave My 16 still gets admiring looks from the of my senses, towed her up to mine and I public, everyone over 35 seems to re- set to work with renewed vigour. Trouble member them fondly. If I have any re- is that very quickly you can realise you're grets, it's that I really wish I could use her out of your depth and with minimal weld- more than I do, but work tends to prevent ing completed, I realised it was utterly me from using her as much as I'd like. beyond me and I gave her to Mike Stokes for free. I believe that some of her interior She's not just a car, she's a character and lives on in his beautiful '71 TS. few cars in my view can get close. When- ever one comes up for sale I always have My current 16 came from Mike. Again a '79 an urge to save it, they are so rare they 16TL auto, I bought it as it was in amazing should be grabbed and treasured! I wish I condition and with a staggeringly low mile- had the money to buy them all and re- age at less than 20,000. It really was the store the lot. I remember seeing one in apocryphal tale of being owned by a little the TV show 'The Bill' being trashed just old lady who only used it to go to the for a stunt, heartbreaking! shops and it is the nearest I've ever got to I guess we all have a favourite amongst buying a new 16. It drove and indeed our cars but for me the Renault 16 got it drives splendidly but on motorways the spot on. Character, practicality and bags auto box did used to whine at anything of fun. The ultimate classic car! Are you over 50 mph, just crying out for a 4th listening classic car magazine writers? gear. By chance, around the same time, just round the corner where I lived in Happy 50th Birthday! 21

Renault 16 Celebration

his year being the 50th anniversary of hotel in Bruges. The others, Patrick Trench the Renault 16, the club has been ac- and Tony Cansfield were going directly to Le tive in 16 circles. Club members have Havre. Tattended two events in France and Tony Cansfield kindly organised the 16 weekend in Needless to say we were caught up in the Yorkshire. Calais industrial problems and our train got to within five minutes of Calais when it The main trip to France was by invitation of stopped for the best part of an hour in the CAR Sandouville and took place in the Le tunnel before returning to the UK. We set off Havre area. again in the evening and eventually got to our hotel about 9 pm, in time for dinner but As a Club we had decided to make a bit more too late for our planned walk round the cen- of the event so added three nights in Bruges tre of town. before moving on to France. The following day was spent in Bruges ex- Jackie and myself stayed with Robin Redrup ploring the many historic sites and eating and on the evening before departure as we were drinking the local fare. We also had a trip on going together in my TX. Mike Stokes joined a canal boat to take in the sites from a differ- us in his TS and we set off to meet Anthony ent perspective. Horwood at the tunnel to cross to France. Richard Allan was going on the Dover to Cal- The next day, six of us headed off by train ais ferry and we planned to meet up in our to Ghent while Anthony caught another

22

Gary Creighton

train to Ostend and Richard headed off on two days of touring the Normandy down to Le Havre in time for the tour of countryside visiting many villages, Fecamp the Sandouville plant on Friday. We were and Le Havre. Saturday saw judging of the very impressed by the Belgian train ser- cars and a good meal with dancing and vice as it was cheap, clean and very quick. singing in the evening ending at midnight Ghent old city was a larger version of with a firework display. Bruges with a castle, canals and some very picturesque old buildings. Once again Monday and it was time to head back to we had good food and another river boat the tunnel and home again after a most tour. enjoyable week. Once again Richard, who was travelling by ferry, was caught up in Friday saw the rest of us leave Bruges and the strike and migrant crisis and was head for our hotel for the main event in forced to spend an extra night in Calais. Normandy. Our hosts CAR Sandoville laid

23

24

25

The Long Distance Runner

I would still own and be driving this car almost 40 years later, where has the time gone! A short warranty was given with the car and I seem to remember that the rearmost silencer was replaced under it. Not long after the warranty had expired a driveshaft did the same thing and considerable cost was incurred in replacing it.

For over 6 years the 16TL gave us reli- able and of course supremely comfort- able motoring, being used for commut- ing and frequently in my work as a TV and VCR service engineer and also to take us on holiday both in the UK and in Europe. Many trips were made to France, but in addition we journeyed to Italy visiting such places as Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Lucca, Sienna, Florence and at one point getting lost [long be- fore sat nav] ending up in the marble quarries at Carrara!

ew cars get to beyond 12 to 15 The trip which took us to Florence was years old, even fewer to 25 years at a point in time when DUK was fitted and very few to 45 years of age. FDUK 833 J is one such car that has sur- vived to this great age.

