September 2012 Draft - Renault Owners Club Forum

Transcription

RENOTES
T H E
D I A M O N D
A N N I V E R S A R Y
I S S U E
M A G A Z I N E
3
O F
S E P T E M B E R
T H E
R E N A U L T
O W N E R S
2 0 1 2
D I A M O N D A N N I V E R S A RY B E W L
4 0 Y E A R S O F T H E R E N A U LT 5 - 2
JAEGER CLUTCHES
FRENCH CAR SHOW REPORT
S I M P LY F R E N C H
LA VIE EN BLEU
R E N A U LT O L O O G F E S T I VA L
C L U B
02
CONTENTS
SEPTEMBER 2012
CONTENTS
CLUB
OFFICERS
Secretary:
Sebastian O’Hallorhan
Email: secretary@renaultownersclub. com
Treasurer:
Malcolm Bailey
Mayhill House, London Road
Addington, West Malling
Kent ME19 5AN
Tel: 01732 849325
Email: treasurer@renaultownersclub. com
Membership Secretary:
Damien Bailey address as Malcolm Bailey
Email: membership@renaultownersclub. com
Editor, Events and Webmaster:
Alasdair Worsley
01652 655 781
165 Scawby Road, Scawby Brook, Brigg, N.
Lincs.
DN20 9JX
Email: editor@renaultownersclub. com
Club Shop
Michael Fawke
Tel: 01303 488731
Email: shop@renaultownersclub. com
Modified Secretary:
Jason Ford
Email: [email protected]
2
Contents
3
Editor’s Chat
4-7
Diamond Anniversary - Bewl Weekend
8-9
Diamond Anniversary - Simply French
10
Diamond Anniversary - La Vie en Bleu
11
Diamond Anniversary - French Car Show
12
Last Minute News and Events
13
A Word of Thanks and Congratulations
14-15 Classic Restoration - Apprentice Competition
16-17 Renaultoloog Festival
18
Parts Remanufacture
19
Tales from the Roadside
20-21 In Praise of Louis Renault
22-24 Renault Assisted Gearchangers
25
NEC Classic
26-29 Spain in a £250 Renault 5 - Part 2
30-31 Motorsport
32-33 Renault News
34-37 Around the Clubs
38-39 Au Coin du Livre (Book Report)
40-41 Renault 25 Years Ago
42-44 Classifieds and the Shop
COPY DATES
Next issue of Renotes is due
December 2012.
All contributions for that issue must
be received by October 31st 2012.
Please send to the Editor:
Alasdair Worsley
at address above.
Subsequent issues will be March
2013 and June 2013 with the cut off 1
MONTH before.
MEMBERSHIP
FEES
Full UK and EEC £25
Full Non EEC £30
Senior Citizens and Unemployed
(includes Students) £20
Additional £5 for New Members over
normal membership.
Front Cover: Just some of the cars and some of the pictures from our Diamond
Anniversary Meeting at Bewl. The weather most certainly looked down on us as can be
reflected in the rush for the places from just 3 days before. Photos taken by Jason and
Peter Turner, Bernard Brown, Alasdair Worsley, Ngaire Wadman and many others and
compiled by Gavin McAllister. In total we had 72 vehicles over the 2 days and about 88
goody bags handed out. (Included a couple of non Renaults and Renault based cars).
To see your car on the front cover, please send me either a photo or a good quality electronic file
(jpg > 1MB is best).
The opinions expressed in Renotes are not necessarily those of either the Editor or the Committee of
the RenOwners Club Limited.
© Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without prior permission.
DISCLAIMER
1. "Any person receiving any technical assistance from any member of the RenOwners Club Ltd shall hold
harmless that adviser from any and all claims for damages, losses, expenses or costs arising out of the provision
of that technical assistance and any person receiving such technical assistance shall waive any claims that it
might have or might pretend to have against that person arising from the provision of the technical assistance."
2. "A party receiving any technical assistance from any member of the RenOwners Club Ltd shall not be entitled
to rely upon that advice as given by the RenOwners Club Ltd. For the avoidance of doubt no advice given is by
the RenOwners Club Ltd and no person has authority to hold themselves out as giving advice backed by the
RenOwners Club Ltd."
RENOTES MAGAZINE 2012 - DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY
EDITOR’S CHAT
03
ALASDAIR WORSLEY AND THE MEMBERS OF THE CLUB
EDITOR’S CHAT
I
would like to take this opportunity to
thank members of the committee for
the hard work, which they put into
organising the Club's Diamond
Anniversary gathering at Bewl. The
pictures say it all and there were cars in
representation from every decade of the
club’s existence. The autojumble went
down superbly and to think the van only
represents 1/4 of what the club holds.
Headlights were in particular demand as
were the many other bargains seen being
dragged across the field. Exactly how
people end up with Clio and Renault 25
doors left over one will never know.
Also nice to meet up with the Dutch
counterparts and nice to see an
acceptance of a reciprocal invite to bring
some of the clubs older parts over to a
Dutch autojumble to make room for new
stuff. It does go to reinforce the need
though for members to be prepared to
buy items without needing them as the
club can’t store them forever. Some of
these bits will probably never be seen
again, like the brand new Dauphine
panels, exhausts, and 60s and 70s
gauges and dials.
Already I hear suggestions of another
weekend next year either at Simply
French - Sunday 9th July 2013, Bourton
on the Water, Duxford or a little further
north. The Scottish contingent have
suggested a smaller local gathering for
them which could well be worth travelling
to as a long weekend.
random order they arrived saw Laguna
next to 750, Gordini next to Megane,
Megane next to Fuego, Spider next to KZ,
Transit next to Citroen. Ah well they had
to go somewhere.
Richard by Email
People have donated the club 2 11s in the
last 3 months both were snapped up the
same week and another 2 went for £450
and £600 although in that case both were
on a forecourt within days at just under
£2000. Someone will buy them though
without checking on them first - usually
there are 10 or so 5s on Ebay, excluding
the more valuable GTs, each week at
about £300 just watch for rot on
windscreen pillars, sills and under side
windows....walk away and wait for a better
one - I would say this, if you plan to buy
an 80s car even if you are not a member
look at our Facebook group or ask
questions.
We have been covering these cars since
new and have amassed a not
inconsiderable amount of knowledge and
spares, this could see you not making a
very expensive mistake.
Likewise if you are thinking about buying
a car as an investment don’t go by some
of the asking prices you see on ebay, look
at the SOLD prices there are cars out
there priced at foolish levels, sometimes
for the owner to try and recover from a
bad purchase.
on my thanks to everybody for their help.
Peter Bell
Hi My name is Jim (Mario is the name
given to the van by the previous owner ) I
am new to the club and now the proud
owner of a 1974 Estafette LWB Camper .
They seem to be very thin on the ground
in the UK. Are there other members in the
club with one ? Contacts for spares would
be good . Get in touch and maybe we can
help each other out.
Regards Jim Potts
Renewal Fees
Please remember that members (except
standing orders) renewing in the period
September to November 30th only pay
1/2 the annual fee. This will take you up to
just before the June 2013 Renotes. You
will receive at least 2 Renotes and a
renewal letter with the March 2013
Renotes for a full annual fee. This is to
allow us to move everyone to June to May
membership. Members will have then until
June 2013 to renew for the full year and
will then be eligible to receive on going
magazines and participating in club
events. If you wish, you are welcome to
pay 1.5 years membership fee to extend
your membership to June 2014. If you
choose not to renew, you will remain
member until just 31st May 2013 but
won’t receive the June Renotes.
New Members
Another suggestion put forward was to
use a Bank Holiday weekend in August to
allow a longer and more family orientated
meet. So get planning and offering help.
It was also nice to meet up with a number
of other clubs who attended. Some could
not make it but most of those who
planned to be there got there and we had
GTAs, Deloreans, Retro-Renault, Renault
Freres, Avantime and Vel Satis Owners
Club in attendance, not to mention quite a
few of the more unusual cars I’ve not
seen in a long, long time. I was worried
about the clash with Silverstone Classic
and the closeness to Simply French but it
seems not to have affected it and I have
to say the variety of cars at Bewl was
much wider. What was pleasant was not
seeing “niche groups”.Parking them in the
Not every car is what it seems to be. We
plan to reintroduce our “Sold Prices
Guide” that we had in the 90s that lists
the known sales prices of cars. Some will
come as a shock. If you have bought a
car we would appreciate photos and the
price you paid to include in it. Some cars
are investments but in the Renault scene
they needed to be hunted out.
Alasdair Worsley
Happy Anniversary! Congratulations for
such a beautiful collection of Renaults.
Francisco Miranda
Just a note to thank you both for the
great weekend at Bewl. Well organised
with some thing for ever body.Please pass
Robert Richmond - Megane
Peter Turner - Clio
Barry Dann
Dave Ewins
Jonathan Radley
Tracey Knight
Philip Whalley
John Harrison
David Turnham - Renault 5
Stephen Middleton
Trevor Brown
David Tuthill - Kangoo
Bryan Twinn
Dick Armstrong
Alison Kennedy
Adrian Lawton
James Potts - Estafette
John Gladdis
04
RENAULT DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY
2012 DIAMOND EVENT BEWL
PRAB PANESAR, HECTOR MACKENZIE-WINTLE AND MEMBERS’ PHOTOS
W
aking up relatively early after
the late night I had just had I
emerged from my tent!
Having got myself into a
respectable state I ate breakfast on the
camp site and I knew it was going to be a
great day. The sun was shining, and by
mid morning plenty of cars had shown up,
after all it was always going to be weather
dependant for a lot of people!
After mingling with other owners
discussing all things Renault, the route
sheets had started to be handed out mid
morning for the drive taking in the many
beautiful sights of Kent countryside.
on one of the cylinders. The car really
needed some hard acceleration in first to
make a slight incline and upon
approaching a junction and slowing down
worked out a route to get us back on
track. We stopped for fuel and a lovely old
Fiat 500 pulled into the pump next to us. I
thought it was the perfect photo
opportunity, French peasant car vs the
chic Italian!
Another ten minutes had passed, and I
think we had taken another wrong turn.
However we were still sort of heading in
the right direction, we just happened to go
down a track where a farmer was trying to
herd his sheep into a field. It began to
take some time, so, after blipping the
horn, the sheep started to run faster into
the field. 750 1, sheep nil! (That’s what
you get for trying to herd sheep with a
Seeing as how my 25 couldn't make the
weekend, Alasdair being the friendly
chap he is told me I can jump in the 750. I
thought to myself, nothing could be a
better way to take in the Kent countryside
but in a quaint old peasant car! I chucked
my stuff in the 750 and we set off around
mid morning.
Exiting the camp area, we drove down
towards the lovely old tree shadowed lane
towards the A21, the car was running
beautifully and Al was explaining how the
electronic clutch works. So we hit the A21
and headed towards Goudhurst on the
A262.
Five more minutes had passed, then Al
noticed a distinct problem, a slight misfire
the car stalled and would not start! I
thought to myself, here we go! Did I make
the right decision getting in this old thing?
Thankfully it wasn't a busy road and there
was no other traffic around.
We jumped out of the car, Al dug his tool
kit out and Al began to determine what the
problem was, “Fuel...spark...here Prab
hold this....OK not spark then.” The
problem turned out to be a fouled spark
plug, the first of many for the day! That
was changed and we were off again.
Trying to follow the route sheet we
continued on our journey. Around 10 miles
had passed and we realised we had
missed a turning near Hawkhurst. Al
stopped and pulled his Iphone out and
Citroen.)
Eventually we made it towards Tenterden,
I knew we were going the right way when
we saw a few 4s and the 19s drive past
us the opposite way. However we missed
the turning into station road and kept
going. We pulled into a small car park to
turn around and the car was beginning to
struggle again. We attempted to turn back
05
out of the car
park but there
was no getup-and-go.
We bided our
time and like
a fine piece of
French
engineering
we rocketed
out.
Arriving at the
Kent & East
Sussex
railway, we
were greeted
by Reinard
and
his
lovely old 5
and Alexandras' 25 which had its bonnet
up. The first thing that came into my mind
was, “Oh no”, but then I thought “it’s a 25,
it’s well built, it must be something minor.”
Al and I came to the conclusion the noise
was from the air con pump and nothing to
worry about. Thankfully, as it’s a long way
back to the Netherlands had it been
serious! Stopping here proved to be the
perfect place for Al to change yet another
fouled up spark plug! (Editor: Note to self.
55 year old spark plugs may need
kids’ day. It was just full of little uns and
Thomas the tank engine paraphernalia so
we set off en route to the vineyard.
The trip to Biddenden was relatively easy.
The car was running beautifully the little
engine in the back making a wonderful
mechanical noise you just don't get these
days. The convoy behind consisting of the
25 and 5 made for a lovely sight. Arriving
at the vineyard we we're greeted by
Richard. The vineyard itself was closed
for spraying but we were welcome to go
into the shop for tasting and purchasing.
After tasting a few wines, while the others
pottered around the shop, amongst my
purchases was a bottle of Kent cider for
the road (bloody strong stuff)! After
around 45 minutes at Biddenden we set
off back to Bewl.
enthusiasts though the price left a little to
be desired!
Leaving the A262 we joined the A21. I
was in for a surprise, Al put his foot down
and the old girl did 70mph, although it felt
a lot faster! (Remember this is a very old
car which doesn’t even have seatbelts!).
I'm really glad I had that strong Kent cider
now, must have calmed my nerves
somewhat! I'm pretty sure everyone that
followed us back from Biddenden was
pleasantly surprised at how awesome the
little old 750 is! (Editor: Second note to
oneself - calibrate speedo)
Arriving back at the camp-site I met up
with other members who had done
different trips, and everyone asked me
how was my trip in the 750. If I could use
one word to sum it all up I would have to
say it was wondrous!
F
replacing.)
Unfortunately we were not able to visit the
railway museum on account of it being a
Along the way I spotted a petrol station
selling leaded fuel for 192.9p a litre! A
rare sight and great for classic car
or various reasons, attendance at
the whole of our Club's Diamond
Anniversary, was impossible for
me, so, after a hot and frustrating
100+ miles' journey, thanks to major
diversions on the A26, I eventually wheeled
our Scénic into the parkland surrounding
the Bewl reservoir on the final Sunday
around mid morning. What a super venue!
Also what a good turnout of Renaults and
Alpines and of enthusiasts for the marques,
not only belonging to our Club, but also to
other invited clubs, such as CAR, Retro
Renault, Avantime Owners Club, Vel Satis
Owners Club, RCCC and CAR des PB all
the way from Holland - such brotherhood is
to be greatly applauded - to mention but
some. For a pleasant change this
summertime(?), that flaming orb in the sky
did its best (as the sunburn on the back of
my legs later continually informed me - that
will teach me to show my knobbly knees!)
However it had encouraged Joe Publics out
in their hundreds (fortunately away from
06
and early Espaces, a brace of Fuegos of
various types, some 19s, a burgundy
15TS, a couple of sixteen-valve Clios,
plus some 'ordinary' versions, a couple of
Sixteens, a huge green Edwardian
barouche with brass everywhere, a couple
of Avantimes, a couple of 20s, a couple of
Fours, a couple of other 25s, in fact a
our reserved field) to sunbathe and sail and
celebrate summer and generally to enjoy
themselves for the first time in many a long
day.
Sue Fawke from 'local' Folkestone - he
overseeing the Club 'goodies' on a table
outside the Club's crisp new tent and she
wisely resting in a comfy chair with the
Sunday Read (in their 5 Gordini), Peter
Bell (in his much feted 12TL), John Hart
down from 'oop there (in his light blue
16TS/TX hybrid), Stephen Dine and family
(with a 'Twenties NN Tourer and a Spider)
and many more. 'In the field' was a real
cross-section of Renaults - a 9TXE,
several Superfives, an absolutely
immaculate white 25 V6 Turbo, both late
couple of most cars we can remember. A
special mention should be made of the
cars brought over from Holland, these
being a l o n g , l o n g Renault Four,
Amongst our thronging crowd was Tony
Gomis (for once not pedalling his Renaultbased Marcadier Trans-Am up one or
other of his favourite hill climbs
somewhere on the Continent), Pat Bridger
(with a heavily tweaked, 'for sale'
competition R8 Gordini on a trailer behind
his Laguna Estate) overseeing a magic
carpet covered in 'interesting' bits,
Reinhard Krohn (in his smart Superfive),
Andy Mitchell (forsaking his 30TX in
favour of his 20TX this time), Derek
Flavell and family (in their very smart
green 'improved' 12 Estate), Brian Hunt
and Rita (their yellow, 'flower power'
Noddy which looks increasingly likely to
participate in one of those exotic African
desert rallies), Bernard Brown down from
Scotland via Switzerland - but that's
another story - (in his Vel Satis), Mike and
07
which is a regular at the Dutch Renault
events, and the white Renault 25 of Kees
Kouwenhoven and Alexandra Roctus
(both 'big wheels' in the CAR des PB),
which departed almost on the bump stops
with Renault spares.
What spares? Oh, so you missed them,
did you? Tough, they've almost all been
sold! (Editor: Actually Hector is pulling
your chain here a bit. 1 Whole van load of
more vans). Our thanks to Malcolm Bailey
and family for lugging a vanload of the
Club's spares along for all to see, to drool
over and (preferably) to buy, so that the
return trip was lighter than the outward
bound one. Thanks also to Mike Fawke
and to Alasdair Worsely (who brought his
4CV Ferlec along, too) for all the hard
work, which they put into organising and
supervising the event.
Although I was regrettably not present, I
gather that a good day had been had by
all on the Saturday, including the talk
given by Annette Jahnel on her year of
travelling around the world in a Kangoo.
By the time we 'broke camp' late on
Sunday afternoon, with the remanents of
the spares packed back into Malcolm's
van, the majority of participants had
drifted away homewards and a unique
event had become history.
“service” parts went to bewl, mainly
headlights, exhausts and a few pick and
mix boxes. As you will see from a later
article another whole van went to Holland
and I would still estimate we could fill up 2
08
T
o judge by the disgusting weather
experienced in South West
England throughout Saturday, 7
July - namely rain, rain and yet
more rain to add to the already soggy
ground - this event, due to take place on
the following day, was likely to be
disastrous. But Sunday morning dawned
cloudy with intermittent bouts of blue sky
and sunshine and a continuation of the
breeze, which had blown throughout the
night and dried out the ground to an
appreciable extent. So we said a little
prayer and dug Sheila's ever-ready green
8S out of its warm garage and, cynically,
loaded it up with wet weather kit (brollies,
anoraks, wellies, stout walking shoes, caps
and all the rest of the paraphernalia) to
ward off further moisture. Anxious not to
get the car too wet, we avoided the main
roads and cautiously toddled off, cross
country, through the narrow New Forest
lanes. A number of times, we had to stop
on puddle-strewn byways to let oncoming
traffic come through, so that the 8S could
be driven over the other, less wet side of
the highway, and there was a number of
fallen trees being cleared away, too.
Without any great drama and without any
averses (showers), we reached Beaulieu,
where we were ushered (by appropriately
kitted gendarmes) towards the reserved
area, where the 'Simply French' event was
taking place for the first time. To our great
surprise, our Clubman (and a Beaulieu
steward), Brian Whiteside, also gendarmekitted, was at the event's special entrance
and he had generously put together on
display a significant portion of his collection
of Renaults, including a 'Gendarmerie'
inscribed, navy blue Four, complete with
girophare (flashing beacon) as his on-thespot personal base! In exchange for one's
entrance fee, every visitor received a
leaflet, on which one could vote for one's
favourite car of the day and for a runner-up,
so there was work to be done!
There were areas reserved round the
edges of the (slightly soggy) lawns for
2012 DIAMOND EVENT SIMPLY FRENCH
HECTOR MACKENZIE-WINTLE
club members' vehicles to be parked and
some members of the Renault Owners’
Club, RCCC, Renault Frères, Matra
Enthusiasts and Avantime Passion had
chosen to park their vehicles in that area
but we suspect that other members of
those clubs had chosen to park their
vehicles on the asphalted central arena.
Opposite the club areas, Renault had
organised a display of their wares,
amongst which were a Fluence, a couple
of the latest Twingo 2 variants, some
current Mégane models (including a
'Floride' coupé variation) and, a little
further along, was Brian's display, which
included a Four, a (rhd) 4CV, an 8S and
an 8-1100, a replica 8S compétition, an A110 Berlinette, a Clio Mk 2 V6 and a
Renault yellow and white liveried
Estafette pick-up. We were greeted by
RCCC's Tony Nappin and, shortly
afterwards, Derek Flavell and Becky and
their children rolled up in Derek's newly
and beautifully restored, up-specced 12
Estate (now propelled by a Fuego engine
and five-speed gearbox!).
They
mentioned that it had been stair-rodding
on the way down from the London area,
so we must have passed the lousy
weather along to them!
Noted amongst
the cars on the clubs' stands were two
Caravelles (one white and one light
metallic blue), Tony Nappin's 4CV, a
sparkling bright blue A-110 berlinette, a
burgundy 'square-eyed' Ten, a rather
tired, rolling restoration project, white 6TL,
a silver 11 TXE (with Mark One 19 16V
alloy wheels), a lovingly restored (by Ron
Mills) 1939 black Celtaquatre, Renault's
own Type C Tonneau (AR 20), a brace of
Matra Murenas (one with a Honda R
engine sitting in the back end in place of
the original French power unit!) alongside
a single light blue Bagheera and a silverover-metallic blue Avantime, with Des
Collins' metallic bright blue FASA A110
berlinette close by. Parked around the
central lawn were some late-coming
Citroëns, a white CX, a delicious T/A
cabriolet and a serious number of 19/21
ID/DS variants. Two very rare Facel
Vegas (both rhd cars and, incredibly,
neither owner knew of the other car's
existence until their meeting here!) were
parked side-by-side. A selection of Fours
(no more room on the reserved parking
for them!) rubbed door handles with a
Sixteen, and a silver 'bubble eyes' Mark 2
Phase 1 Clio Initiale automatic sat next to
a couple of smart Clio Mark1 Phase 2
RSis. Andy Mitchell's 30TX and 20TX
were parked on the southern lawn
amongst some more Citroëns. It was not
long before we came across Andy M-W
and his uncle, who had flown down from
London in Andy's Mark 1 V6 Clio, which
was one of the cars in the central arena.
Most of the chevronistes and lionistes had
opted to park up in the same central area
and those vehicles were heavily
interspersed with Renaults, including a
yellow, Fuego turbo-engined, Series 2
17TS (this car has been the subject of at
least a couple of articles in specialised
motor magazines), shedloads of Mark 2
Clios (different variation on the standard
theme, Billabongs, MTIs, Ripcurls et al.),
as well as Renaultsport 172s and 182s
and V6-engined Marks 1 and 2 twoseaters, a plethora of Clio Mark 3s, a
white-striped, mid-blue metallic Twingo 2
Phase 1 Gordini, a very presentable white
25 GTS Mk.1, a spotless, late Eighties,
unrestored burgundy four-door Superfive,
an early, white, scruffy but entirely original
9GTL (when did you last see one of these
COTY winners?), a metallic maroon
Alpine GTA Turbo Le Mans and a metallic
blue GTA sister. Amongst 'the foreigners'
of note was a burgundy Simca 1500
Estate with an enormous, baroque
chrome roof rack (a genuine period
accessory), an immaculate white, fwd
Simca 1100 (on lowered suspension with
the engine breathing through two, huge,
twin choke Weber carbs), a Simca 1300
saloon and an enormous Citroën DS
Safari (the 'break' version); some dozens
of 21st century Citroën and Peugeot
variants were clustered together in one
part of the arena for the delight of their
followers. Although we did not recognise
any Club members in the ring, we feel
sure that, judging from the machinery
scattered around the area, they were
present, but simply did not make contact.
Hopefully, the Renault Owners’ Club will
be able to organise a more obvious and
central reception point in 2013.
Well-known motoring journalist and exBMC Competitions Department stalwart,
Graham Robson, was acting as MC for
the day and his thorough-going
commentary was much appreciated and
2012 DIAMOND EVENT SIMPLY FRENCH
09
he spoke to many of the vehicle owners in
order to learn about their particular
vehicles, which information was broadcast
to the general public. The weather
continued mild, with a steady breeze and
occasional bursts of sunshine, so the 'in
case' wet weather gear remained firmly and thankfully - stowed away. Perhaps
the improving meteorological conditions
encouraged some less adventurous
owners to take a chance and to come to
the event, as cars continued to trickle into
the site until well after midday.
With calls of nature and of refuelling
becoming ever more persistent, we
adjourned to the Brabazon eatery and
partook of the excellent fish and chips,
during which lull in the proceedings, a
short, light sprinkling of rain was
experienced by those who had chosen to
remain 'in the field'. After due diligence,
we adjourned to the National Motor
Museum in order to remind ourselves of
the excellence and in-depth history in this
fine motor vehicle exhibition. If one could
level any complaint against this collection,
it would be that there is just so much to
be seen that things have become too
thrutched up for comfort and a more
spacious layout might greatly enhance the
experience - so easy to say and so very
much more difficult to finance! As far as
our favourite marque is concerned, Mr.
Ironmonger's Renault Type A (see
'Rétromobile' article in the last
RENOTES) had been restored to its
everyday location and the royal 1908
Renault CB Landaulet was still in place.
Currently on display in the museum was
the 'James Bond' Exhibition, which,
accompanied by the playing of many of
the well-known Bond musical themes,
showcased an astonishing array of
Bondiana, including many of the
machines (of all types) featuring in the
Bond movies. Amongst these artefacts
was one of the (five) ill-fated, metallic blue
Renault 11 hatchbacks, which was used
and abused in the making of 'A Time to
kill' before losing its head!
After this excursion, we returned to the
arena for a further walkabout and, shortly
thereafter, Graham Robson threatened us
with the 'Car of the Show' finale. In the
first instance, this was to feature the top
ten favourite cars, which would be
paraded slowly around the near vicinity
for everyone to marvel at, this parade to
be headed by Brian's bright yellow Mk 2
Clio V6 and Yours Truly was invited into
co-pilot's seat! Fame at last! Amongst
the parading queue were examples of
Panhard, Matra, Citroën, Facel, Renault,
Simca and Peugeot and, after three
majestic laps of honour behind the
burbling exhausts of the above-mentioned
lead car, the two best of show cars were
announced - the sole, twin-cylinder, lhd
Panhard 24BT present and one of the two
imposing Facel Vegas. Bear in mind that
the favourites were chosen by the man in
the street, so to speak, to whom 'bull',
originality, mileage, cleanliness, rarity,
value and all the other 'musts', of
importance in a 'proper' concours
d'élégance, did not count; it was simply
an 'I'd like to take that one home' choice.
After interviewing both cars' owners,
Graham was given the answer to the
conundrum and, to much applause,
announced that the winner was the Facel
Vega. Ralph Montagu, son of Lord
Montagu, presented the prizes and gave
a short speech. Some of the cars had
already drifted away and, with the prize
giving now disappearing into history, an
increasing flow of cars followed suit.
We chose to loiter in order to chat to
friends and to swap information and
generally to get up to speed with the
world of Renault enthusiasm. Everyone
was pleased that the fine weather had
held and the general opinion was that this
event should be considered to be an
annual fixture for all Renault enthusiasts'
clubs, for it was a low key, pleasantly
social affair, which brought together a
wide range of 'different' car from France.
Let us bear in mind that this first iteration
clashed with the Wimbledon tennis, the
Silverstone motor racing and the
Powderham Castle event, where Renault
honour was to have been upheld by Rob
Doran, except that the meeting was
cancelled at the last moment, owing to the
appalling weather conditions in the Exeter
area. Moreover, it is understood that CAR
and RAOC had accepted previous
engagements this year, which explained
the notable dearth of Alpines. RCCC had
clearly made a significant effort to
patronise this meeting and the Renault
Owners’ Club's heavily subscribed
Diamond Anniversary Meeting at Bewl a
fortnight later had clearly had a negative
effect on the number of enthusiasts from
our Club able and willing to journey to
Beaulieu as well as to participate in the
following Kentish celebrations.
This first edition of 'Simply French' turned
out to attract a greater attendance than
the earlier 'Simply Italian' day (eat your
hearts out, Ferraristi!). Club-wise, 'Simply
French' has a significant advantage
insofar as there is no charge for any club
reserving space on which to park its
members' vehicles, so there are no upfront costs to the Club, whether one or
one hundred members' cars put in an
appearance. The attractive price per
head entry fee allows unrestricted access
to all the facilties (pleasant grounds,
Brabazon café, National Motor Museum,
abbey ruins, decent toilets, fine gardens
and Beaulieu Palace), quite apart from
the bonus of being able to look at a wide
selection of not-so-common cars from
France and of talking to friends/new
enthusiasts/model specialists or whatever.
Your reporter feels that this annual event
should be a permanent fixture on all
Renault clubs' calendars.
We bade our farewells and the 8S and the
Clio V6 headed westwards through the
New Forest over considerably drier roads
and, mercifully avoiding any rain, returned
to Ferndown to mull over and to celebrate
in food and drink a very happy day's
rubbernecking at cars of our predilection
and where we could talk in a leisurely
manner to friends and like-minded
enthusiasts in such a pleasant
atmosphere. Roll on next year's version,
we all agreed.
10
CLUB EVENTS
T
he Prescott Hill Climb has always
appeared to have an aura of
mystery about it, like the Shelsley
Walsh Hill Climb in the Midlands.
Those magical names appeared in preWW2 motoring magazines and the
renowned Bugatti Owners' Club ownership
of this private Gloucestershire track made
for additional piquancy. For a few years
past, the Bugatti Owners’ Club has
accepted a special class for Renault-based
vehicles and this has been well patronised
by enthusiasts with those vehicles,
particularly those belonging to our
colleagues in CAR (Club Alpine Renault of
Great Britain). With the Renault Owners’
Club due to have a presence there
alongside CAR, RCCC and RAOC, not to
mention the prospect of some decent
weather, a visit was decided upon,
although it could only be accomplished on
the Sunday of this two day weekend event.
The journey up from the Bournemouth
area to the Cheltenham area looked to be
not too difficult on our large-scale map,
but Sheila and I had reckoned without
suspiringly heavy Sunday traffic around
Bishop's Cleeve and our ignorance of the
necessary roads (no, we don't do sat
navs...), with the result that, when our
Renault 8S eventually turned up at the
Gotherington venue in the early
afternoon, having been fooled by the
disappearance of the pertinent brown
road signs to the track, we were denied
access to our club stand near the track
itself, which did not exactly please us
2012 DIAMOND EVENT LA VIE EN BLEU
after a hot three
hours'
plus
journey.....
However,
the
tramp from the
general car park,
where
many
interesting
vehicles
lay
glittering in the
sun, was not too
arduous
and
quickly we found
ourselves
amongst familiar
vehicles and the Renault hospitality tent.
There was a large display of all sorts of
French cars - the event is not called 'La
Vie en bleu' for nothing! - and many
variants thereof - Citroëns and Peugeots
of all shapes and sizes, a selection of
Bugattis and the odd Simca, Matra or
Venturi, not to mention the Renaults and
Alpines of many shapes and hues. We
spotted Alasdair standing proudly next to
his blue 'Ferlec' 750, with Martin
Aldridge’s Indenor diesel-engined,
maroon Frégate close by and we walked
over to have a natter.
Unsurprisingly, cars were already
squealing away from the start line close
by, so we decided to have a peek at the
spectacle and, happily, we were
traversing the competitors' assembly area
just as the Renault and Alpine cars were
being called to compete, so we had a
good view of them. It was some time
since we had met up with Tony Gomis,
driving his white Renault-based Marcadier
Trans Am, and he greeted us hurriedly as
he pulled a Nomex balaclava over his
head. Dave 'Gearbox' Wheeler was
waiting to pedal his South Africanassembled Renault 8 Gordini 1300 up the
hill and burly Bob Gibson, running in the
post-1972 sports car class, was crammed
into his lightweight Alpine A110/1600S
berlinette, which he went on to pedal up
the hill to record outright fastest time of
49.95 secs, while his father, Pete,
spectated proudly at the railings. Tim
Jeffery was at the wheel of his metallic
blue Alpine A610 Turbo to uphold that
model's honour and Tony Hart, the boss
of Prima Racing, was steering his highly
modified Renault 5GT Turbo (he must
have won a shedload of silverware with
that mount over the years!) and later went
on to win the post-1972 saloon class.
Andy Holt in a silver Renault Spider had
been the runner-up in the Bugatti Owners’
Club's Handicap on the Saturday and was
having another 'go' today and a seriously
uprated ex-John Price Renault 5 Turbo
was also waiting patiently. The pre-1970
saloon class fell to Gary Goodings' R8
Gordini. I spied a blue Alpine A310/V6,
another blue berlinette and a blue Alpine
GTA V6 Turbo, too. The highly modified,
silver Renault 8 hybrid, originally
belonging to the Barltrop brothers, was
another racer to be seen in the throng..
As it was around lunch time, we decided
to treat ourselves and accordingly we
adjourned to the clubhouse-cumrestaurant to enjoy a very reasonably
priced and yet tasty meal in the cool, with
a large audience goggling at the
supersize TV going full blast with the
current Grand Prix. Refreshed for the
2012 DIAMOND EVENT FRENCH CAR SHOW
11
RENAULT UK NEWS
interesting and memorable day, which we
may endeavour to repeat next year hopefully without the traffic aggravation!
T
housands flocked to Donington
Park last month for the 2012
French Car Show where Renault
laid on free ‘hot laps’ with MSA
British Rally Championship stars Chris
Ingram and Peter Taylor.
fray, we sauntered past the handful of
tented shops and then decided to walk up
to a vantage point, from where we could
watch the competitors come up out of the
first gentle left hand swerve to the initial
right hand hairpin bend and then, via a
kink to the left, up to a second left hand
hairpin bend, before approaching a tight
left hander after a fast wiggle-woggle,
followed by a further swerve to the top
right hand hairpin bend and the finish line,
always climbing upwards. There was an
astonishing variety of vehicles hurtling up
the track, ranging from pre-WW2
monsters (such as Talbot Lagos,
Hispanos, aero-engined hybrids, Morgan
three-wheelers and other vintage
machinery) through hugely modified
Citroën 2CV hill climbers to Bugatti
Veyrons and we were well entertained for
an hour or so. There were surprisingly
few 'oopsies', considering how hard many
of the competitors were trying. Eventually,
we retraced our footsteps and went to
have a closer look at the assembled
machinery. During this peregrination, we
met Pat Bridger and Nigel Patten, both of
whom had hoped to have their cars
accepted as late runners, but were
unlucky, as the relevant class had been
oversubscribed, and we had a good chat
about the excellence of the event and the
venue. We took some time examining the
Renaults - particularly the blue and silver
Avantime, which is always a curiosity
magnet, and met up
with Alasdair again.
Renault had put on a
good show of their
own cars to add
diversity to the club
area and we spoke to
the
company's
Jeremy Townsend
before leaving in
order to avoid the
departing
crowds
clogging up the
roads.
Not wishing to repeat the stop-start
experience of the inward journey, we
decided to strike north and then west to
reach the M5 (refuelling en route) and we
were soon on that
motorway,
speeding
southwards towards the
Cirencester turnoff and
homewards via Swindon,
Marlborough, Salisbury
and the final westwards
route, skirting the New
Forest and home via
Ringwood without the
little green bomb missing
a beat. Altogether a more
satisfactory route and a
relaxing end to an
As the biggest player at the event on
Sunday, 17th June, Renault UK had a
number of cars on display, both
competition and road, but the highlight for
most was the rare chance to experience
the adrenaline rush of a high-speed
passenger ride around the famous East
Midlands track.
Taylor, at the wheel of his Clio
Renaultsport R3, and Ingram, piloting his
Twingo Renaultsport R2, both proved to
be a huge draw and ensured a
memorable day out for the lucky showgoers who had the opportunity to
experience the skills of two of the
country’s top rally drivers.
After a few laps in their BRC cars, Ingram
and Taylor took the controls of Mégane
Renaultsport 265 Cup and Clio
Renaultsport 200 Raider road cars and
they were both very impressed – reporting
superb
responsiveness
from
Renaultsport’s premier hot hatches.
Among the thousands in attendance were
hundreds of enthusiasts from the Renault
Owners’ Club while in terms of the cars on
display, the Clio Renaultsport R3 and
Twingo Renaultsport R2 joined the Twingo
R1 and cars from Renault’s heritage
collection – including a turbo-era Formula
One chassis.
12
NEWS & CLUB EVENTS
A
nnounced earlier this year was
that from the end of this year,
cars built before 1961 (seatbelt
time) no MOT would be required,
although optional ones are allowed.
This worried me as I do not consider every
driver of a pre 1961 car to be a competent
assessor of their car’s roadworthiness and
more importantly I expected it to be the first
step towards their use being curtailed as
these cars may be limited in their use as a
consequence of this status. A similar thing
happens in France where “fully roadworthy”
cars are allowed to drive anywhere,
classics are already banned from some
cities and those who choose the simple
MOT are limited to their county and
organised rallies.
Hot on their heels then comes this next
document for consultation. Some of me
thinks it may have a point in some areas
but not all modified cars by default are
dangerous. I would prefer to perhaps see
other criteria used as assessment.