DUK or The Duke as coined many years ago by Tony Cansfield [the organiser of the recent, extremely successful, 50th R16 event] was a very average, just over 5 year old 16 TL sitting in a line up of second-hand motors on a garage forecourt on the southern outskirts of my home town of Rushden in Northamp- tonshire. Finished in a very matt and faded 947 green metallic with a pale beige vinyl interior, with around 63,000 miles on the clock and a price of, I think, about £800. It seemed to fit the bill. A test drive didn't show up any problems, so with the help of a loan from my parents-in-law DUK was duly purchased. Little did I realise at the time 26

Richard Allen with aircon and the difference in tem- failed. Looking up the nearest Renault perature between the inside of the car dealership in my European dealer book, and the outside was the greatest I have we made our way to them. The building ever experienced. Florence is positioned proved to be a wooden shed halfway up in a bowl and can get very hot indeed. an Alpine pass. My Italian is non exis- However Italy was not the farthest afield tent, but on showing the parts' man the DUK ventured. In 1978 a journey of faulty part he disappeared into the shed 3,400 miles was undertaken to what and just a few minutes later reappeared was then Yugoslavia, travelling through with the correct replacement part. After France, Germany, Austria and Italy. fitting this no further problems were Yugoslavia was, at this time, communist encountered. and very poor, the hotel was rather run down, food basic, roads rough [no prob- Over the years R1152-600-36561 to lem for a R16] and petrol sold only by give DUK its manufacturing number, has the communist state petrol stations. It tackled many of the highest and most was branded PETROL: no ESSO, Shell, difficult of Alpine passes, probably the BP, Total etc only PETROL! most famous being the Stelvio with around fifty hairpin bends on either side During this long drive on an Alpine pass of the summit. However, the scariest the car started to overheat. I diagnosed two, were the Gavia very rough and un- that the thermal switch in the radiator guarded and the Timmelsjoch also un- which controls the electric fan had guarded and icy !

27

The Long Distance Runner

At the end of 1981 DUK now eleven vert the car to the electric sunroof op- years old failed its MOT. Like most 16s tion, so I travelled to a farm in Suffolk of this age it was suffering from quite where I purchased a roof cut off a scrap advanced bodyshell corrosion, and was 16 TS. Fitting this was a massive job in economic terms not worth repairing. involving unpicking a large number of A one way trip to Charlie Perkins or spot welds to free the donor roof panel Frank Beales the two nearest scrap from its frame, and repeating the same yards seemed imminent, but a friend of operation on my 16, which ensured that my wife's offered me storage space off the roof pillars and frame of DUK were the public highway in a tumble down not disturbed. Over a period of about barn and the 16 was duly driven there, two years much work was done and in where it was to languish for around two 1985 DUK took to the road once again to three years. In 1984 I suddenly de- complete with a brand new engine from veloped an interest in the car again and Renault, still untouched to this day, fully decided to restore it, helped by the fact repaired chassis and of course new that Renault, at the time, were selling MOT. brand new engines complete with all the ancillaries for a very reasonable price. Now the R16 was no longer my every day driver and entered its classic / col- Not having any previous experience in lection era, but was still in frequent use. restoration or welding, I moved DUK Cars don't like not being used. Mike from the barn to my domestic garage Stokes of Marlow Motors and R16 resto- and began to strip it down. One huge ration supremo used to say cars wear advantage I had was that in the mid 80s out in use, but deteriorate more with virtually all panels could be bought new, lack of use. During the 90s DUK was including the chassis rails, and prices used once again for some memorable were amazingly reasonable. A spot holidays including one to Norway sailing welding gun was purchased as was an from Newcastle to Bergen on this now arc welder with a brazing attachment sadly closed route. Norway must be one and work began. I also wanted to con- of the finest places in Europe to drive 28

Richard Allen

with magnificent scenery, extremely low very considerable bill, which, to keep traffic densities and total lack of aggres- the car alive, was money well spent. At sive driving, the only down side being the same time he fitted a type 385 five high costs especially of alcohol and pet- speed gearbox which I had acquired rol. Another journey made with Joy's some years earlier. This transformed the college friend and her husband, Janet car making cruising much quieter and and Colin Marshall, was the 2,400 mile more relaxed, not to mention more eco- trip to Cannes on the French Cote d'A- nomical. Shortly after completion of this zur. When I took the car to Menton near work both Mick with his partner Maureen the Italian border, it was here that I in their R16 TS and myself in DUK set photographed DUK in the same setting off for Benoit Diringer's 4th European as was used for some of the original R16 Rally in Alsace, France and then press pictures during the R16 launch in onto Switzerland for a short holiday in January 1965. Wilderswil near Interlaken. Another two thousand plus mile journey completed The years pass and in 2010 DUK had without trouble. However, shortly after deteriorated once again and was in a my return a brand new driveshaft which very poor condition, another restoration had been fitted as part of the gearbox was urgently needed, this 2nd restora- upgrade failed, just a few hundred me- tion was put into the hands of Mick tres from Mike's workshop. What looked Stokes of Marlow Motors Kettering. As to be perfect welding had failed, leaving some of you will know, Mick is without the car stranded on a busy roundabout doubt the most skilled and knowledge- just off the A14 - a good thing it didn't able person in the UK when it comes to happen in the mountains of Alsace or 16 restoration, being responsible for the Switzerland! survival of at least 75% of all R16s left in the UK. DUK was pretty bad and chal- In 2013 I decided to repaint the car as it lenged even Mick, but he rose to the was a patchwork of different paint ap- challenge and returned the car in a solid plied during repairs over many years. sound condition, presenting me with a Before repainting, various panels were 29

The Long Distance Runner

the highpoint was taking the car, which I have owned for 40 years, back not only to the factory but the actual as- sembly hall where it was first built 45 years previously. Then driving round for several laps of the test track with some of the present day work force watching. Marvellous!

Already in 2015 my R16 has covered nearly 3,000 miles over all types of roads, in all types of weather coping with traffic conditions which were uni- maginable fifty years ago, proving I be- lieve that the Renault R16 was with out doubt one of the most innovative and influential cars of the post war period. Its influence can readily be seen in many of the cars of the 21st century.

Built to carry you and your passengers over all roads in all weathers in perfect comfort and safety was a line from an either replaced N/S front wing, or re- early brochure. It was true in 1965 and paired two doors and the bonnet. This it is still true in 2015. DUK itself is now work was very skilfully carried out by in fine fettle and ready for many more Mark Verne of Saltfleetby near Louth in years of comfortable and reliable motor- Lincolnshire, before refinishing with ing, who knows it may well outlast me! modern paint by Proline at Earls Barton near Northampton.

This brings the story of this remarkable survivor, now with almost 270,000 miles on the clock up to September 2015. Almost 45 years since R1152 36561 rolled off assembly line number 1 at the Usine de Sandouville, near Le Havre in Normandy, on the 22nd of October 1970.

There are two 50th anniversary celebra- tion events which the car and its owners have attended. The first one in France during May and the second in Yorkshire in August. Both of these were im- mensely enjoyable, however, for me,

30

The History Of Project 115 Part One

roject 115, the brainchild of Renault indeed for Renault. CEO Pierre Dreyfus [not a car man but a French civil servant] was born The chief engineer, Yves George, was the Pin the late 50s out of the failure of project man in charge of the mission, his team 114. Project 114 was a car destined to re- consisted of Gaston Juchet the young de- place the not especially successful Fregate signer/stylist who was responsible for the in the middle to upper market. It was to be shape that still seems adventurous and a conventional 3 box design: engine, cabin unique over 50 years later. Claude Prost- and boot with a 6 cylinder engine driving Dame was in charge of body structural en- the rear wheels and, I believe, a form of gineering, Jacques Blondeleau suspensions, fluid suspension, the prototype still exists Michel Petricenko engine and also involved in the Renault Heritage Collection. was famous independent French industrial designer Philppe Charbonneaux. Dreyfus however had other ideas. Although most definitely not a car designer he saw Work, which began in the autumn of 1959, the future needs of middle market custom- proceeded well and by 1964 the first proto- ers in the 1970s. Young professionals with types were up and running, the very first families, people with small businesses, picture ever published of the new car ap- travelling representatives etc. who needed peared in the Automobile Magazine issue a vehicle which would double as a car and 221 dated September 1964. While the ba- a van with the virtues of both and the vices sic shape had been finalised many details of neither. Renault already had a successful had still to be completed. The magazine utility vehicle in the R4, but the new model billed the car as La Nouvelle Renault 1500 would be much larger, more refined, so- for at this point no name had been decided phisticated and stylish and would incorpo- on. This picture was the first public sighting rate as much of the most modern technol- of the model which was to become both ogy as possible, consistent with an afford- immensely successful and influential to the able selling price. great benefit of Renault's image and for- tunes. Project 114 was duly cancelled, both on the grounds of high manufacturing costs and Whilst all aspects of the car's engineering Dreyfus's insistence on this ‘entirely new were to be cutting edge, the body shell was breed of car’. One advertising slogan that especially problematic to the engineers. really did mean what it said and project With no bulkhead behind the rear seats 115 commenced. Of course, dual purpose and with a large opening in the back, the cars had been around for years, but they rigidity of the shell would be severely com- had always been very low volume adapta- promised, so a number of design innova- tions of existing saloons. The new Renault tions were introduced. Seventeen world would have the dual purpose concept at its patents would be made in the process. core, there would be no other versions, Deep main chassis rails pressed from 1.6 just what we now call the hatchback mm steel would form the basis of the car, though of course this term had not yet together with side panels pressed in one been invented. This was to be a massive piece and double skinned, which would gamble by Dreyfus, an entirely new design greatly contribute to the car's strength. All with absolutely nothing carried over from this would be further aided by deep fully previous models, a colossal amount of new box sectioned cant rails [the outer frame of technology both in the body and the me- the roof] this made for a really strong rigid chanical engineering. A brand new factory structure contributing to a strong, safe and and new workforce was required to build refined car. Another aspect of the body the car, the huge investment necessary work development was the large amount of made the project an enormous gamble wind tunnel testing undertaken to both 31