However one of the key arguments against
this that FBHVC plan to use is the fact the
MOT proves roadworthiness...That would
be the one we have just scrapped....
LAST MINUTE NEWS AND EVENTS
CLUB
of historic interest’. A vehicle of historic
interest is then defined as one that
•
Was manufactured more than 30
years ago
•
Is maintained by use of
replacement parts which reproduce the
historic components of the vehicle
•
Has not sustained any change in
the technical characteristics of its main
components such as engine, brakes,
steering or suspension; and
•
Has not been changed in its
appearance.
FBHVC considers this definition to be
unworkable and completely unacceptable.
FBHVC also rejects the suggestion that
Roadworthiness Testing should relate to a
vehicle’s ‘technical characteristics’,
whatever the age of the vehicle.
Modifications,
alterations
and
improvements are all part of the history of
motor vehicles and the older the vehicle,
the more likely it is that it will have been
altered at some stage.
At present the basic tenet of a UK MoT test
is that it is one of mechanical fitness. There
is no database of original specifications for
UK vehicles, so testing to original 'technical
characteristics' is simply pie-in-the-sky.
From FBHVC Newsletter:
EU ROADWORTHINESS TESTING
When the European Parliament Historic
Vehicle Group (EPHVG) met in May,
Szabolcs Schmidt the head of the EC Road
Safety Unit, mentioned that proposals for
revisions to the Roadworthiness Testing
Directive, following a 2010 consultation,
were expected ‘in the summer’. In July, the
European Commission published the detail
which turned out to be a proposal to
replace the current Roadworthiness Testing
Directive (2009/40/EC) with a completely
new Directive.
The draft of the new Directive has
implications for all motorists, not just
historic vehicle owners. Amongst other
things, the draft includes requirements to
test all trailers (which in turn implies a
registration system) and requires tests to
make reference to a vehicle’s original
‘technical characteristics’. The meaning of
this expression is not defined. National
governments are granted the right to make
their own testing arrangements for ‘vehicles
Earlier this month, the Department for
Transport asked stakeholders for comment
on the proposals. FBHVC will be
responding formally to this request when
further analysis of the detailed proposals
has been completed. FBHVC will be
discussing the implications of the proposal
with the international organisation, FIVA,
and through them with the EPHVG group
as well as with the All Party Parliamentary
Historic Vehicle Group in the UK.
It should be remembered that this is still
just a proposal. It has to have approval by
each EU member country before it is
adopted. Some media commentary on this
topic has tended towards the ‘we’re
doomed’ end of the scale. It is certainly a
serious issue and FBHVC is treating it
accordingly.
For further information contact the
Federation office Tel: 01865 400845, or the
legislation committee chairman, David
Hurley, Tel: 01903 235192.
L
ast Minute Club Events.
If you are interested in any of these we
need to know within a week of receiving
this magazine to book them. The Kent
Classic, please book direct but let Malcolm
know you plan to attend.
Kent Classic - 23rd September 2012
10am-4pm Aylesford Priory, Aylesford,
Kent, ME20 7BX. These events are an
opportunity for Classic Car enthusiasts to
meet and display their original and restored
cars. Refreshments available at the Priory
Exhibitors, Please contact Malcolm on Tel:
01732 849325.
The National Restoration Show - 21st
October 2012 10am to 5pm National
Agricultural
Centre, Stoneleigh,
Warwickshire. The stand will be based
around an in process restoration and a
display of cars and is a mix of indoor and
outdoor
pitches.
Contact Alasdair - 01652 655781 (7PM9PM) for details.
NEC Classic - Birmingham. November
16th-18th. The cars are chosen for this
year although we are reducing the number
in order to put on a side display of some of
the other items the club gets involved in.
However there are still places if you can
come and help on the stand either for an
hour, a day of preferably the whole show. I
won’t be displaying this year, nor will
Malcolm and Damien so any help will be
widely appreciated by those there. I will
help organise tickets etc for when you can
come.
Contact Alasdair - 01652 655781 (7PM9PM) for details.
2013 - Events
We welcome your suggestion for events in
2013, however we would like to try
something new so would appreciate if you
could suggest events you would like to do
AND ORGANISE. This just means you
book the area and deal with enquiries
about your show. We will have some “turn
up on the day” events and book direct as
well but unless we get an events secretary,
the committee will take a back seat,
although will support you with equipment if
possible.
A WORD OF THANKS AND CONGRATULATIONS
13
THE CLUB
hope to see you all
again at future events.
Best regards from the
Netherlands.
Antoinette, Kees and
Alexandra
I
T
hank you, Malcolm, for organising
an event that could appeal to
everyone - from hardened
campers and serious Renault
doer-uppers to absolute newbies who
couldn't be there the whole weekend. It
takes a lot of organisational skill to work out
a programme that has something for
everyone, and you managed it brilliantly.
Bewl was tremendous fun. Mazz and I
really enjoyed meeting fellow Renault
owners and appreciators, and the social
side of it was great! Of course, lining up
my two R5's with others was also a
memorable experience. Just talking to
really knowledgeable people about my
cars was also great, and left me feeling a
lot more confident about keeping the R5's
on the road.
Thanks again, Malcolm. You, sir, are a
STAR.
Ngaire Wadman.
H
i Malcolm,
Many thanks from the Netherlands for
inviting us to the Diamond Anniversary
event of your Club. It was a very good
organized event and we really enjoyed it.
The 2 types of routes and the choice of
what you wanted to visit on Saturday was
very clever! We also liked the Sunday
with the autojumble and even more cars
than Saturday.
Thanks a lot for the book we received. We
was honoured to be
able to present the
Trophy to Malcolm in
recognition for his
sterling efforts and
dedication in making the
60th anniversary of our
club a great success. It was well worth the
240 mile drive from Yorkshire to experience
a weekend of much fun and camaraderie
with a wide range and age of Renaults
along with their respective owners.
There was never a dull moment. The
places that Malcolm had chosen to visit
using either of the tours he had arranged
was easy and adaptable to your own
agenda. {With my Hungarian family
influence I was so obsessed with the
Biddenden Vineyards that any thoughts of
visiting other areas quickly dissolved}. I
can empathise with the uphill task that
Malcolm would have faced in making the
weekend enjoyable for everyone
attending from my own experience of
arranging
the
21st Anniversary
celebration for the Karmann Ghia Owners
Club. However seeing all the smiling
faces after countless hours of hard work
makes it all the more worth while. I wish
Malcolm and his family every happiness
and success with his new life in France.
Rick Horvath
P
lease find the space to pass on
my thanks to
Richard
Horvath and
Prab Panesar for two
excellent articles on
Pages 4-5 (Bewl) and
Pages 22-25 (£250
Renault).
Their
enthusiasm is evident
and the reader-friendly
articles were a real
pleasure to absorb.
Also, sincere thanks
are due to Malcolm &
family who not only pulled out every stop
for the Club at Bewl but who also organised
a trip over the water to spread goodwill and
raise yet more funds for the Club. Likewise,
grateful thanks to Mike Fawke who finds
the time to handle the Club Shop and make
it so easy to use.
John Hart.
A big thank you Malcolm for putting
together a super weekend, and for all
your hard work in making Bewl a great
event. A super gathering of Renaults, we
had an enjoyable time! Steve, Jayne,
Josh & Bethany. P.S Thanks for the
weather too!
Steve Dine
Having had the opportunity to participate
in an enjoyable Sunday at Bewl Reservoir
as part of the celebrations to mark the
Club's 60th Anniversary, I would like to
thank - hopefully on behalf of the Club's
silent majority of members - Malcolm, who
willingly gave up hours of his valuable
time to organise the event and who
worked so hard over the weekend.
Congratulations are due to Andy Mitchell
for being the first winner of the newly
introduced Hector Mackenzie-Wintle
Trophy, gained for his faithful attendance
at so many of our Club's events over the
last year. Also deserving is Malcolm,
winner of the Bolster Trophy for his
unassuming and faithful devotion to Club
duties over recent year and his
organisation at Bewl and the sourcing of
significant quantities of spares. Low key
presentations of both of these awards
was made to those winners at Bewl.
Hector Mackenzie-Wintle
14
CLASSIC RESTORATION - APPRENTICE SKILLS
CLASSIC
CAT-UK SERVICES LTD - SOUTHAMPTON AND TEESPORT
T
his year, CAT
UK launched
a Business
Unit Project
Competition to restore
classic
vehicles
representative of the
customer brands at its
Sites across the UK and Benelux regions.
All of the vehicles in the competition were
to be worked upon under supervision but
primarily carried out by apprentices. It
was devised to challenge the competing
teams on their innovation and ability, their
attention to detail, overall cost
management and team-effectiveness.
CAT believes that in order for its
Apprentices to fully appreciate the skills,
experience and ability needed to reach
and maintain the high standards CAT sets
for its customer vehicles, the best place to
learn these “real life” values is in a
creative and innovative way.
The Restoration Criteria
Pre 1973 vehicles, mechanically sound,
roadworthy and complete with a valid
MOT Certificate (or equivalent European
standard)
Restored within an agreed budget
All net proceeds raised by the future sale
of each car, to be donated to local
charities nominated by the centres
The Project Competition Awards
The overall prize will be awarded for the
highest “Added Value”.
Other prizes for:
Greatest demonstration of teamwork
Best example of new skill learnt
Best low cost initiative
Greatest display of innovation
Why A Restoration Project?
While the original Floride was fitted with
an 845 cc engine, by 1962, the Floride S
had gained a more powerful 956 cc
engine and also created an industry first
with disc brakes on all four wheels. Time
had also changed the body design – with
a longer roof and straighter rear window,
increasing the interior space without
spoiling the style from the original design.
In 1962, the Floride was replaced by its
twin sister, the Caravelle. Available in
coupé and cabriolet versions, the
Caravelle continued production until 1968.
The Caravelle in restoration at CAT UK
(Southampton) is one of the last
Caravelles, registered as it was, in 1968.
In recognition of the association to the car
by Brigitte Bardot, she is affectionately
called Brigitte.
At the end of a manufacturer or dealer
buyback, rental, lease or part exchange
CAT provides a number of vital additional
services for used vehicles, ranging from
inspect-and-collect services through to
refurbishment and remarketing solutions.
Its teams of experienced, motivated
professionals use the latest repair
techniques and industry products to
ensure unquestioned quality of the
finished product. It is therefore no
surprise to understand why the “ultimate”
test of skills for a young apprentice is a
project of complete vehicle restoration.
CAT Southampton Meet "Brigitte" - The
Renault Caravelle
Launched in 1958, the Floride was a car
with instant appeal. Its attractive body
colours and pure, flowing lines, designed
by Italy’s Ghia and Frua, gave it a
sophisticated look. It was driven by a
number of stars of the day including
Brigitte Bardot who, incidentally, became
recognised as the "face" of the Caravelle.
"Brigitte" was found in Northampton and
was in much need of extensive
restoration. As a non-starter, complete
with dented and rusty bodywork, corroded
chrome bumpers and handles, "Brigitte"
was in need of some serious repair.
Initial work included the removal of the
automatic gearbox where it was
discovered to have some parts missing.
The vehicle’s interior and soft top were
also badly deteriorated and in need of
renovation.
The vehicle was stripped to bare metal,
reshaped and repainted. The chrome
work was prepared and then re-chromed
(bumpers, handles and light units). The
engine received a complete overhaul and
the original automatic gearbox was
converted to a manual option, because
part obsolescence meant true restoration
to the original would be impossible to
achieve.
The interior, vinyl and carpet trims were
Between 1958 and 1962, the Floride was
launched in three versions: coupé,
cabriolet and convertible. With each
version, continuous improvements were
made and by the time the last models
rolled off the production lines, they had a
new name: the Caravelle.
CLASSIC RESTORATION - APPRENTICE SKILLS
15
CAT-UK SERVICES LTD - SOUTHAMPTON AND TEESPORT
CLASSIC
either replaced or repaired and, along
with a renovated soft top, "Brigitte" began
her transformation towards her original
glory.
Southampton Centre nominated three
charities Rose Road Association / Naomi
House / Countess Mountbatten Hospice
to be the beneficiaries of any net
proceeds from the future sale of "Brigitte".
CAT Teesport Meet “Buttercup” - The
1954
Renault
4CV.
On June 16 1940, German forces took
over the management of Renault's
manufacturing plants. All ongoing
automotive projects were frozen. A
handful of brave Renault engineers with a
passion for their work, decided to defy the
ban and started secret research studies
on a new vehicle. They set two key
requirements: the car had to be
inexpensive and economical in order to
adapt to the ongoing fuel shortages. Thus
started the 106 project; paving the way for
the 4CV. Once France was liberated, the
project gathered pace. The first 4CV left
the Renault production line in 1947 and
was available in one body style, one
colour and one engine
type.
Both light
(560kg)
and
economical,
the
Renault 4CV was able
to carry four people in
comfort. More than a
million cars were
produced due to the
"new"
era
of
automation, ranging
from
the
highly
economical “Service”
to
the
alluring
convertible and sporty
1063.
The CAT UK (Teesport) Renault 4CV was
purchased from a seller in the UK who
bought it from France originally. When the
car was found, it had
not been on the road
since
1991
and
although previously
owned by a chauffeur,
was in poor condition
and a non-runner.
Used as a storage
repository for various
pieces of garage
equipment for many
years, the car required
a full body and
mechanical strip down
and rebuild, including
engine and gearbox
overhaul. The Chassis
& bodywork had to be
stripped, repaired, prepped & repainted. A
full interior overhaul was also required
due to the deterioration of the original
which included mismatched
seats!
Externally, all of the
chrome bodywork
required stripping
and re-chroming
due to its poor
condition
and
oxidisation.
team spirit which has developed through
this project has been incredible. People
have even given up their own free time to
help out in order to bring this classic
vehicle back to life. The young
apprentices, who have done an incredible
amounts of work on Buttercup have
developed and learnt some invaluable
skills. It’s not every day you get to work
on
a
classic
car!
http://www.buttercupsjourney.co.uk/
Many thanks for your support towards our
restoration projects!
View them at Goodwood.
All of the vehicles taking part in Groupe
CAT's Restoration Project Competition
with "Brigitte" (a Renault 4CV, a BMW
1800Ti and a VW Beetle) will be on
display at Goodwood Revival between
Friday 14th – Sunday 16th September at
Goodwood, Chichester. Groupe CAT's
stand is located in the Pre-66 Show area.
Affectionately
known as Buttercup
the
vehicle
is
approximately two
weeks
from
restoration
completion at the
time of writing. The
16
CLUB PARTS
I
t can be funny how things turn out. At
the Bewl Weekend to celebrate the
Club’s 60th Anniversary we welcomed
three visitors from Holland, Kees
Kouwenhoven, Alexandra Roctus and
Alexandra’s mum Antoinette RoctusKarman who brought their immaculate
Renault 25 Olympique. This was one of the
52 cars in their collection which is housed
in a private museum at Bergambacht called
Renobilia (www.renobilia.nl). On the
Sunday they bought a boot load of spares
at the autojumble and when they heard that
we were trying to reduce stock levels as
storage space was at a premium they
suggested we should attend the
Renaultoloog Festival at Kronenberg which
was being held two weeks after the Bewl
Weekend.
RENAULTOLOOG FESTIVAL, KRONENBERG
MALCOLM BAILEY
Master MM33 with an excellent
specification including air conditioning
which was most welcome. All the details
were sorted out with paperwork,
insurance and a continental touring kit
which now includes breathalysers to
comply with French driving Regulations.
The help provided by Charlie Gordon was
excellent despite the fact that I managed
to get lost on the Heyford site. Heading
back to Kent I noticed a light which lit on
the panel and having checked the
handbook discovered that it assists with
economy telling you when it would be
more economical to change either up or
down. The torque developed by the
engine is such that changing up is
recommended earlier than I might
normally, and I am sure it improved the
at Ashford we left the motorway and took
the A28 up to Canterbury to join the A2.
We reached Dover with about ten minutes
to spare and while waiting to board the
ferry met some other drivers who had
been held up on the M20/A20. Judging by
the low volume of traffic entering the port
from that direction there must have been
a fair number taking later sailings than
had been planned.
From Calais we turned north and headed
through France into Belgium and then into
Holland. This was the first time I had
driven in Belgium and the state of the
road surfaces on their motorways has to
be experienced to be believed. The
Renault coped with it well, although I am
amazed that they had been allowed to get
so bad.
Alexandra and Kees had kindly offered to
board us for the weekend so we made our
way to their house and were given a
conducted tour of the museum which
covers not only cars, but scooters,
commercial vehicles and memorabilia.
How they manage to fit everything in is a
wonder. If you are able to visit (by prior
arrangement) it is not to be missed.
economy of my driving.
This involved a bit of reorganising and
high speed planning. A planned visit to
France was brought forward by a week,
Alasdair arranged for a van to be provided
by Renault UK, times for collecting and
loading the van and subsequently
unloading and returning it were sorted out
and a ferry booked. Along the way our
younger son, Sebastien was dragooned
into coming for the ride although he took
little persuasion.
Accordingly on Thursday 2nd August, I
drove to the former Heyford Camp near
Bicester to collect the van which was a
Back at home we went to Maidstone and
loaded the van on the Thursday afternoon
before coming back to base to load a
gazebo, a couple of tables, books to sell,
other books to give away, some recent
copies of Renotes, wet weather
equipment just in case and all the usual
kit required.
On Friday 3rd August we set off to Dover
with a bit of time to spare and this was
just as well as a key junction on the
M20/A20 was blocked by an accident. So
On Saturday morning we set off for the 90
mile drive to Kronenberg and promptly
started setting up our pitch with the
covered table provided, the gazebo and a
pair of decorating tables. We also had an
RENAULTOLOOG FESTIVAL, AUGUST, HOLLAND
17
MALCOLM BAILEY
CLUB PARTS
area of grass covered with polythene laid
out so the parts could be covered in a
hurry if necessary. When we arrived there
was already a superb gathering of
Renaults covering cars, lorries, military
vehicles and agricultural machinery.
It was quite an international event with
visitors from Belgium, France, and
Germany apart from local enthusiasts and
of course the two of us from Blighty
Throughout the weekend the weather was
warm and fine with just a few spots of rain
which you would have missed if you
blinked. There was an excellent variety of
exhibits which changed between the two
days and a marvellous group of
enthusiastic Renault owners, conversing
in whatever languages they had in
common or with help from anyone with
the necessary language skills.
On the Sunday afternoon an International
Jury toured the exhibits and awarded
prizes in a variety of categories with
Sebastien
being
the
English
representative, with Werner Bruyninckx
for Belgium, Jan Erhartitsch from
Germany and Alexandra for Holland.
the parts, translation services and for
introducing us to yet more Renault
enthusiasts. If anyone fancies a weekend
in Holland either camping or in local
accommodation, the Renaultoloog
Festival is not to be missed.