The History of Project 115 Richard Allen

reduce aerodynamic drag, in the interests On January the 4th 1965 the car was of fuel economy, and the pursuit of low launched, earlier than was wished by the levels of wind noise. The designers wanted company, this was bought about by the a car with very low levels of noise, in order scoop pictures published in the L’Automo- to make long distance travel both comfort- bile magazine. The motoring press was able, and, by reducing fatigue, safer. The taken down to the Cote d’Azur for the R16 would also benefit in the area of safety launch at Juan Les Pin and the assembled by being the first Renault to undergo scien- journalists drove the car not only along the tific crash testing, and also the first to have coastal roads, but also up into the snow 3 point seat belt anchorages from day one. covered roads of the Alps Maritime. The R16 engine technology was also to intro- early cars found much favour with the duce a world first in that it would be the press, but there was criticism of a number first front wheel drive car to have the en- of aspects of the design most of which tire engine and transmission unit manufac- would receive attention in the months be- tured by high pressure die-casting in alu- fore the public launch at the Geneva Motor minium, chosen for low weight and high Show in April. During this intervening time thermodynamic efficiency. This was to 200 cars were lent out to key customers, cause many problems, which were not fully to test and comment on, so that further overcome when production commenced improvements could be incorporated. Drey- and many early cars suffered from over- fus was determined that the car would be heating and coolant loss due to porous cyl- the success he wanted .... inder blocks! Such is the price of progress. To be continued. 32

My 16 Philip Martin

hindsight is a wonderful thing. So I'm glad I now have this one, not only to relive my past, but to experience the current day pleasure of driving it on modern roads which it does so well. With a 5 speed box and power steering it would be even better, but how far do you stray from original- ity? Electronic ignition is as far as I have gone so far.

Having had experience of holidays in France and knowing how bad the roads am the very lucky owner of this were then, and how well Renault 16s 1968 16TS, reputed to be the oldest coped with them, it was the obvious TS in the UK. choice when I saw that Maltese roads I were even worse. As the editor of Clas- It was restored by Simon Pocklington sic Cars noted this month after driving a from whom I obtained it. It has since TX, the suspension reminded him of a been resprayed and together with new DS, praise indeed! carpets, bonnet, tailgate and window rubbers it now looks quite delightful. I don't see why it shouldn't last for an- other fifty years. This car is well known within the club as Gary Creighton and Mick Stokes are some, amongst others, of the people who have owned it at vari- ous times. Talking of owners, I have a very long letter from Ruth Dinsmore whose father owned it from new, before her, detailing the life it led, so I have a very personal history of the car for the Someone, I can't remember who, sug- first thirty seven years of its life. gested that the R16 started the hatchback trend, and I was inclined to An R16 TS just like this one was my first believe them until I read about, and saw new car, bought in 1972 when I lived in a picture of, a 1937 Citroen Commer- Malta. I should never have sold it, but ciale, which was probably the first. Ap- parently Renault advertised the 16 as being just the job for independent minded owners who wanted the looks of a saloon with the luggage space and flexibility of an estate. This car will be appearing in the Classic and Sportscar feature later this year, as well as at the NEC in November. There aren't many of these left, so we need to look after them very carefully. 1233

Wheeler's Workshop

Etretat town hall scrutineering - Saturday

South African built R8 Gordini 1135 amounts of gear oil in the bell housing and on the clutch, a perfect cause of The competition year has seemingly juddering clutch issues, then I found passed quickly, with the Etretat annual that the pilot bush in the crankshaft was bash for the band of UK competitors badly worn away, allowing the first mo- looming rapidly on 28th August, then tion shaft to flop around which caused Rally Day at Castle Combe and the early failure of the oil seal in the bell FDMC Sprint Royale. housing allowing the oil to leak out.

After the May, Prescott La Vie en Blue So that explained the juddering, the box Hillclimb issues I had with severe tramp- was then taken down and all parts ing off the start line, I decided to pull washed and inspected carefully, I out the engine and box to investigate changed the primary lay shaft bearings the internals of the box itself as it had just in case, but generally all was well. A done four seasons of competition with- set of new oil seals and a new pilot bush out any servicing/inspection and also to were ordered which were duly fitted do a few small jobs on the engine while when the reassembly commenced. I it was out. changed the clutch shaft as well, to a borrowed item from Phil Gardner's A110 The first thing I noticed was the copious 330 box, and fitted a “Speedy Sleeve” 34