I did not have a lot of time to tour the
show because I was fully occupied on our
autojumble stand and we certainly were
able to supply a lot of
parts to the visitors,
boosting Club funds.
However, Sebastien went
around with a camera
and Alasdair has selected
some for inclusion with
LOOKING FOR DISCOUNT RENAULT PARTS ?
this article.
Then you’ve just found your answer !!!
Following the prize giving
we loaded the van,
dismantled the various
tables, gazebo and
covered
table
and
headed off for Calais
getting
back
home
around 11 pm on the
Sunday evening. On
Monday we unloaded and
on Tuesday morning the
van was returned.
We are most grateful to
Renault UK for the loan
of the van, to our Dutch
friends for inviting us, to
Kees and Alexandra for
not only putting us up,
but
for
help
with
unloading and displaying
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Dayco - Timing & auxillary belts
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18
CLUB PARTS
PARTS REMANUFACTURE
ALASDAIR WORSLEY
P
arts remanufacturing and on line
directory.
There is a number of firms now contacting
the club who are remanufacturing parts
for cars of all periods. In most cases the
take up of these parts, certainly in the UK,
means it is not cost effective to take out a
regular on line or magazine advert but
they are still services that are of use. As
more and more vehicles in these fields
join us then more and more may need
their services.
We obviously cannot give them free public
advertising as this would not be of benefit
to the members that don’t use them and
likewise influence those that do take out
regular activities. We already have lost
one advertiser due to slumping business
but I know they are still regularly getting
business by word of mouth. Conversely
all those that try to sneak in free adverts
for their own businesses on line must
make some of the payers wonder why
they bother paying. Likewise we don’t
want to have to pre-approve every post.
So what we will do is create in the
members area a “hidden” page where
these services can be mentioned, we will
pre-discuss each inclusion and decide if
they are the size that fits in here and be
approved or be approached for more
formal advertising, something we always
need if we are to get to a stage where
perhaps we discuss more magazines
each year.
I would also encourage members to
submit their ideas for services to there
rather than in messages for all to see.
This area will not show up on public
services so will not give them general
advertising and is going to be limited to
special services. If enough of us use them
they may do more projects for us.
The first remanufactured item comes from
Group Harrington. They remanufacture to
original patterns bumpers for classis cars.
Due to demand mainly from France they
have created stainless steel bumpers for
the Caravelle. Now this car is not the
biggest in numbers in the UK, not helped
by the fact DVLA included an additional
20 Renault Trafics in the numbers in 2008
which rather skewed the numbers.
23 Renault Trafic VF1s
added in error confirmed
DVLA May 2012
The bumpers themselves are made in
Vietnam so when you order them there
will be an additional customs clearance
charge but if your bumpers are poor and
you are looking at a new set, they may
well be cost effective as solutions.
on glass. We have another company that
can supply fuel tanks. In all cases we rely
on the member to tell us of these services
and also the quality of service they
receive as only through this can we
decide to include them.
In the true nature of the club these items
are available to all to buy and if a group
get together (members or not) then there
is a discount on the price.
The cost of advertising is small. Currently
a 1 off edition advert of a quarter page is
only £50 colour or £25 black and white
with discounts if you do a year and/or
advertise on line too. The adverts remain
in the magazine even when it goes on
line.
4CV / 750 Bumpers may be next although
I fear only the most popular blend may be
done as relatively
cheap ones are
already available.
Their contact details
rather unusually are
here as the directory
is not set up. On a
side line, I will try to
include the directory
as a loose sheet that
will be included
annually with the
magazine, we don’t
wish to print this in
the magazine as it
again will go on line
in a year or so and
wherever possible
we
want
to
encourage
supporters.
In addition to this, we
have a company in
the Sheffield area
who can rechrome
lights and another in
the Birmingham area.
In addition they can
make small repairs to
some types of issues
TALES FROM THE ROADSIDE
19
ROBERT PREECE
MY RENAULT
W
elcome back readers and I
do hope that your summer is
going well and that you, like
me, are managing to
chamois the bodywork before the next
gentle monsoon comes hammering down.
Doesn’t somebody up there realise how
thin Renault panels are.
Up in this part of the world things have
been a little busier of late, although it does
seem very wrong to be rescuing cars and
occupants from floodwater at this time of
year. I refer to the combined high tide and
flash floods which affected Aberystwyth
and several other villages up stream.
Thankfully casualties were few and far
between although you had to feel for the
tourists who could only watch as caravans,
tents and such like were inundated and
washed away. On a smaller scale these
downpours and subsequent flash floods
have been a regular feature around here
these past weeks and have accounted for
many an engine: please remember that
they will not run on water!!
60/65 years of age, maybe a little more
came over and explained how she had
taken to the hedgerow to avoid an
oncoming tractor/silage trailer combo. The
bumper came off when she reversed off the
hedge bank. After a little fettling, cursing
and gentle persuasion the bumper was
back in position and the car declared fit for
purpose
and
certainly up to the
drive
back
to
Edinburgh. The lady
had noted my ill
concealed surprise
at the apparent
mismatch twixt driver
and
car
and
reassured me that
she was not the drug
dealer she knew she
looked like and went
on to explain how
she had ended up in
such a machine.
She had owned Subarus for many years,
albeit it they were always arranged by her
late husband, along with everything else on
the hill farm they had run together. Any how
the lady had received a letter from the
finance company involved with her
previous Impreza GX, which as some of
you may know is the non-turbo version of
the otherwise rallyesque monster. This
letter explained that the final large payment
was coming due and that she must arrange
to settle this as per her original contract.
that, on the advice of the nice salesman,
the balloon was refinanced into a new
Subaru and that the STI WRX was
definitely the new equivalent of her old GX.
Hence she is now dodging tractors in this
motor looking like something from Fast
and Furious.
I suppose it is testament to the “skills” of
these sales staff that they suggested at her
age she might not have to worry about the
next balloon.
I would close this report by saying thanks
to all concerned for both the Gaydon
Show/Renault Owners’ Club AGM and the
French Car Show 2012 at Donington Park.
My 13 year old is now convinced that the
Twizy is the coolest thing on wheels and I
am almost inclined to agree.
I can also report that I only saw the AA
attending one breakdown at FCS 2012 and
as a Megane owner I am pleased to report
that it was a Peugeot 106 Rally. It has been
decided that we shall be on track next year;
it has been a long time since my time
racing in Classic Saloons with firstly a
Hunter GLS ala Bernard Unett, and then
being slightly more competitive with a
Dolomite Sprint. Talking about being on
track, can I ask that somebody takes
advice from the drift taxis about running
passenger rides? After nearly three hours
we decided that life was too short to queue
any longer for a ride in the Megane 250.Oh
well I shall have to keep badgering the
dealer for a proper test drive, as that car is
so close to being my final mid-life crisis.!!!!
However the waters dropped almost as
quickly as they had risen and things settled
down again to the usual routines and work
patterns. That is they did until the strange
case of The Lady, the Balloon and the Red
Subaru. I had been called to attend a new
Subaru Impreza in Bishops Castle, that
needed its front bumper refitting and a
check made to confirm it was safe to drive
to Scotland. The car was duly found at a
town centre hotel looking redder than a
very red thing and sitting as it was you
soon realise that without the plastics there
is not a lot going on body wise.
The lady, for the reasons noted above,
knew and understood little of this and so
contacted the ever helpful sales staff at the
See you soon readers and sorry I could not
local dealership. The very nice fellow there
make Bewl but folks will insist on breaking
explained that the lease agreement set up
down at the wrong times!
by
her
late
Photo: Mark Dow.
husband meant
Performance
French Car
that there was just
the final “balloon”
payment to make
and the car was
hers to keep. As
she said to me
she could not
afford
this
amount, and what
did she want a
balloon for at her
age anyway!!
The elderly lady driver, who was around
And so it was
20
HERITAGE
L
ouis Renault’s first production
models were introduced with a
single-cylinder 1¾hp De Dion
engine. Within six months Renault
Frères delivered 60 voiturettes and
introduced the world’s first saloon car - a
sort of very high sedan-chair on the
voiturette chassis. This permitted the chic
Parisians, in their top hats, to drive their
frail wives around protected from the
elements. Then Louis and Marcel decided
to prove the worth of their well-designed
Voiturette by entering the numerous ‘Cityto-City’ races of those days.
Very soon to the astonishment of
everyone the little Renault Voiturette was
not only winning its class in every event
but was also beating many of its larger
rivals in other classes. This was due to
the insistence by Louis of lightness and
good power-to-weight ratio. Throughout
1900 the new car manufacturers Renault
Frères consolidated themselves and
established their place in both the
manufacturing and competition field.
In the 343-mile Paris-Bordeaux race which
was won by an 80 hp Mors at an average
speed of 50 mph, the Renault Frères
Voiturette driven by Louis took first place in
its class, followed by his brother Marcel
second place and Renault employees Oury
and Szisz came third and fourth.
In the Paris-Toulouse and return road race,
covering 705 miles in three sections,
Marcel won the Voiturette category and the
only other Voiturettes to complete the
course were Renaults. On this occasion
IN PRAISE OF LOUIS RENAULT
WITH GREATEST THANKS TO THE RENAULT-FRERES
Louis had an accident in which his car was
badly damaged but even so he got his car
back on the road and drove back to Paris.
The good Renault result in this race
encouraged orders for a further 350 cars.
By the end of 1900 Renault Frères were
employing 110 workers in 50,000 sq ft of
factory space and had produced 179 cars.
In June 1901 Renaults entered the first
‘Capital-to-Capital’ race, the 745-mile ParisBerlin. The prestige of the success in
these events was paramount at the time to
secure orders in competition with the other
fledgling manufacturers and could and did
give rise to rich commercial rewards. Once
again Renault Voiturettes distinguished
themselves with Louis being the winner of
his class.
During the period up until 1902 Renault
cars were fitted with single-cylinder De
Dion engines but the size was increased to
9 hp. However, for the 1902, 1050-mile
Paris-Vienna race Louis decided that he
needed a 4-cylinder unit and he asked the
Comte De Dion to supply this. The Comte
however was not interested and so Louis
called upon Viet, in his design office, to
produce “immediately” a design for a 4cylinder engine which had to be both light
and robust. The new 14 CV engines were
ready by June 1902 for the Paris-Vienna
but were untried. Nevertheless, Louis and
Marcel entered their cars in the light car
class with great expectations.
Although the new engine developed 35 hp
it was up against competitors of 50, 60 and
70 hp in the overall class. For the first time
Renault used the ‘Coal Scuttle’ bonnet
which was to remain a feature of Renaults
for 20 years. Louis, as usual, was relying
on lightness to bring him success because
he felt sure that the large heavy cars were
going to shake themselves to pieces,
especially over the Arlberg Pass.
He was proved right when his brother
Marcel, who had driven on maximum
ignition advance flat out at 75 mph, arrived
so early in Vienna that the ‘Finish’ line was
not yet open and in doing so beat, by
seven hours, the Arlberg express,
considered the fastest train in Europe.
Louis, with Szisz as co-driver ran into
trouble with his car at Innsbruck where,
after easily coping with the unmade roads
of the Arlberg Pass and the height of 6,000
feet, he was in collision with another
competitor. He lost several hours repairing
his damaged differential using insulating
tape and even string to plug the leaks in
the cracked casing and even resorted to
putting sawdust in the oil. By then several
hours behind the leaders Louis refused to
drop out and sped along the road to
Salzburg. Sadly, in the dusk, he saw a
closed level-crossing too late, hit the first
gate, taking it with him, and smashed into
the second one.
Fortunately, neither Louis nor Szisz were
hurt but the coal-scuttle bonnet was badly
dented and the radiator leaked, one wheel
was broken and the front axle was twisted.
By some stroke of luck the engine was still
OK. The two men working in the dark
removed the damaged parts and carried
them to the nearest village. Whilst Szisz,
who had got the local blacksmith out of
bed, straightened the axle, Louis repaired
the wheel using three cross-bars of a chair
to replace broken spokes. Unable to spare
more time to repair the cracked radiator
they indomitably set off again with poor old
Szisz laying along the bonnet continuously
topping up the boiling radiator. This
courageous endeavour on the part of Louis
and Szisz enabled them to claw back up
the general classification from 61st position
at Salzburg to 20th by the time they
crossed the line in Vienna. Marcel, the
brilliant overall race winner and Louis’
performance as an indomitable loser, yet
again, did wonders for the marque. This
race demonstrated to an awe-struck, carhungry world that Louis Renault’s guiding
principle of car designs of a robust,
lightweight structure had proven superior to
that of sheer brute engine size. Needless
to say, this brilliant victory for the 14 CV
Renault gave rise to greatly increased
orders for Renault cars.
THE ENIGMATIC GENIUS
21
WITH GREATEST THANKS TO THE RENAULT-FRERES
HERITAGE
Fortunately, neither Louis nor Szisz were
hurt but the coal-scuttle bonnet was badly
dented and the radiator leaked, one wheel
was broken and the front axle was twisted.
By some stroke of luck the engine was still
OK. The two men working in the dark
removed the damaged parts and carried
them to the nearest village. Whilst Szisz,
who had got the local blacksmith out of
bed, straightened the axle, Louis repaired
the wheel using three cross-bars of a chair
to replace broken spokes. Unable to spare
more time to repair the cracked radiator
they indomitably set off again with poor old
Szisz laying along the bonnet continuously
topping up the boiling radiator. This
courageous endeavour on the part of Louis
and Szisz enabled them to claw back up
the general classification from 61st position
at Salzburg to 20th by the time they
crossed the line in Vienna. Marcel, the
brilliant overall race winner and Louis’
performance as an indomitable loser, yet
again, did wonders for the marque. This
race demonstrated to an awe-struck, carhungry world that Louis Renault’s guiding
principle of car designs of a robust,
lightweight structure had proven superior to
that of sheer brute engine size. Needless
to say, this brilliant victory for the 14 CV
Renault gave rise to greatly increased
orders for Renault cars.
and with the public at large.
In May 1903 a Paris-Madrid race was
organised to be run over three sections.
First Paris-Bordeaux by the direct route
then Bordeaux-Vitoria via Bayonne and
finally Vitoria-Madrid via Burgos. All
necessary steps were taken by the
organisers to make the race safe. Those
parts of the routes through towns were
neutralized by giving every car the same
time to pass through. In common with all
race drivers, Louis and Marcel’s strategy
was to endeavour to take the lead early so
as to avoid driving in someone else’s dust
cloud. Louis drove his car to its limit
throughout, attaining 2500 rpm, which was
remarkable for the era and represented 81
mph road speed. One by one he overtook
all his larger, but heavier engined,
competitors by Chartres and thereafter
remained near the lead to Bordeaux.
Sadly, the first stage of this race took a
heavy toll in the lives of ten
competitors/spectators including Louis’ own
brother Marcel. Marcel had just overtaken
Henri Farman near Poitiers and was
engaged in chasing Théry’s tail when
suddenly approaching Coutré-Vérac the
two drivers came upon a tight left-hand
bend. Whilst Théry saw it and slowed in
time to get round, Marcel, whose vision
was obscured by Théry’s dust cloud,
realized the danger too late. He took the
bend far too fast, came off the road,
pirouetted and crashed into the bank.
Marcel died the following morning at
Coutré-Vérac without ever regaining
consciousness.
Following all the publicity of the 1902
‘Capital-to-Capital’ road races passionate
interest was aroused in government circles
By the time Louis arrived at Bordeaux he
already knew about the accident, but not of
its serious consequences, having been
forewarned at a preceding check-point.
But when he was presented with the awful
facts by his brother Fernand after he
crossed the Winner’s line in second place
at Bordeaux, he fainted and on recovering
announced the withdrawal of all Renault’s
cars from any further stages of the race.
The French Government was panicstricken by the death toll of this first stage
and not only stopped the race but forbade
all the cars involved to drive back to Paris
by road. Indeed, they were not even
allowed to cross the town of Bordeaux
under their own power. This tragic race put
an end to Capital-to-Capital road races.
Louis and Fernand were over-wrought by
their brother Marcel’s death and at one
point seriously considered giving up
manufacturing. Marcel had contributed
greatly to the success of the Renault
Frères enterprise being both the
commercial and administrative brain of the
company. After much reflection, Fernand
took up the torch and sold his button
factory so that he could concentrate all his
energies on Renault Frères activities.
All the workers at Billancourt mourned
Marcel’s tragic death and after attending
his funeral at Passy they made a collection
amongst themselves and erected a statue
to his memory at the factory, however, this
was later to be destroyed by Allied bombs
during World War II
In the midst of his grief Louis was to reveal
his innate wiliness when he was informed
that Marcel had left his share of the
company to his mistress, Suzanne
Davenay. He was mortified and rushed off
to explain to her that the firm was really
worth very little. For Marcel’s sake, Louis
told her, he was prepared to take the
shares from her and in return to provide her
with a handsome annual annuity, a flat in
Paris and a new car to be maintained free
by the works. The poor, innocent girl fell
for it and Louis, at last, became a part
owner of the Renault Company. It must be
said, however, that both Louis and his heirs
honoured this annuity until Suzanne Dave
nay’s death in 1953.
22
RENAULT ASSISTED GEAR CHANGERS
CLASSIC
RENAULT & JAEGER ARCHIVES AND ALASDAIR WORSLEY
I
am taking the opportunity to move
directly on to the Jaeger Powder
Ferritic Clutches with this translated
article from Pierre in France. In truth
we are running “alongside” the other
technology of the period, the Transfluide.
This is a “dangerous” article in many ways
as it’s a topic with little real basis of
evidence and items to refer back to.
Indeed the standard UK approach is to rip
the whole thing out and put in a Manual.
There are therefore few cars to refer back
to. Instead I approached a contact in the
Peugeot Club (whose 403 used a similar
device) and he put me in touch with one
of the service mechanics at Jaeger (now
long retired) who penned this article for us
which he had prepared back in 1964 for a
French publication. A similar article on
Peugeots in French with more photos is
on:
http://philippe.boursin.perso.sfr.fr/bon
us/jaeger/jaeger.htm
I will, though, put a preface to explain the
basics. The Powder Ferritic Clutches were
sort-of the next step for the automatic
chain. In this case the clutch plate was
replaced with a device of similar
proportions to a modern torque converter.
Inside was a powder that was magnetised
or energised and became a “solid”. At rest
it slipped and then as it was energised it
locked itself up. The gearbox was still
manual but the selector was replaced by
a number of electronic solenoids. To
change gear you lifted of the accelerator,
pressed a button on the dash (similar to
the old push button radio) and then off
you went in the new gear.
It was a lot less efficient then a full
manual or Ferlec in use because the drive
no longer remained mechanically direct. It
suffered as well from being non userfriendly. The information to take the clutch
plate apart and service it was limited so
that when it failed, few were overhauled
or sent back. Few remain now and their
numbers have just gone down with
another push button Caravelle going
manual.
Operation:
Starting the engine is just like a
conventional car, but for security reasons,
you can not operate the starter until after
pressing button "N". Start the engine and
1
2
3
4
5
6
with it idling, press the "A" button and
release the handbrake.
Accelerate normally passing through all
the gear changes at the right time, without
having to deal with anything. If it slows
enough and than re-accelerates, the box
will change from 3rd to 2nd and from 2nd
to 1st.
If you stop, the car will idle in first gear
ready for you to move off again.
On arrival after a long journey during
which we will pass up and down the
coast, through towns and villages - fully
accelerate on highway, stop at red lights,
follow a truck travelling along a narrow
street, we will never stall "the engine and
we will have done nothing except simply
to push the" A "button before departure.
Travelling Backwards.
To select reverse gear as with any car,
the car must be stopped. Press the "N"
button which means "neutral". Then press
the "R" means "Reverse" in English and
accelerate. (Editor Even the French cars
were labelled “R” even though in French it
is “Marche Arriere” (MA).
Gear Changes.
In normal mode the gear changes occur
from 1st to 2nd at 20 km/h and from 2nd
to 3rd at 40km/h.
-
Switch Gear
Cervo
Relay Box
Decelerator
Gearbox Selector Solenoids
Coupler
In “Nervous” mode (harsh acceleration)
the changes from 1st to 2nd occur at
33km/h and into 3rd at 70 km/h.
When slowing down, the car drops from
3rd to 2nd at 30 km/h and into first at
15km/h
In addition there are manual buttons
showing 1 and 2 which hold the car in the
selected gear. 2 is used on long descents
when you wish to use the engine for
maximum braking. Although even in “2”
first is selected when needed.
Components.
In an article of this size there is not the
necessary space to go into the intricate
details of how to repair all the individual
items. The details of this covers 90 pages
of a repair manual which has a fault
finding and basic repair section of about
10 pages. So I will just look at the basic
principles.
Clutch
The powder ferritic device is found in the
place the clutch plate and pressure plate
is normally found. In basic terms to have
an outer section attached to the flywheel
and an inner section attached to the
gearbox input shaft. In between is a
powder. Whilst there is no current the
powder is free to just slip over itself.
When the current is supplied the powder
23
RENAULT & JAEGER ARCHIVES AND ALASDAIR WORSLEY
CLASSIC
solidifies, in truth it is pulled toward a
magnetic coil in a way that stops it rolling
over itself. In this way the outside is
connected to the inside. The more current
the less slip.
It was this piece that gave the most
issues. When it was new it was sent in a
box with the powder in a paper packet, so
long as it stayed like this it could be
transported in any orientation. Very
necessary when the clutch might travel on
planes or boats.
Once it arrived, the clutch was fitted to the
car and the gearbox input shaft slowly
turned as the powder was poured in. After
this point it had to remain up right or the
powder fell into the internal mechanism
and the clutch failed. They then had to be
returned to be opened up, hoovered out
and resealed. Something the end users
and garages never seemed to want to do.
Controls
The main set of tools the driver uses are
the push button gear selectors in the
cockpit but there is a number of other
devices.
and you rev up the car will move off if it is
in gear but not if it isn’t.
Selector Motor
The selector motor pushes the selected
Decelerator
The second device is the decelerator in
the carb. This is a flap that senses a feed:
if the feed is present a second flap inside
the carb closes off, even if the carb is
open. This is to allow engine control when
certain controls are selected.
Selector Solenoids
The selector solenoids replace the
manual arm that normally selects each
shaft in the gearbox. The gears
themselves are the same in the automatic
to the manual unit. This puts the arm in
the right place before the selector motor
pushed the arm into the correct position.
If the gear change is up, it also interacts
with the control box to close the
deceleration valve in the carb to slow the
engine down as the gear change
happens.
shaft and fork into position once all the
necessary items are in place. It is a
relatively simple push pull solenoid
system mounted at right angles and also
uses a system of cams and sprung loaded
forks to select the gears.
Control Box
The control box itself is mounted on the
firewall (Editor: rear bulkhead) behind the
passenger seat. This contains all the
electronic mechanisms that control and
CERVO (French)
The first is the CERVO, this takes a feed
from the gearbox for speed as well as a
position for the accelerator mechanism.
This consists of 2 contacts that make or
break with the position and speed of the
car. When it is under 10km/h it holds one
set and over 18 another, in between it is
in open state. It is these inputs that
dictate to the control box if the clutch
needs to slip, partially slip or hold hard as
the car moves off. If the car is not moving
Section through the Jaeger Clutch
N. Magnetic ring secured to the outer plates of the clutch
O. Flywheel
P. Electric coil
R. Integral inner pole piece made up of electromagnetic coil
S Gearbox Input Shaft
U Gap filled with 32 g of ferromagnetic powder, very fine steel, (grain size of several
microns)
X Three tracks on which contacts rub in 3 pairs - held in a separate brush gear
Y Brush Gear
24
CLASSIC
RENAULT ARCHIVES AND ALASDAIR WORSLEY
Renault 8 etc). It
then has a copy of
the cockpit gear
selection
push
buttons a number of
lights that show
when
each
component
is
properly engaged or
disengaged. Fuses
protect the box
against problems.
take signals from the units mentioned
before as well as adjusting the settings as
needed. This is not like the modern ECU
type systems that use computer
electronics to make the changes but runs
more on a switch and relay logic system.
It is a pretty reliable box relative to some
of the other components and usually the
only issues are dry joints or failed basic
components. Unusually it is one of the
items that has no garage repair methods,
which is unusual. A new unit was sent in
exchange to replace the old one which
was then refurbished if necessary.
Most components
are tested on a
fault-foundcomponent-replaced
basis but with sufficient mechanical skills
most items can be stripped apart and it is
generally dirt or a bad joint that will lead
to their failure.
Peugeot Jaeger Unit
is often confused with the Ferlec. This
seems to have occurred as the Dauphine
had BOTH types fitted and over a period
of time their use has been blurred. This
system is different as it changes the gear
as well. The Ferlec unit keeps the gear
lever and the driver has to change the
gears and adjust the speed himself.
These days few parts
remain to overhaul the
vehicles and the overall
inefficiency of the unit
means it is not a desireable
fixture at all so generally
when the parts come up
they are relatively cheap to
get and if you have one,
slowly building up a spares
supply may be a good idea.
Repair and Diagnostics
One final point is the Jaeger
To make it easier to repair the unit, a test
box has been created that allows the
mechanic to test out the systems from a
single centralised source.
Jaeger Test Box and Diagram of Operation
(Editor: The club itself does not have one
of these boxes but alongside my interest
in obsolete automatic systems I also
collect some of the old Renault
Diagnostics tools. The Jaeger box I
picked up alongside a Renault 16 Auto
Box tester to go with the 16 box I already
had, a SAGEM Workshop diagnostics tool
and an XR25. I suspect in most of these
cases there are few cars remaining that
will need ot use them, I hoped there
would be one this year but the car turned
out to be missing its clutch plate and was
therefore converted to full mechanical.)
The unit itself has 2 big leads that plug
into the major components and a switch
which is used to select which car it is
being used with (Dauphine, Caravelle,
2012 NEC CLASSIC
25
RENAULT OWNERS CLUB
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26
SOUTHERN FRANCE & SPAIN IN A £250 RENAULT
TRAVEL
RICHARD HORVATH - PART 2
C
ontinuing from the March 2012
edition of Renotes we were left
with yours truly having a deep
meditation session followed by a
good night’s sleep to prepare for the long
journey from Lamalou-les-Bains to
Mazarron, over 600 miles south west away.
At 6:30 on the morning of Monday May 9th
2011 I was awake and ready to face the
day.
An hour later I was washed, shaved,
watered and fed. My tent, folding table
and chair were loaded in the back of
Amandine and with 86,512 showing on
the odometer we headed towards Beziers
via the D908 and the scenic D14 route
that passes through Gorges de L'Orb area
where numerous vineyards offered their
fine full flavoured Saint Chinian for sale
by the litre if you brought along your own
container. Within an hour we were
heading along the A9 -E15 towards
Perpignan.
This was going to be my own personal
'Grand Prix' inspired by Ferenc Szisz, that
famous Hungarian Racing Car driver who
started as a 'Spanner Jockey' for the
Renault brothers in the spring of 1900. On
June 26th 1906 Szisz won the first ever
Grand Prix race held at Le Mans in a
Renault AK 90CV, equipped with Michelin
jante amovible, at an average speed of
62.9Mph/101.2Kph. Almost one hundred
and five years later one Richard FERENC
Edgar Horvath was on the roads of
France in a 60HP Renault 5 Campus
Prima shod with Ebay sourced Michelins.
However this was not a personal 'Grand
Prix' of speed or strength but of stamina
and endurance to the end, or rather
Mazarron. My passengers were a six pack
of half litre bottled water which shared the
passenger seat with an old school road
map to guide me. A faded picture of
Ferenc Szisz placed upon Amandine's
dashboard kept me encouraged. No SatNav or Air conditioning for me but a faith
that I would succeed in reaching my
destination and the passenger door
window opened just a few inches to offer
circulation of air along my way.
Roughly two hours later we were crossing
into Spain where the A9 – E15 ´Le
Catalane´ becomes the AP-7 – E15
Áutopista Del Mediterraneo´.
Amandine kept on trundling along at a
steady 65Mph. Her push-rod engine
keeping a steady rhythm to the
accompaniment of her numerous squeaks
and rattles, with the occasional groan also
thrown in whenever she traversed a
sudden dip on the road surface.
Amandine was quite a musician in her
own way as she ate up the miles, (or
should that be kilometres) as we passed
Girona, Barcelona and Tarragona.
I lost count of the number of Russian
holiday coaches we saw along the way.
Moscow to Benidorm by bus IS a long
journey! However a welcome sight to me
were the many Hungarian Truckers that
were to be seen along the way. They
often assisted Amandine and I when
matters of a ´Road Bullying´ nature
occurred. Said Road Bullying would be
provoked by some Ćhinless wonder´ and
his female, usually blonde, passenger in a
four door Germanic Prestigious Car. The
scenario would be that of passing what
seemed like an endless queue of slow
moving trucks. Amandine would trundle by
and most often than not be hounded by
whoever followed until it was safe to move
over and let them pass.
However Mr and Mrs Ćhinless´ were of
the opinion that I simply should not be
occupying the road ahead of their
expensive prestigious symbol of social
climbing. Their short temperaments
causing them to sound the horn and flash
those laser intensive, retina burning
headlights as if to shout ´Get that pile of
rubbish out of our way, NOW!´.
With our dignity and grace upheld I would
dip Amandine’s rear view mirror to save
my eyes and then look out for a
Hungarian registered truck to gently move
in front of. I will explain that when touring
Europe besides a GB symbol I also have
an H symbol along with a symbol of the
outline of 1914 pre Trianon Hungary. With
indicator set I can often be let into safety
by a Hungarian Trucker. A friendly wave
and a ´Koszonom´ (Thank you) setting us
back along our way at our own steady,
65Mph, pace.
After 350.7 miles of non-stop driving I was
beginning to feel the need to ´Pause for
the cause´ so to speak so I stopped at the
Baix Ebre services close to Amposta.
After Pausing I had a large glass of
chilled sparkling water and a couple of
bananas for lunch. I then fed Amandine
26 and a half litres of 'Gasolina sin plomo'
and after 20 minutes we were back on the
Autopista del Mediterraneo to continue
our 'Grand Prix' journey to Mazarron. The
27
TRAVEL
miles were steadily being eaten up by
Amandine as we eventually left the A7 /
E15 south of Valencia and started to head
along the N340 towards Canals following
the A35 then N344 towards the wine
producing towns of Yecla and Jumilla.
I have to admit that my map reading went
'off beam' a little in Jumilla but I did
manage to re-route myself to my
destination route of the A30 towards
Murcia. The human brain is a wonderful
device that surpasses any Sat-nav
equipment. All it takes is a little faith and
confidence in your own human spirit and
you will never become lost. I know as I
have driven around most of Europe sans
Sat-nav and not once thought 'Where am
I?'. Finally after 11 hours, 32 minutes and
623 miles I arrived at my father's
Mazarron home in dire need of a cold
beer and a good meal.
The next few days I spent with my father
and his good lady wife Phyllis just
relaxing and chatting about days past,
present and future. I am not accustomed
to living with a television so I usually
resort to reading or listening to the radio.
However my father did mention that his
cable TV server had some channels that
were dedicated to classic cars. Curiosity
got the better of me one evening as I
came across the Renault TV channel
which featured a fine documentary of The
Story
of
the
Renault
Floride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZX
yZAfXMWA
Monday May 16th was the last full day I
would spend with father before I began
my return journey north towards
Santander for the ferry back to Blighty.
Since my arrival in Mazarron I had only
used Amandine for short shopping trips
until now and I felt a good afternoon drive
was in order to set me up for my
homeward trip. So after lunch I took the
indirect route along the N332, a quiet
twisty back-road from Puerto de Mazarron
to Cartagena. On this road I saw
approaching towards us a 'Time-warp'
condition of a early R6 resplendent in its
shiny white coachwork. Its senior citizen
driver looking content with life and no
wonder in such a pristine simply
engineered Renault.
No electronic gizmos or passive safety
equipment to go wrong in a R6. I
imagined that the lady who drove this
wonderful Renault had owned it since
new and by the simple courtesy of
offering it care and love the R6 had given
loyal service in return. The N332 is indeed
a joy to drive upon with lots of curves,
hills and open countryside to enjoy. The
thought of driving a rear engined Renault
on this road would, to me at least, be
Paradise. My arrival in Cartagena was
somewhat disturbed by the huge amount
of roadworks going on at the outskirts of
the town. The suggested 'La Desviacion'
signs led towards the Spanish Naval base
Arsenal de Cartagena, then just stopped.
I drove around some strange parts of
town that afternoon then finally decided to
head back to Mazarron. The following
afternoon I departed for the long journey
home. I said my goodbyes to father and
his wife. Being a Spiritualist I was
somehow guided into giving Phyllis an
extra big hug that day along with a gentle
kiss on the cheek and thanking her for
the happiness and joy she had given my
father in the years they had been
together. It would be the last day I saw
her alive on this Earth as sadly on July
1st 2011 she passed away at home
eating her favourite meal of Bangers &
Mash with the one she loved.
Amandine would need feeding too so with
87223 miles on the odometer and taking
33.43 litre of fuel we left Mazarron and
headed north towards the A30 to Albacete
then onto the A31 and then the A3 to our
overnight stop in at the hotel Formule1 in
Mostoles on the outskirts of Madrid,
refuelling with 17litres of fuel at Zafra de
Zancara after covering 209.6 miles before
reaching Mostoles at 9:30 pm and with
87531 miles showing on Amandine's
odometer.
I was curious as to why in 1959 Renault
used the photographer Frank Horvat to
help produce a catalogue for the
enigmatic Floride. My Hungarian father
explained that at that time he also had
Anglicised his name to 'Frank Horvath'
and was trying to earn a living as an
Engineer for the National Coal Board
rather than being a professional
photographer for Renault.
28
TRAVEL
untouched by ex-pat Brits with their
English cafés serving 'Full English
Breakfast', John Smiths Smooth and
Tabloid Newspapers. Feeling refreshed I
set off to cover the last few kilometres to
Santander and the overnight ferry to
Plymouth.
The following morning we left Mostoles
and drove through Madrid towards the A1
/ E05 Autovia del Norte to Burgos. Driving
through Madrid was an interesting
experience as what appeared to be a
three lane motorway was restricted to 50
Kph and had pedestrian crossings too!
However the E90 / A5 did eventually lead
me onto the E05 so I was not too
concerned. I have to state that the
advantage of having a 'Sixth Sense' as to
what Spanish drivers will do on busy
Madrid round-a-bouts is a useful gift to
possess. The journey north was made
interesting in that we followed a Spanish
built R8 for most of the way to Burgos.
Again this classic Renault was in fine
fettle and was still in regular use. Its two
passengers with a few lengths of timber
sticking out of the passenger window,
were testament to the enduring quality of
these underrated dependable Renaults.
At Sarracin, just south of Burgos, we
refuelled after covering 259.6 miles with
16.23 litres of unleaded.
'Little Switzerland' part of Spain with its
challenging twisting roads, rolling hills of
pine trees and quaint peaceful villages.
The best part of taking this road is that it
is hardly used by anyone at all. So much
so that I stopped Amandine and took a
photo laying prone upon the central white
line of the road after I had driven for over
40 minutes before I seeing another car. I
doubt I saw more then two dozen vehicles
on the whole length of the N623! I
stopped in the village of Vargas to Pause
for the cause and stretch my legs a while.
The locals were friendly towards me,
(even the local livestock!), as I could
detect a more relaxed energy about the
place. This Spanish village was
Apart from a 1974 MG Midget, Amandine
was the oldest car lined up to board the
Brittany Ferries 'Pont Aven'. I could detect
a hint of disdain from some 'Professional
types' that Amandine should not there but
my money is as good as anybody's and
Amandine was a car with soul rather than
a 21st century automotive sensory
deprivation device. The overnight ferry
crossing was quite a relaxing affair. I
thought the P&O ferry's from Hull to
Zeebrugge or Hoek van Holland were
quite impressive compared to the Dover –
Calais ones but Santander – Plymouth is
a whole different experience. Arriving in
Plymouth we passed through customs
with hardly a murmur while some of the
'Professional types' were being closely
inspected by HM Customs Officers. It is
said that 'Revenge is a dinner best served
cold' and what can be a more colder
experience than to have HM Customs
crawl through your dirty tired luggage? I
was indeed back in England as it took
over an hour before I was finally heading
along the A38 towards Exeter where I
would be staying overnight with friends,
Heather and her French fiancé Raphael.
Raf' recalled tales of when he was a
young boy touring the Var area of France
From Burgos we followed the N623 to
Santander. The faster route would have
been to follow the N627 then the A67 to
the coast but I would have missed one of
the most pleasurable driving experiences
that I have ever had. The N623 passes
through some of the most beautiful
countryside in Spain and the further north
you travel the more appealing the scenery
becomes, especially after passing the
Embalse del Ebro Lake area. It is then
that you enter what my father calls the
29
TRAVEL
with his grandfather in a grey Renault
4CV. We both agreed that such a car
would be ideal for touring areas of natural
beauty as being a meek & mild machine
you could travel at a genteel pace and
savour the joys of the surrounding
countryside.