Dave Wheeler kit to it which is a thin walled stainless moval of the rear fuel tank [estimated tube which gives a groove free surface 10lbs dry] and 4 lbs for the cover plate for the new oil seal to run against. as well. I have also removed the redun- dant rubber servo pipeline which saves I contacted Helix regarding the clutch oil a surprising 3.3 lbs. but gives more contamination and followed their advice space for the future coolant pipe work by washing all components with Hexane installation. The battery cable [not based Wynn’s brake cleaning fluid. The weighed] is now inside the car in mod- paddle friction surfaces being four pucks ern lighter cable, freeing up more room of mainly sintered brass were soon oil underneath. free and I decided to try running with it as time was running away for using He- As time was becoming tight I decided to lix’s re-tipping service of the plate by leave the heavy rear radiator system in return post. place to allow for some road testing time of the now oil free clutch, but I did While the rear end was stripped out I fix an annoying problem with the oper- instigated phase two of the rear axle ating cable dragging on the speed improvements by removing the R8G 4 humps wearing away the plastic sheath- shocker cross member and installing the ing allowing water ingress and sticking. lighter reinforced Dauphine single damper system cross member which is I shortened the overall length by 50mm some 8lbs lighter, and saves a further by stripping carefully 40mm of outer 5lbs on the discarded pair of shockers spiral casing and wrapping all the re- and an estimated 5 lbs over the Gordini mainder with self amalgamating tape swing axle additional brackets, giving a and also dripping oil into the inner wire. total of 18lbs or 8.16Kg which is about I then sawed off the pedal end fork, and the same as the weight saving of the tapped a thread on the rod so adjust- steel bonnet change to the fibre glass ment at that end could be carried out as item. well to loose the inner wire slack, I swapped the clutch pedal as well for a I checked over the rear VW brakes con- re-bushed item as the clevis pin boss version while the R10 swing axles were area was worn. The cable is now only on the bench, all is fine and looking slightly drooping under the box and is good, the big U/Js were also treated to a silky smooth in its operation. service with new Hardy Spicer joints being fitted just in case. The engine was cleaned and in doing so I changed the original African cast The Rear Gordini radiator, fan, expan- 102mm dia crank pulley back to the sion tank, oil cooler and steel panel en- standard R8 132mm dia steel item, to semble weigh some 33lbs, 15kg dry, increase the alternator revs at idle in which I was hoping to not reinstate as anticipation of compensating for the the front radiator kit is still waiting in loading of 2 x R16 front radiator cooling the wings to be fitted. This is only 10 lbs fans when I eventually fit them. The lighter including the oil cooler/2 fans grooved R8 pulley was also treated to a and copper pipe work but its weight is “Speedy Sleeve” to provide a good redistributed along the underside and to groove surface for the new oil seal. the front of the car. This allows the re-

35

ModelsWheeler's Workshop David Austin

Sunday Morning at Parc Tim Jeffrey and Bob Gibson Ferme in the Fog

A new water pump was fitted being the The French event itself was full of sur- now available “Gros Debit” improved prises, and not so good weather moving impeller design giving more flow. A qui- in on the Sunday, compounded by the eter silencer was fitted during the reas- organisers' electronic timing issues on sembly so as not to annoy the Saturday's practice / 1st timed run be- neighbours too much. ing delayed by a severed communica- tions cable. The car's weight saving/redistribution process spread over two years is reach- As early evening was now upon us we ing the end now and my estimated tar- eventually made it up to the start line get of 243.97lbs or 110.166kg [17.42 but as Duncan Richardson, who was be- stones] has not quite been reached as I hind me in the Alfa said, "you couldn’t have still retained items such as the car- have written it any better" the heavens pets and under felt and the rear petrol opened with a short heavy deluge mak- tank and water radiator etc. but I am ing the ascent a suck it and see, grip currently up to 223.95lbs 101.58Kg wise. [15.99 stones] all weighed on the bath- room scales. The next day [Sunday] we had fog in the morning with an overcast sky for our I will in due course publish my progress final two afternoon runs as the moderns chart of all individual lightened item were active in the morning. weights recorded from door handles to suspension cross members to drilled My times were generally two seconds hinges. slower than last year, while others im- proved. The surprise of the event was These final weight saving targets throw Christopher Williams in the 4CV Proto up issues with the car being driven to finishing second to Bob Gibson with a events and not trailered as was the case tremendous drive. Pat Bridger sadly suc- last weekend when I drove 538 miles to cumbed to big end bearing failure during Etretat and back via Newhaven Dieppe, the previous day's practice. so fuel carrying capacity is to become an issue and losing the rear eight gallon The sky became more threatening as we rear tank will be a blow. rushed to pack away our kit ready for

36

Dave Wheeler

Vera Patten and Pat Bridger size up the menu on Saturday evening at Yvetot sur Mere. prize giving in the marquee. Just as we loss of idle and a stuttering misfire at about finished, a terrible thunder storm was all 7500rpm. I have since checked the cylinder around us resulting in the Parc Ferme compressions at home and it's the head gas- field being under water and the local ket issue returning but I drove it home without tractor being busy extricating bogged oil /water mixing and coolant pressurisation as down cars and trailers. Michel Deldon’s the 2 cylinders are “blowing” into each other house was flooded as well that evening. which is thanks to the R5 GT Turbo kevlar head gasket Siamese fire ring design allowing this. My Engine went off song on the last two Sun- day runs, which started earlier with a sudden It's now head off time, again!