The following morning after filling up with
13.1 litres of Tesco's finest I was heading
along the M5 towards Birmingham then
the M42 towards the M1 and home ito
Yorkshire. By mid afternoon we had
arrived back home after covering 2407
fault free miles and consuming 191.16
litres of 95 Octane unleaded. Had
Amandine been ill I had the tools and
basic spares to repair her. Had she been
beyond salvation then I would have
simply given her a decent 'burial'and
purchased another R5. I had seen a few
for sale in local shop windows for around
€850 that would have served the purpose
of continuing my journey. However
Amandine was made of sterner stuff than
to let me down whilst touring France and
Spain.
As of today? Well Amandine has finally
gone to meet with Louis and the other
Renault Frere in that great playground in
the sky.
However that will be another story for
another edition of Renotes so in the
meantime keep on enjoying rambling the
roads with your trusty Renault.
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30
MOTORSPORT
2
012 marked the 19th event of this
popular Festival staged in the
grounds around Goodwood House
near Chichester, West Sussex.
From the first event in 1993 which attracted
25,000 visitors, numbers have grown over
the years to numbers now being capped at
150,000 by ticket invitation only.
GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED 2012
STEPHEN DINE - MOTORSPORT SECRETARY
Further on from the Twizy stand was Dacia
(branded group Renault) showing a
selection of the ‘shockingly affordable’
Duster SUV’s priced from £8,995. A Dacia
salesman we spoke to was extremely
pleased with the positive response from
potential customers, some advance orders
being taken even though only left hand
Renault Type K racer fitted with Renaults
first 4 cylinder engine which had won the
1902 Paris – Vienna race, and a current
Red Bull Renault F1 car. As our eyes
scanned around this cosy environment, the
sides of the room showed off a new Zoe ZE
and an interesting 1974 Renault 5 electric.
This vehicle was part of a joint venture
started in 1972 with EDF and the R5 shown
was one of a second batch built. Owned
by Renault Classic it was of course in
immaculate condition and in full working
order. Obvious differences to note being
the absence of a gear stick, some
alternative dials on the dash and the
removal of the rear seats to accommodate
a large covered area on the roof which
housed the batteries underneath.
A 1935 Viva Grand Sport ACX2 showed off
Renault’s opulence of the 1930’s to its best,
whilst directly facing it was a 2012 Megane
Floride convertible showing that two cars
over 75 years of age apart can look
beautiful together.
Renault have returned to the event after a
six year gap with this year ’s theme
celebrating ‘110 years of Va Va Voom’ of
the company building its own engines.
Before 1902 Louis Renault had used De
Dion engines for his cars.
2012 is also a celebration of 50 years of
the Alpine A110 and 40 years of the
Renault 5, with examples of both present at
the event. I and Alasdair Worsley were
fortunate to be able to attend this event on
behalf of the Renault Owners’ Club and
were not disappointed. Although the
weather was variable to say the least early
in the day, by mid-morning rain had given
way to lighter cloud and patches of
sunshine, giving us chance to explore the
diverse range of historical and up-to-date
motoring at its best.
As we walked through the first large
marquee displaying various manufacturers
latest offerings, I noted an empty stand with
Fiat 500s in abundance for the public to
feast their eyes on, although as we walked
on, looking to the right there was another
stand buzzing with people. As we drew
nearer it turned out to be the display for the
new Renault Twizy and at 07.00 am the
public just couldn’t get enough of them!
drive cars were on display. Dacia have a
potential winner on their hands here.
Moving on we soon found Renault’s main
building with a display inside at ground
floor level and corporate hospitality
upstairs. Renault certainly gave this
temporary building the Va Va Voom as
there were no windows on the lower level,
so once you walked inside one was
greeted with an evocative scene of a
darkened hall showing a mouth-watering
selection Renaults spanning its 110 years
of engine manufacture, all under soft
spotlights. The walls were in black with
huge neon letters that changed colour
stating ‘Renault engines – 110 years of Va
Va Voom’.
The centre of the display featured a 1902
A 1968 Alpine A110, 2012 Megane Renault
Sport & Clio Sport completed the offering.
There were also engines on display
including a 4 cyl 1565cc 125 bhp unit, as
used in the R12 Gordini, a TCE 115 and an
impressive 4 cyl 5025cc Two-block engine
dating from the 1911-12 period.
Back outside, Alasdair and I decided to
walk as much of the various public areas
as possible to look for anything interesting
or unusual. Aside of Goodwood’s own
huge sculpture in front of its fine stately
home which this year was adorned with
various racing cars hung from it at quite
high and unusual angles, Lotus had its own
display showing off its current range of
road sportscars adorned in the corner of
the stand by two F1 Lotus-Renaults stood
horizontally wheel to wheel facing each
other whilst rotating on a stand!
GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED 2012
31
STEPHEN DINE - MOTORSPORT SECRETARY
MOTORSPORT
As we entered a tarmac area known as
Cathedral Paddock, various racing cars of
broad range of ages were available to view
including Renault’s running race selection.
Vehicles included a 2012 Megane V6
Trophy, 1973 Alpine-Renault A110, 1985
R5 Maxi Turbo, 1978 R5 Rally, and for the
F1 enthusiasts a 1983 RE 40 & 1977 RS
01. Both these cars were not present being
out on track as Alasdair and I avidly
photographed the others. There must have
been hundreds of enthusiasts in the
Paddock area but with patience and good
hearted give and take it was possible to
capture a photo of whatever your favourite
car was.
The biggest treat was yet to come as not
before too long the sounds of the Renault
RE 30 began to echo on re-entry into the
Paddock. Driven by none other than former
F1 world champion Alain Prost. As the
Renault Classic mechanics pushed the
RE30 back into its space, Alain was
mobbed by fans desperate to get an
autograph or photo of him. Many, though,
had failed to realise that at almost the
same time the Renault RS 01 had also
returned being driven by none other than
another ex-Renault F1 star Rene Arnoux!
There is one Renault not yet mentioned
that did also make it out onto the circuit to
much admiration, this being the 2012
prototype Alpine A110-50. I could see
Alasdair was clearly taken with this Renault
and it was not difficult to see why. Created
to celebrate the Alpines 50th birthday it did
not fail to turn heads. Alasdair was
fortunate to have been able to have been
granted a chance to sit in the cockpit by
Hughes Portron, director of Renault Classic
as this car was cordoned off from the public
and, as the photos prove, it was a careful
squeeze for him to get in and back out of
this wonderful machine under the watchful
eye of Hughes.
key ‘Renault’ faces. For those of you that
have watched Renault TV on Sky Channel
883, Stephen Norman and Laurens Van
Den Acker would be easily recognisable.
We also had the chance to talk with both
Jeremy Townsend, Director of UK
Communications and Thierry Sybord,
Renault UK Director whom we had
previously had the pleasure of meeting at
the Renault Owners’ Club anniversary meal
in London back in March this year.
Other interesting displays included a
selection of Royal vehicles including a
railway carriage, a horse drawn type and
various cars from a selection of decades.
Mainly the cars were black over burgundy
in colour, with one exception being a prewar Daimler which aside being particularly
tall had most of its side panels made of
wood including its bonnet.
Honda were present with a display of two
ride on mowers that the public could try
their hand at driving around straw bails
picking up balls. I was slightly curious of a
large banner at the back of the set up
stating ‘Without Racing there is no Honda’
Something slightly lost on a simple soul like
myself as F1 seem to be managing in their
absence from the sport. Perhaps Mower
racing in Japan is a bigger sport than I
realise, or they are
referring to their
success with
motorbikes.
Our day was complete when Thierry
introduced us to Carlos Tavares, Renault’s
chief operating officer, being in mind that
they had a gathering of the motoring press
who were waiting for them for an interview
of a special launch by Renault at
Goodwood. As Thierry explained; at
Renault we are a family orientated
company and we put people, our
customers first. He then went on to make
note with Carlos on how special it was for
the Renault Owners’ Club to be celebrating
the success of 60 years of serving Renault
owners and enthusiasts, whilst the
gentlemen of the press waited!
The special launch did happen later on……
…….the new Mk 4 Renault Clio has
arrived. Crafted by the same designers
that have produced the De Zir concept car,
this Renault is the first to be designed
entirely by the Laurens Van Den Acker
team and is sure to become a firm favourite
in its class.
Later in the day
we were able to
enjoy hospitality
at Renault’s VIP
lounge
and
complete it by
meeting some
32
RENAULT NEWS
MODERN
RENAULT OWNERS CLUB
R
enault’s engine plant in Brazil is
to increase capacity by 25%
between now and 2013. It is
extending surface area by 5,000
square meters to boost output to 400,000
to 500,000 units.
seeks to bring its customers a range of
affordable electric cars. Renault is the
European leader in electric vehicle sales. It
is the only carmaker to market a complete
range of four electric vehicles: Kangoo
Z.E., Fluence Z.E., Twizy and ZOE.
With the production of ZOE at Flins
(France) and Kangoo Z.E. at Maubeuge
(France), 80% of the electric vehicles sold
worldwide by Renault will be produced in
France in 2015. The third-generation
electric motor will be produced at Cléon
starting in 2013.
The plant, inaugurated in 1999 at the
Ayrton Senna production site in Curitiba,
has already manufactured nearly 2.5
million engines, of which 335,813 in 2011.
The site has also exported over 1.2 million
powerplants to South American markets.
Brazil, the Renault group’s number-two
market, is a key pillar in the Group’s
international expansion strategy. Thanks to
the success of Duster and Sandero,
Renault reported the biggest increase of
any car brand in Brazil in first-half 2012,
achieving record market share of 6.8%.
Renault is aiming for an 8% share of the
market by 2016.
Renault has three plants at Curitiba at the
Ayrton Senna Complex: a passenger-car
plant, a light-commercial-vehicle plant and
an engine plant. Annual PC and LCV
capacity is over 280,000 units. This total
will be increased by 100,000 vehicles a
year starting in early 2013
F
ollowing the announcement of the
“Automotive Plan” on July 25 by
the French Minister of Industrial
Renewal, Renault would like to
express its satisfaction on the measures
proposed for clean and competitive
vehicles.
Commenting, Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and
CEO of Renault, said: “Renault welcomes
the government’s determination to support
the French automotive industry. The Group
is especially pleased with the strong
gesture made in favour of clean vehicles,
and electric vehicles in particular.”
A pioneer in electric vehicles, Renault
The Renault-Nissan Alliance has invested
€4 billion in electric vehicles. It is the
leading global carmaker in this area and
the only one to have made investments of
this size in this field.
N
ew Renault Clio has been
crafted by the same designers
that penned the original DeZir
concept.
With both models sharing the same DNA,
DeZir ’s Va Va Voom influence runs
throughout New Clio, seen from the striking
front panel, all the way to the sculpted rear.
As the first Renault model to be designed
entirely by the Laurens Van Den Acker
team, New Clio captures the very essence
of the concept car, turning dreams into
reality.
New Clio's styling is both dynamic and
stunningly attractive, making you fall in love
with irresistible Renault design.
Renault Clio: Inspired By Desire.
D
acia News. It would be hard in
this edition not to give
substantial space to the UK
getting Dacia. Not least because
it sees Renault owned cars return to the
UK in the format we love so much.Much
was mentioned of the sub £10,000 Dacia
and that these would be simple basic
models where the owners choose to have
or not to have any additions. This is similar
to the 4cv (with no radio but a hole for one,
the Renault 4, the 5, and the early Clios). It
also allows us a small
space to remind people why
Renault pioneer in
the field of
mass selling
cars with
a blue
print
that is
bound
to
succeed. In the
Dacia it is simple,
components have been
chosen based on simple models
and reliability, don’t be surprised to see you
get 2 engines only, no auto box, parts that
look familiar and a 4WD from Nissan as an
extra. Not without reason you can upgrade
to 7 years warranty as all the components
have already proved they can withstand
this (and with Clio 1.5 Diesels regularly
coming up with 150,000 miles plus it was a
no brainer that this was the diesel they
would choose).
Then just as the competition fell down
from the shock, they fitted the size 9
boots and kicked them again while they
were still down. It wasn’t under
£10,000...it was under £9,000...Imagine
what the “under £7,000” Sandero may
come in at.
With the arrival of the Dacia Duster
getting ever-closer, it's time to start
thinking about accessories and
warranties. And even here, Dacia strives
to bring you products which suit your
needs at the lowest possible cost.
The Dacia Duster comes with a choice of
four accessory packs: Adventurer, Styling,
Protection or Touring. Simply look through
the list of features and pick the pack that
suits your needs. What could be easier?
And when it comes to warranties, you
don't want to be forced into buying more
than you need. Then again, you might
prefer the security that comes with an
extended warranty. Again, Dacia covers
all angles with three simple choices: a
standard 3 year/60,000 mile warranty or
one of two optional upgrades: 5
year/60,000 miles or 7 year/100,000
miles.
RENAULT NEWS
33
RENAULT OWNERS CLUB
MODERN
of farmers that reckon a Dacia is going to
be way more sensible “round the farm”
than some of the cars of the past....and at
half the price (or less) can you blame
them.
It was not without reason that when I
popped into a dealer whilst on the road to
get some shots, it was the first car you
found in the dealership right by the door
(and these were the old spec left hand
drive versions.)
Adventure Pack
- 4 wheel arch protection
- 4 door protection side mouldings
£445*
Protection Pack
- Rear parking sensors
- Door locking alarms
- Exterior tailgate protection
- Front and rear mudguards
- Boot liner.
£575*
Styling Pack
- Front styling bars
- Side styling bars
- Chrome plated rear exhaust pipe
- Daytime running lights.
£655*
Touring Pack
- Tow bar
- Cross bar (to fit longitudinal roof bars)
- Front central armrest.
£555*
*Prices include parts and fitting
The assumption is most will upgrade to a
higher spec, although those already
commenting on line look like they may
well just step up enough to get aircon or a
radio and not much more. I met a couple
My biggest fear is that the sales of these
will eclipse Renault sales to the point no
one sees a need to push the Diamond
badge at all. As we say, careful Regie
you’ve been here before. Clearly them not
wearing the Diamond allows them to
stand on one side and maybe allows
Renault to consider a 3 tier model, basic Dacia, Middle Class - Renault and upper
class - Samsung.
The other fear is showing a customer a
potential car, 6 months before he can
drive them and in a model that’s not going
to actually be sold here (pre facelift) will
risk both the sales of current models as
well as not tempting them to reserve a
new one in case they don’t like what they
finally get. A lot of people buy cars
because they need one then. Not next
year.
I see this effect too with the Clio IV, why
buy a III now unless you really need it,
although maybe we’ll see some clearance
deals as we did on the II. Oddly the IV is
based on the same platform as the III but
is another 2” longer and only available in
5 door. Is this a replacement for the
Megane or even now the Laguna? if so
it’s a cheap one and it opens up a neat
little hole for a 3 door something (Twingo
or maybe a Renault 5) as well as a
separate replacement for a compact car
of similar size to the first Twingo (or
smaller).
R
enault Master Facelift.
-CO2 emissions cut by up to 24g/km
across Master van range, plus fuel
economy gains of up to 3.8 mpg
-Renault’s largest van also boasts a
number of specification changes,
including the availability of new radios
and introduction of air suspension for
FWD versions
-Renault Master enjoys a 15 per cent
share of the European large van segment,
which reinforces the brand’s status as
Europe’s number one LCV manufacturer,
a position it has held since 1998
A couple of years on from launch, Renault
has announced a raft of improvements for
its Master van range, including enhanced
fuel economy, lower emissions and
greater equipment.
The launch of New Master in 2010 saw
the introduction of an engine (M9T)
developed especially for Renault’s largest
van. This 2.3 dCi powerplant, which is
made in Cléon, France, comes in a choice
of three power outputs (100hp, 125hp and
150hp) and its fuel consumption has been
improved this year by up to 3.8 mpg
(SL/SM dCi 125 Quickshift6 Euro 5
versions), with the core-selling dCi 125 up
by 3.3 mpg (SL/SM versions). CO2
emissions now start at 194 g/km, and are
down by an average of 16g/km (24 g/km
in the case of dCi 125 Quickshift6 Euro 5
versions of SL28 and SL33).
To achieve these savings, Renault’s
engineers focused on the following areas:
- Thermal management: an improved
water circuit for even faster starting,
- New oil and power steering pumps,
- Low fuel-consumption tyres,
- New gearbox lubricant.
For enhanced cabin comfort, a selection
of new, easier to use and better-equipped
radios are now available. Bluetooth and
USB connectivity are now standard
features across the range, while flagship
Sport versions come with a CD player and
MP3 playback, as well as a separate
display.
Air suspension available for front-wheel
drive Masters is available as an option,
this will no doubt appeal to convertors
who manufacture ambulances as this has
always been seen as desireable.
34
LINKS
I
t is a real pleasure for our Club to
continue to receive the publications of
an increasing number of Renaultphile
associations all over the world, which
come to us either as a direct hardcopy or in
electronic format, which is downloaded by
us into hardcopy format for our archives.
This is a heartening development, as, over
the years, a succession of our Club
committees have opined that our
organisation appeared to be a voice crying
in the wilderness. It is also nice for us to
be able to keep our members informed of
enthusiasm for the marque au losange all
across the planet, even from countries
where the Renault marque may be a minor
player in sales terms, compared to its role
in Western Europe. So, sit back and enjoy
the flavour of what has come into your
reviewer's hands recently.
Close to home, we received Issue No.
43/July 2012 of "La Renault" from the
Renault Classic Car Club and it offers a
fine selection of interesting Renaultiana
and excellent pictures. Both the editor,
Fred Parker, and 4CV/750 guru, Robin
Redrup, are understandably miffed at the
postponement of this September's Renault
Festival in France until July 2013 and one
has every sympathy with those Renault
enthusiasts, who had already made travel
arrangements
to
and
lodgings'
arrangements in the Montlhéry area well in
advance, before being presented with this
volte face. It is to be hoped that such a
unilateral decision will not deter these
potential participants from visiting the
postponed event. Robin’s ‘corner’ contains
updated news of 4CVs/750s in different
locations - a recently restored one back on
the road, a couple of right hand drivers for
sale owing to ill health, a late (1961)
Wisconsin example now available, a barnfind ex-racer in France and another
ex-eBay partly restored car, looking
decidedly tasty after some serious TLC.
John Hart’s ‘Down Under’ article (see last
edition of RENOTES) graces a double
AROUND THE CLUBS
HECTOR MACKENZIE WINTLE
spread, as does Derek Flavell’s Renault
Four Register report, which exhorts
interested parties NOT to try to fit a modern
edition of the free-flow ‘Autobleu’
manifolding to a Noddy (‘cos it does not
appear to be manufactured accurately, so
it’s a real pain in the b** to fit - even if
you’re lucky) and he reviews the outcome
of this year’s rainy R4 Kent Run (which our
own Malcolm Bailey attended in his very
clean R18). Derek keeps his club
colleagues up-to-speed with the progress
on his metallic light fluorescent green
completely rebuilt R12 Estate, which is
propelled by a Fuego GTS 1647cc engine,
coupled to a five-speed Fuego Turbo
gearbox. Interestingly, the Renault 12
Station Wagon offered on the US market in
the Seventies was fitted with the 1565cc
version of the same engine - originally
powering the 16 - with the 16TX’ five-speed
box (also fitted to the 12 Gordini), but with
US beefy double bumpers and a four
sealed beam headlight front grille. The
modified appearance of the front end of the
vehicle added a bit of ‘bite’ to its presence,
but, allegedly, that particular production
combination was somewhat noisy in use
and so it diminished the notable harmony
of the smaller engined, European model.
Anyway, Twelve Estates are not two 'a
penny, whether original or personalised, so
let's not get picky!
The editor then reports on a rain-sodden
Popham event, where the Renault flag was
kept flying by a metallic blue Alpine A110
berlinette, a red 'square eyed' Ten, a
recently restored, immaculate white 12TL,
two Caravelles (one white and one blue)
and a newly restored 750, after which
follows an illustrated page on Martin
Aldridge’s Indenor diesel-engined lhd
Frégate alongside a spares/donor car(!)
with comments on the car’s participation in
a comparison test of 1950s and 1960s
saloons, which was published in April’s
“Practical Classics”. Next comes an
interesting brief history of the pick-up
conversions (from the fourgon model) of
the Four by Mechanical Engineering
Developments, as were officially approved
by Renault in France. An example is being
restored by Richard Sowerby and the
article is by Don Rayner, the proprietor of
the firm in question, which also carried out
similar conversions to DAF 33 Variomatics
and Fiat Fiorinos, as well as selling a
number of pick-up panel conversion kits to
be used on the Sinpar 4 x 4 derivatives.
Bet you didn't know that an English firm
built Renaults, did you?! You learn
something new every day! An illustrated
page is devoted to the forthcoming sale of
Derek Flavell's white 12TL, occasioned by
the forthcoming finalisation of his earliermentioned 12 Estate project and Fred then
includes a page of photographs of
members' cars, which precedes a couple of
pages of Dave Wheeler's Workshop
Wisdom focusing on the trials and
tribulations of his 8 Gordini 1300's
participation in this year's 'La Vie en bleu'
event at the Bugatti Owners’ Club's
Prescott Hill Climb. This edition closes with
a two page spread of the latest FBHVC
news (on 'Ethanol in Petrol') and a page
from Jim Baumann (owner of the blue
Caravelle mentioned earlier) on his 'other'
classic cars and, finally, a listing of events
for this year and an advertisement for the
Rouen car and motorcycle retro-event in
September.
Our thanks go to the RCCC, for another
enthusiastic and information-ful offering to
gladden any Renaultphile's heart.
Our New Zealand colleagues (Renault Car
Club of South Island, NZ) have come up
trumps with a further two editions (April and
June 2012) of "La Renaultance". The
earlier edition lists coming events, includes
a couple of shots of James Polden's 'next'
4CV restoration (a late NZ rhd model with
binnacle dashboard), reprints a road test
on Twizy, offers a main spread of
photographs of members' cars (25,
Mégane, Le Car 2 Turbo, 16, Scénic, Clio 2
[Phase 1] 172 and 12TL) on the club's
Easter Trip to Mount Lydford (North
Canterbury) and reproduces one report on
the arrival of the new Renault Master van
on the Oz market and another on the new
Mégane 1.2 GT-Line (from Autoexpress).
Another reproduction from the same
publication concerns the proposed new EU
method of testing and quantifying fuel
consumption, which will put an end to
manufacturers' unrealistic claims of fuel
abstemiousness, and there is also a
humourous article on 'One for our
Engineers : Cool Tools, Part 1'.
The later edition details a visit to the
Stewart Classic Cars collection in
Christchurch, housed in six main sheds,
with many American vehicles; it also
features working engines, aviaries, bric-àbrac and toilets(!), all contributing to an
enjoyable ninety minutes' entertainment,
this being followed by a report on the
Easter Trip (see above). The centre
spread offers 21 photographs of various
unbelievable contraptions from the past
(mostly cars and similar vehicles) and a
seemingly complicated sudoku puzzle,
which is followed by the second part of the
above-mentioned humour, a couple of
photographs of Renaults at this year's
Ashburton Run, the revelation of the
Renault Alpine 50th Anniversary Dream
Car at the Monaco Grand Prix (thanks to
Autoexpress), a quick resumé of the
Mégane Cup 265 (ditto), a repeat list of
Renault parts and repairs specialists in NZ
and a blog about Renault's Zoe outselling
Nissan's Leaf in Europe (according to some
Renault spokesperson)....
Many thanks to our Kiwi brothers for their
input.
The Spring 2012 edition of "Direct Drive"
from our Renault Frères friends, is fronted
by a pretty, red AX and backed by an
imposing BZ char-à-banc. It is full of news
and humour and tips, the latter covering the
new laws governing what one can and
cannot do now when driving in France
(hopefully to save one a bob or two in onthe-spot fines); there is also an article on
the care of tyres, which was a major area
of concern, when 'the oldies' were new, and
is, of course, no less important to today's
'newies'. An overview on coachwork
through the ages (originally published in
AROUND THE CLUBS
35
LINKS
'Autoworld') is followed by the first
instalment of a history of Renault, and the
'Classifieds' include a 1900 Type C (one of
only 137 ever built and powered by a De
Dion engine) for an eye-watering £67,500!
As always, there is a comprehensive 'Diary
Dates for 2012' to close this edition.
Merci, chers frères!
No instalment of this review would be
complete without an appreciation of the
latest offerings from our Dutch colleagues,
the Club d'Anciennes Renault des Pays
Bas, and Issues 201 and 202 maintain that
club's high quality magazine tradition. The
earlier one (for May 2102) is fronted by a
delightful close up of the four little horses'
(quatre chevaux) heads on the front bonnet
lever of a 4CV, which was a period
accessory and whose message is quite
clear. After editor, Jeroen Berntsen's
preamble, club president, Robert van
Rossum, puts forward the Dutch 'take' on
the Renault clubs' inter-club co-operation,
which was the subject of an article from the
Brits' side in this year's first edition of
RENOTES. Our Dutch friends have taken
a different route to their interRenault/Alpine clubs' co-operation than has
been the case with D'ARC in Germany;
they have formed SAeRIN (Stichting Alpine
en Renault Initiatieven Nederland) to coordinate their various organisations' events
and to integrate them into Renault
Nederland's publicity, this being achieved
through the volunteer services of two
committed enthusiasts, Ben Struijk (up until
recently chairman of ARCN [Alpine Renault
Club Nederland]) and Dave Vrijaldenhoven
(CARPB member since 1977). At the time
of this edition of "Renograaf", the focus
was on the Dutch clubs' participation in the
forthcoming
Renault
Festival
at
Montlhéry.....Fred Ootjers offers an article
on servicing (in this case a Noddy), details
of (and an entry form for) the June ALV Get
Together in Leersum follow thereafter,
leading on to an article by Jaap Lucier on a
visit to the famous Schlumpf Auto Museum
in Mulhouse (complete with six pictures of
Renault 'oldies' and three of the recent '50
Years of the Four' exhibition, which has
now alighted there). Stef Ruitjenbeek
offers the first (illustrated) instalment of
'The Life of Louis' followed by a report from
Ronnie Peters on a successful technical
day at the Amersfoort Renault dealer,
Stam. A number of pages are devoted to
the Festival Renault event at Montlhéry.....
The editor offers a well illustrated report on
the 2012 Reims show and, this time, Peter
Kwisthout's illustrated technical article
deals with dynamos. The club shop offers
(also by Peter) include hoses, water pumps
and thermostats and then there is a short
(illustrated) article on the Renault, which
went down with the 'Titanic' (see last
RENOTES). Amongst other things, the
'Classifieds' offer a 1931 Primaquatre KZ6
for restoration, three 4CVs, a Dauphine
and an Eight plus a selection of Frégate
body panels. An events calendar and club
co-ordinates close this edition.
The July edition is fronted by an excellent
shot of the well-known 'stretched', sevendoor Four GTL at the Spring Outing, which
took place at Renault dealer, Auto Indumij
in Oosterhout and which attracted a
'Thirties Primaquatre, a 15TL and a 17TS,
a Dauphinoise, a 12 (Phase 2) Estate, a
4CV, an Extra van, a Frégate, a Kangoo
(car), a square-eyed 10, a 20TL, a
Dauphine, the above-mentioned stretchFour and the well-known Dutch-converted
16 soft-top amongst others - not a bad
selection! The report and photographs
inside the magazine were submitted by
Hans van Ieperen. After the editor's word
(covering the production of the magazine),
chairman, Robert van Rossum's
contribution deals with the Festival Renault
disappointment and points his members
towards Ed Lenders' forthcoming 'Fête
Renaultoolog' (Renault Festival!) on
Kronenberg at the beginning of August.
Fred Ootjers writes again about the Noddy
and details of the Autumn 'Trossen los'
events in September are published,
together with an entry form. Jan & Lianne
Parel-de-Weert report on the ALV Weekend
at Leersum and also on the AROC-BE
(Antwerp Renault Oldtimer Club, Belgium)
'Den Arocaan' event at Kempen; amongst
participants were a 4, an 8 Gordini 1300, a
Floride, a 4CV and a 17TS, plus a 'large
lump of metal' to be identified and which
36
LINKS
turned out to be Ford Fiesta 1400! Stef
Ruijtenbeek contributes an article on
'Tobruks' (which may - or may not,
depending on space constraints! - be
explained through a translation in due
course in RENOTES, but don't hold your
breath!) and this is followed by Harm
Harmsen's overview of the Phase 2
Renault 19. Jan Parel then contributes 'My
Renaults' article (which vehicles have
included a 1933 Monaquatre and a couple
of Twelves), Hans Visser explains the MCN
register, Jeroen Berntsen offers another
instalment on the restoration of his 4CV
décapotable, Jac Maurer contributes 'A
Surprise at Ameland', which is an annual
'pioneer' meeting, where he came across a
beautiful 1909 Renault BZ tourer from
Germany, Jeroen Berntsen reports on the
Historic Weekend at Den Helder, where
there was a Dauphinoise, a square-eyed
10 and a Twizy, besides a curious, wooden
chalet-like coach-built caravan on a Saviem
SG1 low-loader(!), and then Peter
Kwisthout's technical article covers
(dynamo) regulators. There is a short half
page historical review of the 'Renovisie',
which was an equivalent to the Renault
Owners’ Club's 'Renofile' alternate month
news sheet, which also ran in the Eighties.
Peter's shop contribution deals with new
stocks of distributors, clutch plates,
temperature gauges, headlights and nave
plates.
Jeroen Berntsen pens an
interesting, illustrated article on a huge
Renaultiana collection assembled by Wim
Schipper in Hardinxveld-Giesendam,
majoring on models, but including much
else - breath-taking! The 'Classifieds'
include some of the cars mentioned in the
previous "Renograaf", but also include a
lovely (but apparently rust-prone), yellow,
ex-Dutch equivalent to the AA Four, an
immaculate 16TX, a white 8, a golden 11
TSE, a restoration project 20TX and an
immaculate, restored 1933 flatbed light
truck (based on a Primaquatre?). A list of
new club members, of renewals due and of
the forthcoming events, plus the club
hierarchy close yet another fascinating
edition of 'Renograaf'.
Thank you, Dutch friends, for your
continuing co-operation.
'Renault News' No. 102/Spring 2012 from
the Renault Owners' Club of North America
has just appeared and has been
downloaded from electronic format into
AROUND THE CLUBS
In this Issue
New Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Ed’s Renaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Huixquilucan 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Visiting Friends in Mexico City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
hardcopy for the Renault Owners’ Club's
archives. It majors on the 2102 Carlisle
event, covered in a five-page, illustrated
report by editor, Marvin McFalls. Another
member, Ed, tells (over three pages) of his
life-long interest in and late-in-life purchase
of (some) Renaults, including a Ten, a
Dauphine and a 4CV. Over five pages,
Marvin reports on (and illustrates) the 2012
Huixquilucan event (attended by a range of
Renault and Alpine cars) and on his visit to
Renault and Alpine friends in Mexico City,
before giving a brief overview on the
unique Heuliez fashioned Renault Fuego
convertible (where has that car, which
remained with it creators after having done
the exhibition rounds, gone, in view of the
company's recent financial difficulties?);
Marvin also reproduces the (German) Axel
Einfeldt catalogues of that company's
conversion of the Fuego, an example of
Fuego Convertible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Carlisle 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The French Electric Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Queretero 1st Annual Renault National Meet . . . . . . . . . . 23
which was shown on the D'ARC stand at a
recent Essen Motor Show. Thereafter,
there is a seven-page, illustrated
translation (by Michael Muller, the club's
librarian) of Peter Fuchs' article on the Bell
Laboratories Electric Dauphine (not to be
confused with the Henney Kilowatt or any
other 'electrified' Dauphines), which first
appeared in the French motor magazine
"Gazoline" a short while ago. Marvin's final
two-page, illustrated contribution is on the
inaugural Queretero National Meet, which
featured around 50 Renaults (including
Dinalpin A110, R12 saloon and estate,
Estafette, R4, R8, R18, Fuego, Alliance,
Encore, Clio and Mégane) belonging to
members of ROCoNA and Club Renault
Gordini Sport - from little acorns do great
oak trees grow. This edition closes with
two good shots of Francisco Miranda's sky
blue Dinalpin GT4 in front of the impressive
sculptured building, which houses the
National Autonymous University of Mexico.
Another fine example of the enthusiasm of
our North American friends. Keep 'em
coming, pardner!
It is exciting for us to report that, after a few
hiccoughs, it appears that we are now in
regular contact with the Renault Owners'
Club of Australia via its bimonthly magazine
'The Hub', which was mentioned in our last
edition and this is all due to the enthusiasm
and hard work of the publication's editor,
Bob Sprague, whose work on the marque
('Driving Innocations') was reviewed in our
last edition's 'Au coin du livre'. RCCA's
magazine is now being downloaded from
the internet to our Club archives and the
first edition to receive this treatment is No.
454 for July - August 2012. The magazine
opens
with
the
regular
dealer
advertisement from Collier Automotive
Services Limited, the index, the club's
hierarchy and the coming events, which is
followed by president Jason Emmelkamp's
comments, including the sad tale of a fire at
one of the members' premises, which
destroyed thirteen cars! Unlucky thirteen,
eh? The notice of the club's forthcoming
annual general meeting is followed by
editor Bob Sprague's six pen'orth and
social secretary Ernst Luthi's contribution,
which mentions (and illustrates) the
Renault-Hino connection of the Fifties.
Andrew Fifield's sporting round-up is next
on the pages, followed by a short piece on
member Brett Raymont winning some
silverware at the Oakville Fire Brigade
Classic Car Show with his R8 Gordini, and
the 'welcome to the club' half pager. Next
up are club matters, including a reminder
that subs are due and the current standings
in the 'Jack Mullins Trophy', followed by
entry details of the 2012 MG Classic event,
an article on 'supersprinting' by assistant
secretary, Sonja Luthi, Kevin Brown's 'Take'
on Renault's Fluence ZE in Singapore, an
(illustrated) review of the Alpine A110/50
Concept, Dom Roberts' day in Paris with
Twizy, a four page (illustrated) report on the
Renaults taking part in the very successful
All French Car Day 2012 (including a
phalanx of R 8 Gordinis), an article on the
Renault Classic Collection at Flins,
secretary Alastair Browne's report on the
Fitzroy Falls Treasure Hunt, in which
thirteen members took part, nine of them
Renault-mounted, and a release of the new
AROUND THE CLUBS
37
LINKS
Renault Clio IV.
Kevin Byron chips
in with another
two articles, a one
pager
with
illustrations on his
visit to Singapore
The Magazine of the Renault Car Club of Australia Inc.
(with details of the
Number 454
July–August 2012
eye-watering
incidental costs of
running a car in
that country) and
a
five
pager
outlining
the
restoration of his
Eight (a fine job,
to judge from the
photographs).
2
201
Thereafter follows
S
2—
196 YEAR
'The CRS Report',
50
which deals with
the latest news
about Historic Car
Registers,
the
classifieds,
a
listing of Renault
enthusiasts' clubs
Renault Car Club of Australia Inc. Established 1951
in Australia and
www.rcca.org.au
another on the
Renault dealers in
NSW, details of
CMC (Combined Motor Clubs) events, for
Owners' Club of South Africa and it is
which RCCA members are automatically
hoped that, by one means or another, we
eligible, Formula 1 in 2012 news (with a
will be able to have access to their regular
nice piccy of a jubilant Mark Webber after
club publications, in order to include them
the Monaco GP) and a club membership
for review and comment in this spot in the
application form. Interestingly, like
future, not to mention the pleasure of
RENOTES, 'The Hub' usually follows a set
keeping our own Clubmembers informed of
layout with interesting contributions in
Renault enthusiasm in yet more places
between, which gives a desirable
throughout the world. In the meantime, to
continuity, which we applaud.
all our co-operating friends in Renault clubs
everywhere, merci, au revoir et à bientôt!
Applause, indeed,
for
another
readable edition of
Renault enthusiasm
as practised by our
Aussie
friends.
We're
looking
forward to the next
edition
already,
Bob!
The Hub
At the time of this
review, we are in
the process of
establishing
a
closer co-operation
with the Renault
South African Renaults
38
THE BOOK NOOK
W
hen pointing out an obvious
error, which had arisen in this
column, it was somewhat
disconcerting for your
reviewer to learn from a Committee
member that 'Well, no one's mentioned it to
me', which rather makes one wonder
whether there is any point in reviewing any
of the books on Renaults. Or does this
column gently send members to sleep?
Answers on a postcard to the editor,
please.....
The book in question is Renault, le culte
du défi by Alain Frerejean, which your
reviewer managed to submit twice (see
Issue 1/2012 and Issue 2/2012)! Quel
cafouillage! A la guillotine avec! [What a
cock-up! To the guillotine with him!]. The
accused pleads temporary insanity and
will hopefully be acquitted, because all
the jurors appear to be asleep! However,
as a punishment, this iteration of the
column is confined to a single work, which
has been around for some time, but which
has not graced these columns before and
which deserves to do so.