Parc Ferme on the Friday afternoon in good weather. 37

R4 Registrar [email protected]

he French meeting in Thenay was us were under the large tent quaffing great fun, with a number of Brits rosé or beer, whilst watching the band turning up, many of them travel- doing renditions of British punk such as Tling a serious distance before even get- London Calling by The Clash and even ting onto French soil. Our regular B & B more bizarre, God Save the Queen by that is a stone’s throw away from the the Sex Pistols. As you can imagine I event is becoming equally popular too, can not really add much more to this! with Stuart and David and their partners staying there also. We love this event and hopefully the organisers will be able to keep it going The weather on the way down was 38 in the future. degrees (Thursday) but on the Saturday in typical style we had a thunder storm! We used the cream Gordini powered R4 This was not really a problem as most of and it was ready just in the nick of time due to me fitting a programmable igni- tion system which at first would not play ball.

It is a long story, but in brief, after mak- ing and fitting the heated sandwich plate to heat the manifolds, the car ran much better and no longer iced up, but then it was pinking. I reset the ignition timing to the factory setting and it kept stall- ing. If I adjusted the idle speed a frac- tion it would race at over 1500 rpm, back it off and it would stall. I realised

38

Derek Flavell

that it needed more advance at low en- by one of the unit’s designers who was gine speed, but less at higher revs. This also desperate to find this obscure fault. can only be properly done with an elec- It turned out to be a problem with Win- tronic system. The distributor advance dows 8, which my laptop runs on. We weights have to be locked solid and in borrowed an older laptop from Becky’s my case (twin 40 DCOES), I needed a work running on XP and the system throttle position sensor. Fitting the sen- worked fine. I rebooked the rolling road sor was a nightmare as the stupid de- session two days before we were due to sign of the manifolds means that they leave for France and after setting it up I are so close together that the linkages am over the moon with the engine’s us- have to be mounted on the outer ends, ability. It starts much more easily and with the two centre shafts cut off! The runs well at whatever rpm range you throttle sensor also needs to be are in. mounted on the outside shaft which meant completely remaking the brack- To give an example, the original set up ets etc. allowing the throttle arm to pass 10 years ago, had twin 45 DCOES and 4 through the middle of it all. After doing speed gearbox, it was always freezing all this, and rewiring the car as required, up and at speeds below 70mph it really it started up straight away on the fac- tory set map. I booked into my local needed to be in third gear to run rolling road with my laptop and the soft- smoothly. Now it has twin 40s, and a 5 ware required only to find that as soon speed gearbox and will cruise at 50mph as any info was added the system went in top gear without complaining. We AWOL and figures of 255° advance used two tanks of fuel the last time we came up. drove to Thenay in the car with the old

set-up, this time we used 1 ¼ tanks and We came to the conclusion that it was faulty. After contacting the supplier we were four up this time too. The car has found that some other units had experi- a small increase in power overall. But enced this unknown problem, but they the big difference is that the 5 speed were convinced that it was a software gearbox and the programmable ignition issue. Time was running out for our together as a package make for a really French trip, and after several attempts usable car! and emails back and forth, I was visited 39

R4 Registrar [email protected]

R12 Estate

had noticed on hot days that the electric radiator fan was working overtime, the engine was getting up Ito working temperature, but then strug- gling to shed the heat, the fan would cut in and even once out on the open road it was slow to bring the temperature gauge back down to the normal middle position. This was made worse by the regular crawling through London’s traffic and over speed bumps. I had the radia- tor re-cored when I built the car, using some modified, from standard, R12 tanks and a copper core.

On closer inspection it turned out that the radiator core was crumbling to dust between the rows of cooling pipes. There had never been any leaks from this ra- diator before, but the quality of the core’s material was obviously poor. It is a much more expensive route to have a custom made aluminium version, so I decided to have the original one re- cored again. This was done and all is now working fine again, with the tem- perature gauge back in its normal posi- tion. Mileage to date 53,000.

Orange R12

Once again I am running short of time to get the article ready for La Renault so hopefully the pictures will give a good idea of what is going on with the car. The TS seat frames were in a terrible state and took a major effort to repair all the broken springs and fixings. I used some old spokes from a bicycle wheel as these are sprung steel and worked really well. After I painted the whole lot with anti-rust resin, I have given them to my trusted trimmer to work his magic.

A full report in the next issue. 40

And Now For Something A Little Different ...

wo somewhat different 16s. Above we have a two door saloon version which never saw the light of day beyond this prototype, snapped on the Renault stand at this year's Retromobile in February. The red convertible belongs to Tclub member Wim Boer from The Netherlands who brought the car over here for the Yorkshire event.

41

4CV Registrar Robin Redrup

shire Dales organised by Tony Cansfield. There were 10 R16s and my R5. We had a fantastic weekend visiting The Fred Dibnah Heritage Centre, the Wensley- dale cheese factory and the Ribblehead Viaduct.

eter Baker has decided to sell his 4CV that he bought from Richard Lewin. It was on eBay at the time Pof writing, so if you are interested, con- tact me and I will see if it is still for sale. Jody Scheckter’s son was looking for a 4CV so I have let him know as well. While on our R16 travels in France, we stopped at a Renault Dealer for a coffee Welcome to Bob Humphries who has and this was the sole 4CV seen through- bought a 1956 4CV from France. I met out the trip! We joined in with 65 other Bob at the wet Knebworth Classic Car R16s to mark the 50th Anniversary of Show on bank holiday Monday. He was the model. partly there to receive a front wing from Gary which was in ready to bolt on con- dition!

Just a point about body panels for the older classic Renaults, Auto Panels of Castleford do not exist anymore! They do have a fabulous website but this has not been shutdown. I had been looking for a pair of front wings for a R18 with- out success but thanks to Wim Boer a pair is on its way from the Netherlands! Thanks Wim.

I am ashamed to say that I have not had the CA VA SEUL 750 “van” out this year! I have been using my 1993 R5 Fred Dibner’s righthand man, Alf, who instead mainly because of the distances gave some very interesting and hu- of certain events. One event was the morous talks. th R16 50 Anniversary run up to the York- 42

And Finally ...

ell, if you've got here and you're still reading you're a real star! W I hope that those of you who may not, perhaps, be as enthusiastic about the 16 as some, have enjoyed this special edi- tion as much as those who are. We do, however, have a special treat for you on the last four pages. Yes, I am afraid that it is more rambling from me!

Our intermittent series, "My Other Car Original artwork from the Autocar’s Is ..." features my 125S. Unfortunately, technical evaluation of the R16 in 1965 there are so few left that there doesn't courtesy of John Waterhouse. seem to be any club or support for it. Having said that, parts are available from Italy and the iconic twin cam en- gine has proved relatively easy to obtain spares for. If you have a classic which is not a Renault, perhaps you may like to send in something for this feature.

This year to celebrate 50 years of the R16 the club attended an event in France organized by CAR Sandouville.

We also put together a touring weekend for R16 owners in the Yorkshire Dales which took place in the summer. The format for our Yorkshire trip was two or three nights in a hotel either Friday/Sat/ Sun or Friday/Saturday for those wish- ing to return to work on Monday. Tony Cansfield put together two days of tour- ing The Dales and visiting places of in- These things take some time to plan so terest. I would like to know if club members would be interested in such an event. If Next year is the 70th anniversary of the so, please contact me on 01507 327784 4CV and the 60th of the Dauphine. The or you can send me an email at: question is, whether 4CV/Dauphine [email protected] owners would like us to plan something similar. We would chose an area suitable Gary Creighton for classic car driving and would then have to decide whether to use an hotel, PS: Don't forget the NEC & the AGM! camp site or a mixture. 43

My Other Car Is ... A Fiat 125S

ell, I think the Renault 16 has Having never been to Malta before we had enough coverage now, so really didn't know what to expect, but let me tell you about my stun- even in October there was plenty of Wningly beautiful Fiat 125S which was, I sunshine and lots of dust. suppose, a direct rival of the 16. We were driving along one day and Three years' ago we had a holiday on the spotted a Fiat 125 in dark green at a island of Malta. Having five children, six petrol station. I reminisced (boring the cats, seven rabbits, a mad spotty dog offspring again) about my early cars. and a very old reptile we tend not to all Having crunched my Renault 10 in the go away at the same time and so it was spring of 1973 I went though a succes- only a select party of Parkers leaving the sion of Fiat 124s followed by a Polski devoted wife at home. As it turned out Fiat 125p and a Lada 1500. Unfortu- this was a very good decision! nately, the Eastern European cars were- n't a patch on the original Italian ones and around 1980 I managed to locate an elderly 124 Special T with the beauti- ful revvy, twin cam engine. Sadly, the rust had already taken hold and it didn't last very long. (As I understand it, the Italians sold the technology to their cars and manufacturing rights in exchange for Russian steel. The steel was rusting long before it reached Turin and the rest is history). That was the end of my Fiat experiences for a long time. 44