The manufacturing history of Renault has
been inextricably allied to a south-western
suburb of Paris, namely Billancourt, and
an adjacent arc of land floating in the
River Seine, Seguin Island, and it is this
latter, to which the book in question is
devoted. Île Seguin, des Renault et
des Hommes [ISBN 2.7268.9396.8] was
authored by Jean-Louis Loubet, Alain
Michel and Nicolas Hatzfeld; it was
published in 2004 by ETAI at a price of
E28 and carries a foreward by Louis
Schweitzer, then Renault's PDG. It is a
AU COIN DU LIVRE
square, plain cover hardback with an
illustrated dust jacket enclosing some
190-odd pages and is of the high quality,
which one has come to expect as
standard from this publisher. Clearly, we
are considering a work, which is not
directly to do with Renault cars, but which
cannot avoid its complicity with Renault
manufactures in one form or another.
It is divided into seven chapters, the first
of which deals with the island as it
originally existed, before the advent of
any manufacturing thereon, and its
successor covers the coming of that
phenomenon, as Louis Renault bought up
every parcel of land and proceeded to
raise its level (the island had been subject
to much flooding in the past) with
thousands of tons of earth and rubble, so
that he could construct his mighty factory
there. There are fine illustrations of this,
the greatest car factory in Europe
between the two great 20th century wars,
in all its glory, as well as in its misery after
the ‘Forties RAF and USAF aerial
bombardments, aimed at interrupting
vehicle repair work, demanded by the
contemporary Axis powers on that site
The next chapter majors on the car
production on new -fangled production
lines, both pre-war (the Celta and Juva)
and post-war (the 4CV and the Quatr'elle)
and the following section deals mostly
with the men and women and the trades'
unions and the strikes and the machinery
on the site - a true cross-section of human
working lives. The penultimate chapter
covers the realisation that cars and
habitation do not mix and the steps, which
had to be taken, to close the factory
down, and the final chapter deals with the
(then) future of the island and its
regeneration from the exhausted,
industrial Île Renault to a people-centred
Île Seguin, from the concrete fortress of
car production to the glass and flying
buttresses of modern offices and living
architecture.
As the island has been in place rather
longer than Renault, it is unsurprising to
find map and painting illustrations as well
as the photographs and there are plenty
of these atmospheric delights sprinkled
throughout the pages of this book.
However, it has to be said that there is a
large amount of French text to plough
through, if one it to allow this publication
to show itself off to its best advantage. If
ultimate revelation is not a top priority,
then the plethora of illustrations is a
strong attraction, especially bearing in
mind that, by now, bulldozers have
relegated the pride of Louis' architectural
heritage to phantoms of the past.
As usual, the internet is the best place to
find copies of the book, for they will not be
stacked up on the shelves of your local
WHS. An added attraction will probably
be that such offerings are likely to be less
expensive than the original asking price.
This is a small and possibly less easily
digestible dish than is normally offered to
tickle members’ palates with morsels of
Renault lore, so this book review might be
closed appropriately with an unforgettable
catchphrase of (the late) Jimmy Edwards
in the very popular (in its day) steamradio show ‘Take it from here’ (no ageist
comments, please, ‘cos we’re strictly
PC!).
‘Wake up at the back there!’
Editor’s Note. Should you wish to, there
are a further 3 books on the Island with
additional information, both with the same
name, the first covers the period where
Renault was there - Les Hommes de
Renault-Billancourt
1930-1992:
ISBN:978-2746704831.
The second the plans for the future (in
French) - L'île Seguin, demain :
Histoires, architectures, Cultures.
AU COIN DU LIVRE
39
THE BOOK NOOK
ISBN: 978-2842787042.
The 3rd also in French - L'Ile Seguin
Boulogne-Billancourt: L'île de la
controverse ISBN: 978-6131569272
But this is a part of the island that was not
on Louis mind when it was designed, the
“Missisppi steamboat type building that in
some ways has the look of a boat
ploughing the Seine originally had another
facade as the front piece. The problem
was that at the time it was built some
trees were planted and within years this
became lost to the masses.
There is also a further item of interest
about the Ile that is often forgotten. The
pictures most people see of the island
show the front gates of the factory where
the bridge joins to the island. This has
probably become the most photogenic
part of the island and indeed has been
preserved complete with “temporary”
banner.
did not with interest that on a recent aerial
photograph it looks very much like the
main facade is still there, all be it hidden
by the trees which now tower over the
factory.
The island has been “cleared” and there
are plans for a number of development
ideas, although currently there is just a
new bridge, garden and car test track to
look at, probably a sign of the financial
times.
One has to wonder which of the two
“entrances” were the most photogenic. I
Oddly I have always thought (save for its
central Paris location) that it would have
been a good base for the conference
centre and car display that is currently
split between the opposite bank, Flins and
the Technocentre, meanwhile the remains
of a once proud factory languish waiting
an eventual fate.
40
HERITAGE
R
enault is still experiencing hard
times and, to replace recently
assassinated Georges Besse,
Raymond Lévy is appointed as
Renault's new Chief Executive Officer. He
continues in much the same vein as his
predecessor and returns Renault to profit,
this being facilitated through a second
recapitalisation of FRF10b from the
organisation's chief stakeholder, the French
government. The new goal is profit and not
quantity at any cost, with the breakeven
point estimated to be 1.5m vehicles, with
an acknowledged currently realistic target
of 1.2m vehicles. Prime Minister Jacques
Chirac declares his intention to return
Renault to the private sector, but he is
obliged to reverse that decision.
The return to profit is achieved by selling
off some of the family jewels, primarily the
American Motors Company subsidiary,
which is, ironically, just moving back into
profit. The sale is made to Chrysler and
Renault calculates that the improving
situation will continue under the new
owners, thus strengthening this outlet for
Renault-sourced vehicles, particularly the
newly developed and recently launched
Medallion (the US version of Renault's 21
saloon), but this is a cruel deception. Hardheaded Chrysler shows little interest in
selling the Renault vehicles and virtually
dumps them; it does not pursue the
imminent coupé version of the 21 (the
Allure), it declines to import the special
RENAULT 25 YEARS AGO
version of the Alpine GTA V6 Turbo with its
retractable headlights and other
modifications, developed at Alpine's great
cost, in order to meet the US Highway
Regulations, and it becomes patently
obvious that the Americans bought AMC in
order to get its greedy mits on the Jeep
name and on AMC's newly modernised (at
Renault's expense) production facilities at
Kenosha in Wisconsin (USA) and at
Bramlea in Ontario (Canada). The whole
business leaves a very bitter taste in
Renault's mouth. The Renault-MachinesOutils undertaking is another victim of the
streamlining.
Renault produces 1,903,718 vehicles
world-wide, of which 1,576,797 are cars
(this excludes all AMC vehicles), 254,593
are commercial vehicles and 72,321 are
RVI and Mack trucks. Excluding RVI units,
716,093 of the above units are assembled
abroad. This production generates
FRF147,510m
(pre-tax)
revenue
(FRF122,317m for last year), of which
FRF7,021m (FRF5,140 for last year) is
reinvested in the business and the net
profit is FRF3,689m ((FRF5,542 net LOSS
for last year)
The product range
encompasses the Renault 4, the Renault
Rodéo, the Renault Five, the Renault
Superfive, the Renault 9 (saloon) and 11
(hatchback), the Renault 21 (saloon), which
passes the half-million production mark in
July, and its new Nevada sister
(estate/'break', sold in the UK as Savanna,
for name rights' reasons), the Renault 25,
the Espace, the Alpine V6 GTA (Atmo and
Turbo), the Jeep and the Cherokee (for the
moment, Renault retains the European
sales rights to these vehicles), the Express
(sold in the UK as 'Extra' for name rights'
reasons), the Trafic and the Master
commercials (competing in world markets
with the virtually identical but differently
badged versions of its GM partner in this
undertaking) and the RVI and Mack ranges
of heavy commercial vehicles. Renault
launches its 'hot' 21, the 2-litre Turbo, with
computer control of its ignition timing, of its
fuel injection and of its turbocharging
behaviour and its performance comes
close to that of the highly acclaimed Ford
Sierra Cosworth.
Patrick Le Quément joins Renault (from
VW-Audi and, previously, Ford) and he is
put in charge of creating a new Renault
style, his 'Direction du Style' department
being directly responsible to Ramond Lévy.
Giorgetto Giugiaro becomes a major
consultant to the forthcoming Renault 19.
With the average AQR rating of 138
heading last year's performance (133),
Pierre Jocou is promoted to manager of
quality control in an effort to improve this
integer past the desired 140. There is a
great effort to reduce costs by
implementing Japanese manufacturing
principles, chiefly by the introduction of JIT
(just in time) deliveries; stock levels fall to
10.4 days, five-axis production robots now
total 620 and Renault's suppliers are
trimmed to 960. The workforce is slimmed
down by some 8,000 and this gives rise to
significant labour tensions, which are
exacerbated by the dismissal of ten CGT
union officials with consequent court cases,
appeals and reinstatements, followed by
further dismissals, further appeals and so
on and so forth. 1,028,833 vehicles
(excluding RVI units) are exported and
these export sales account for 51.3% of
Renault's total revenue. As far as
Renault's home market is concerned, half
of the sales network is in a sound condition
and a further quarter is having some
difficulties, but, because of its strategic
importance, Renault will lend its support to
those companies, in order to ensure their
continuing health. A new Renault sales
school is established in Bordeaux and,
because the domestic market promises
fresh profitability, which is partly due to the
reduction of VAT on cars from 33.3% to
28%, a significant effort is put into
achieving this goal.
RENAULT 25 YEARS AGO
41
HERITAGE
the twelve EEC members are still unable to
agree on Europe's budgetary finances!
In the big, wide world, the USA and the
makes its maiden flight at Toulouse and,
after 326 days in orbit, the Russian Youri
Romananko returns to earth.
Contemporary events in France include the
USSR agree on a disarmament schedule
and the Irangate scandal erupts. The
'camps' war in Lebanon comes to an end,
but there is an increase in the intensity of
the war in the Persian Gulf between Iraq
and Iran. After the trial of the ruling
dictators in Argentina, there is military
unrest in that country.
This was Renault in 1987.
(This information is drawn from publications
held in the archives of the Renault Owners'
Club).
Renault continues its commitment to motor
sport and, following the FIA's sudden ban
on Group B cars as being too dangerous, it
reaps a quick reward in Group A with a
second place overall for a Renault 11 Turbo
in Portugal and victories in France and
Turkey. A Renault 5 Maxi Turbo 4WD wins
the French Rallycross Championship and
Érik Comas pilots a Renault 5 Turbo to the
French Superproduction Championship.
Renault's Vesta 2 prototype covers the five
hundred kilometres between Paris and
Bordeaux, averaging 1.94 litres of fuel per
100 kilometres!
The Car of the Year is GM's
(Opel/Vauxhall) Omega and, on 21 July,
ministers from twelve European countries
sign an agreement, which aims for a 'clean'
car running on unleaded petrol by 01
October 1992.
On the culture and science front, the state
television channel TF1 is sold to the
construction group Bouygues and the
Futuroscope near Poitiers opens its doors.
The silver screen applauds Gabriel Axel's
"Le Festin de Babette", Bernardo
Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor" and Percy
Adlon's "Bagdad Café". Airbus A-320
arrest of the Action
Directe
terrorists
(Georges
Besse's
assassins) and Klaus
Barbie is condemned to
imprisonment for life for
his
crimes
against
humanity during World
War Two.
There is
growing tension between
France and Iran over the
Ayatollah Khomeni and
each country's embassy in
their opponent's homeland
is besieged. In October,
the stock market crashes
(down 30%) and so the
plan to privatise Renault is
temporarily
shelved.
European events beyond
France's borders include
Margaret
Thatcher
winning a third term of
office since 1979 in the
UK and the Erasmus
scheme of inter-EEC
university exchanges
begins. It is now thirty
years since the signing of
the Treaty of Rome and
42
CLASSIFIEDS
CLASSIFIEDS
MEMBERS AND GUESTS
PLEASE NOTE
Small adverts in Renotes are free to
members advertising their personal
sales and wants (i.e. non-profitmaking).
All commercial parts / car advertising is
charged at the following rates. All trade
classifieds must be pre-paid.
Classified (25 words)
1/4 PAGE (mono)
1/2 PAGE (mono)
FULL PAGE (mono)
£10
£25
£45
£85
Rates for colour advertising available on
request.
Cheques should be made payable to the
RenOwners Club Limited and sent with
the advert to: Renotes, Mayhill House,
London Road, Addington, West Malling,
Kent ME19 5AN.
The ROC cannot warrant cars or parts
advertised
in
these
columns.
Please remember the most up to
date adverts are to be found on the
forum and Website
www.renaultownersclub.com often
the advertised goods are sold before
they ever make Renotes.
F
or Sale
Renault 10
Restoring your cherished Renault 10? I
have a hoard of awaiting the highest
bidder, including front and rear
windscreens (not pictured), 2 old radios
and speakers, and inner wing, rear and
front reclining seats. This is one lot and
the buyer arranges uplift. There are too
many individual parts to list, everything
from door trims to 3 parts of a bumper to
headlights!! All offers will be considered.
Contact Colin Robertson
Tel: 07831 188 009
email: [email protected]
Renault 10 Spares for Sale
Manifold complete with carburettor
Rear light lenses
Front indicators complete
Orange side repeaters
2 Oval headlamps in good condition
4 Headlamp surrounds
6 Hub caps
Oil pump
Rectifier
Radiator fill blanking caps
Complete set ignition cables (new)
1 Bonnet release cable
I Throttle cable
Diaphragm for “push” washers
2 dash switches
1 door lock barrel
For sale as a lot or as separate items
Please call Alan Bailey on 01263 512433
after 6 pm for more details.
Fuego GTS
I have a very special Red Fuego GTS for
sale. It is in lovely condition and has had
NO Restoration (unless you include
sealing the windscreen washer bottle). It
won the ROC award in the 2005
Rockingham Show as the best 1980's
example but to be honest I had my eye on
'The Most Original' at this show award. It
is 100% Original. It also featured on the
front page of Renotes in April 2005.
I has been in my ownership since March
1986 and had been the Renault garage
owners personal car since the previous
November when it was first registered.
It has always been taxed and insured and
is waxoil protected although always
garaged through-out .Sensible Offers
only. More pictures on forum.
Michael Reekie
Manuals (F-Fair Condition, U-Well
Used.
F-MR33EA - 4CV Repair Manual
U-MR36EA - Frégate R1101 Repair
Manual
F-MR34EA (x2)
F-PR606U - Frégate Parts Manual
F-Transfluide Drivers Handbook
F-MR167 - Renault 20 Repair Manual
F-PR953 - Renault 4 Parts Manual
U-MR145 - R1180 Repair Manual
U-MR42EA - Dauphine Repair Manual
Terry Littleford - Phone 01746 783531
W
anted
Renault 8 - 1100
Hi I am from Zimbabwe, and currently in
the UK visiting my daughter. I am an avid
classic Renault fan, and currently own
Dauphine Gordini, 4CV, Caravelle, R8
Gordini and 3 R8 1100s. As can be
expected it is a constant struggle to keep
these all ship shape. I am currently
rebuilding another R8 1100 and I'm
looking for the following parts:
Part number
0555 595 400 Front windscreen rubber
0555 595 500 Rear windscreen rubber
0832 089 100. Engine compartment seal
0608 366 500 Rear engine compartment
seal
0353 943 700/800 Left and right rear fixed
window seals
0857 620 300 Front panel badge
Contact via:
[email protected] who is
making up a parcel for us or 01652
655781
Renault 5 - Wedding Car
In December 2009, my then-boyfriend and
I embarked on a journey which was meant
to start in London, and end in Cameroon,
in a left-hand drive Renault 5. A long story
cut short - we actually started the drive in
Senegal, and drove to Cameroon, taking
in the sights of Mali, Burkina Faso,
Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria on the
way. We had a wonderful time and our
little Renault 5 served us well on what
were very difficult roads.
Fast forward 2 years and my thenboyfriend is now by fiance and we are
getting married in March 2013. We would
love it if we were to be picked up from the
Chapel where we get married, and taken
to the reception venue in a Renault 5
(ours was left in Cameroon and sold at a
charity auction).
Would any of your members be able to
help? We are in Denbigh, North Wales
and the reception is in Corwen, which is
about 1/2 hour away.
ADRIAN FLUX
43
ADVERTISERS
CLUB SUPPORTERS
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44
CLUB SHOP
CLUB SHOP
JUNE 2012
CONTACTS
Purchase online at:
www. renaultownersclub. com
email to:shop@renaultownersclub.
com
or post order to
ROC Shop, 26 Capel Street, Capelle-Ferne,
Folkestone, Kent, CT18 7LZ
Cheques
made
payable
to
RenOwnersClub Ltd
Telephone Enquiries to 01303 488731
Phone for discounts on bulk orders
Renault Owners’ Club Tax Disc Holder in
Titanium finish or Black £16.49 each incl.
UK P&P
ALSO
Old Style Renault Owners’ Club
window sticker
available to stick on inside of window
or outside for bumpers etc. State which
type required when ordering. £1.75
Incl. Post and Packing
Renault Owners’ Club Mug.
£7.50 incl. UK Post
By special order your photo can be
applied to rear - phone for prices
Renault Owners’ Club Ballpoint Pen
Old style blue £1.00
New Style £3.50 Both Incl. Post and
Packing.
Diamond Anniversary Event T-Shirts,
special design. These will be on special
order to hand out at events or to post to
people after the event is complete.
ONLY available to those who come
and members based overseas. We will
also have magnetic rally plaques.
Phone or see website for details.
Renault Owners’ Club I Phone 3 or 4
cover £7.00 incl UK Post Black, Blue,
Pink, Purple, Red or Silver - Please state
New Club Window Sticker - Also doubles
as a tax disc holder (tamperproof so don’t
use if you plan to cash your disc in!)
£2.00 incl. UK Post
Also available GB Stickers, Tabards,
pens and new window stickers. Please
phone for details.
Clearance Stainless Steel keyring with
engraved Renault Owners’ Club logo in a
black presentation box £3.75 including
UK P&P
Renault Owners’ Club Baseball Cap in
White, Khaki or Grey - £12.50 each incl.
UK P&P
Renault Owners’ Club Shirts, available as
polo shirts £14.50 or sports shirt £21
(shown) or formal short sleeved shirt
£22.00. If you want the optional rear
embroidery please add £3 per item.
S,M,L & XL in Men’s and Ladies also in
French Blue, To UK Addresses
Stainless Steel keyring with engraved
New Renault Owners’ Club logo £9.50
including UK P&P
Renault Owners’ Club Pen £3.50 Incl. UK
P&P Large Badge or Small Badge Styles

September 2012 Draft - Renault Owners Club Forum

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