Fred Parker

Back to the holiday ... A few days later Now, I could write a book on my disap- we were in a town, whose name I for- pointments with my car purchases over get, and there was a sign beside the the years and as was illustrated re- road pointing to the Malta Motor Mu- cently, I still haven't learnt! For the next seum, it appeared to be the ground ten days I worried about how it might floor and basement of a block of flats. get damaged and wouldn't arrive in the We paid and went in. On the ground perfect condition I had seen it in ... or floor there were some reasonably inter- was it? esting cars and it had a very pleasant At last, the transporter arrived, the car atmosphere. We went down some was given a shove to get it off and it stairs, round a corner ... and there she refused to move. The brakes were all was. Well, it was love at first sight! Har- locked on! With a bit of persuasion we riet claims that my face went as white managed to get it on the drive, the as the car with shock, which may well be true. A chat with the museum owner revealed that the 23,000 miles were genuine and it had belonged to a teacher who bought it new, kept it ga- raged, used it only at weekends to take his old mum out and never used it on the heavily salted roads during Malta's harsh winters. A deal was done for an exorbitant number of Maltese shillings and it was arranged that the car would be despatched in a container to the UK. 45

My Other Car Is ..... A Fiat 125S transporter left, I turned the key and We drove down a suburban street with that beautiful twin cam engine burst into houses and no garages. Then Benjamin life. Three minutes later there was spotted a dead Ferrari, overgrown with steam everywhere and it was quite obvi- weeds in a front garden. Yes - it was Go ous that there was something seriously Performance Cars, although the Ferrari wrong. Sadly, it had sat with very nasty wasn't a particularly good example of tap water corroding rapidly inside the Mario's work! We rang the doorbell and engine for many years. A decent mixture his wife answered. She took us past two of anti freeze would have avoided the enormous black Labradors, little piles of problem entirely. poo in the garden, towards a shed at the bottom. Not totally reassuring! What next. Some things I can do, others are way beyond me. By an amazing co- The door opened ... it was like Dr Who incidence I had been reading Auto Italia opening the door of the Tardis! A beau- and they mentioned a guy by the name tiful, spotless workshop, glossy red of Guy Croft who earns a living solely painted floor, room for three or four from these twin cam masterpieces. Off cars, engines on stands in various states went an email. Back came the reply "not of assembly and there was Malti (my viable!" Hummmmmm ... "Why" ... Fiat) up in the air on a four poster lift. "Cost" ... "How much?" ... "More than you can afford!" etc. I discovered that Mario moved into the house around thirty years ago, built his It turns out, from conversations with garage at the end of the garden and has other twin cam enthusiasts that this is a been there ever since. He specialises in fairly typical response! To cut a very Italian cars and especially Ferraris. His long story in half, he eventually agreed knowledge is incredible and when he to rebuild the engine and it took him a was younger he had 8 Gordinis and year to do so. The care, precision and knows the 8s and 10s inside out. (He attention to detail was quite incredible. I recently proved to be a real star in res- can only imagine that he loves his en- urrecting my 1980 Audi 100 bought off gines as much as I love my cars and eBay unseen, having spent 10 years rabbits! (After wife and children, of resting in a Dublin barn ... but that is a course). story for another time).

The next stage was to get the rebuilt All went smoothly. I had done the engine back in the car. A job I wasn't brakes myself before the car went to looking forward to as it had been a right Mario and he checked it over thoroughly pig to get it out. Guy emailed and asked and dealt with anything that needed what my plans were. When I showed doing. some hesitation he said that he had two approved engine installers! The nearest An interesting fact: the gearboxes on one being Go Performance Cars in Surbi- these cars do not use a regular gearbox ton run by Mario Grech-Xerri. And guess oil. Over the years he has worked on where his family came from ... Malta! many Lancias, Fiats etc which use the twin cam engine and gearbox as in my Mario is totally charming. Benjamin and car. He tells me that mine has the best I went to see how he was getting on. change of any of those vehicles because 1246

Fred Parker

it is such low mileage and it has not been and so it is now putting out a little more damaged by using the wrong oil. The than its original, quoted BHP. 0 - 60 correct oil is the same as used in some comes up in well under 10 seconds, top much older cars, a straight SAE 90. speed I have no idea (yet) but in 5th gear it cruises in almost silence apart As the car was eventually finished in from the wind noise around the old gut- February of this year it was delivered ters and quarter lights. back on a trailer and I had to wait until the roads had been washed clean in April Its first trip was to Coventry and no, we before taking it for its MOT. It passed, did not come back on a transporter, first time, no problems at all. Inciden- instead I received a charming letter tally, the plate on the car was one I res- from the Police telling me that I had cued from a Renault 10 1300 so that is exceeded the speed limit and I was go- as good an excuse as I need to have the ing to be beaten over the head with a car in a Renault mag! truncheon until I promised to go slower!

How it compares to the 16 for driving I I really wanted to take it to Rouen at do not know as I have never driven a 16. the end of September but was booked On the little country roads it feels a bit for a hip transplant on the Friday of that cumbersome and old fashioned, but weekend. I have now cancelled the op- point it to the motorway and off it goes, eration and will go to Rouen instead! like a rocket. I forgot to mention that (Weather permitting - as if it goes out Guy Croft actually builds racing engines in the rain it may well dissolve). 47