|
Back in the 70s & 80s, I had a succession of Renault 12s of various models (7 in total). They were roomy, reliable, comfortable and cheap to run. None of them seemed to have much in the way of a rot problem. Where have they all gone? Has anyone seen one recently? I was reminded of them because I saw an almost new Romanian version (built under licence - they used to be sold as Dacias) in Austria this summer.
|
Hi, Mike.
I saw a Renault 12 estate about two weeks ago near Dover, and two in Normandy. I owned an a 'P' reg. estate back in the late 70's, bought with 32K on the clock, finally trading it in at 155K miles for a Pug. 305 . I was tempted by the Dacia incarnation, but seem to recall that there were reservations about build quality.
My 12 was that bright Renault yellow which could be matched exactly by the Woolworths Daffodil Yellow household gloss. (I brush-painted the bonnet) I remember it fondly as being roomy, easy to maintain and reliable.
Regards,
Peter.
|
Glad I'm not the only person who liked them! The last saloon I had was one of the bright yellow ones.
I gather from the other responses there aren't too many around now - hardly surprising I guess as they were replaced by the Renault 18 in 1979 - doesn't time fly....!
|
|
|
|
Mike
Amazingly - yes. Bright yellow N plater (75/76) in Sainsburys car park in Swindon couple of weeks back. Quite shiny, but door bottoms were very rusty.
Regards
John S
|
|
|
|
No, but I saw a Mini Moke yesterday for the first time in about fifteen years.
|
Very early ('K' plate) 12 seen in Ipswich recently - a bit faded but rust free. They must be getting very rare - a few years ago I wouldn't even have noticed it. There's a Marina 1.3 Coupe around here as well, and when did you last see one of them?
Richard Hall
bangernomics.tripod.com
|
Yesterday here in Sunny Frome in darkest Zummerset. Marina TC 1.3 coupe (beige colour natch). remarkable number of older vehicles in regular use around these parts. Current see about the town A35 2D Saloon in black - 2 Farina A40 one red v.smart nice plating paint bit dull other black looking a bit tatty round the edges but sounding good, no smoke at the back.
4 Minors various years 2 split screens one traveller. Almost concours cond. VP 1300 in dark blue v.nice goes to Sainsburys once a week I understand lives in heated garage rest of the time.
71 on the J. Lots of 2CVs Specialist 2cv garage in the town.
Happy Motoring Phil I
|
|
|
|
I know not a Renault 12, but there is a bloke round the corner who is working on an (Renault) Alpine A110. There's only one word for it ..... beautiful.
|
|
Our neighbour but one had one until last week. All its light fittings had long fallen out, and some once goldish paint spots could be discerned through the rust. It was a rolling piece of scrap. None the less it was still running. It was finally carted away after the Residents' Association refused to renew his car pass on the grounds the car "was a blight on the neighbourhood"!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Two of the PE teachers at my secondary school back in the early 80s had them - both yellow. A mate of mine had one when we got old enough to get our own cars as well, his was a fetching metallic gold. Haven't seen one in ages.
Matthew Kelly
No, not that one.
|
|
|
|
Whats happened to all the Renault Fuego's - these seem to be an equally rare sight these days as the R12
|
Talking of lost cars, I mourn the loss of the Fiat Strada. Once a very common sight on our roads I had three of these back in the early 90s.
They were great cars for their time with 5 speed, digital clock and pokey engines.
Shame about the bodywork though.
Anyone seen one lately ?
|
|
|
They used to be called "Few-gos" in some quarters!
Tomo
|
I see the Fuego Turbo was blisteringly fast (if it actually went). 60 in 10 secs and a max of 110. Can't imagine what arth shatteringly quick pace the diesel managed!
As a driver who joined the roads late in the 80s, the lasting impression of this car was that it vied for worst car on the road with the Fiat X1/9. Maybe that's just youthfulness speaking.
|
|
|
|
|
Renault Fuego, CM, once declared in a contemporary Car Magazine group test to be superior to the VW Scirocco !?!!
Renault 16s were also a common sight. With its sharp styling (sorry Mike H !!!!!) and good build quality it was a nice driver's car. Usually owned by press-on types - if you were in the company of a twin-carb, you knew it was going to take you on whatever you were driving.
|
Our neighbours in Spain have an immaculate Spanish built 12 (no not a Seat), not an uncommon sight in rural Spain.
I partly cut my driving teeth on a whte 1976 16, c/w column change and unequal wheelbase (port and starboard). Superbly smooth drive if I recall.
|
|
|
I could not begin to say how many cars I've rented on how many trips to the UK, much less what models they were for the most part, but for some reason I always remember the Fuego I had on one of them in late 1981, so it must have had something. This was the time when most cars looked absolutely awful, the Japs hadn't really got past turning out basic vehicles which were reliable but deathly slow, and anything British had the kiss of death about it as far as reliability went.. The Renault was a terrific car, looked great, went great, held the road superbly and I remember thrashing it all over the Lake District and thoroughly enjoying it. It was black and silver and had a "X" reg plate, I think.
The Renault 16 I also remember: it was very popular in Bahrain amongst the boy racers (think choice of Datsun Bluebird, Mitsubishi Galant, Toyota Corona, and you can see why). It looked neat and went well. Trouble was the eggshell European metal lasted ony a couple of years in the high humidity/high salt atmosphere of the Gulf, the Nips came out with better cars and Renault got a bad rap and eventually pulled out of that market.
|
Growler, funny you should mention Renaults in the Gulf. My father, who had an unusual talent for bad car purchases, bought a second-hand Renault 16 when working in Oman in the early Eighties. After a week, the head gasket let go, the car was towed into Oman's only Renault dealer (not a busy place) where they stripped the engine and lost some of the vital bits. The car ended up dumped round the back of the workshop. It may still be there. After this my father bought a Toyota like everyone else.....
Richard Hall
bangernomics.tripod.com
|
Slightly off the thread, but funny pernickety European cars didn't stand much of a chance in workshops staffed by gentlemen from Peshawar who had majored on Bedford trucks.
I believe the Japs saw this right away and focussed on reliability as opposed to looks and performance. Knowing that repair resources weren't up to much and would get their cars a bad name they made 'em bombproof. After that market share was a given and they could go on to the fancy stuff. Mercs and BMW's were always there but they had their own support structure.
American cars were also extremely reliable, although we had no choice of Ford models till the mid 1980's when they came off the Israeli Boycott List of the Arab League.
Anything Renault or Fiat didn't really stand a chance given the climate and local driving habits, with their shoddy build quality, unreliability, lack of spares and poor service backup.
|
Page 11 of today's Telegraph - photo of coach crash in Turkey - the car at the front of the photo looks just like a Renault 12, but with quad headlights and plastic bumpers. Are they still being made there?
Richard Hall
bangernomics.tripod.com
|
Two years ago when I was visiting Turkey once a month there were lots of Renault 12-like cars on the road and with all the appearance of being newish. I don't believe they were Dacias but were built in Turkey and carried a Turkish name, possibly Ocitan but I believe those were mostly based on Citroens. There were also hybrid types ie Renault 5 saloons with boots. The local gendarmerie (Polis) also used these 'Renaults' and were very keen on handheld radars in the central part of Turkey.
Sad accident but, although I've never been to Ankara or Istanbul, I don't subscribe to the general view that Turkish drivers are bad. On a number of visits to the south and central west regions, I never saw any real bad driving and definitely no speeding. The worst driver I saw was an Irishman I travelled with who ignored traffic lights!
David
|
I went looking for Turkish Renault 12s, but got distracted and found this instead (it has a comprehensive guide to the Dacia version). Anyone who enjoys reading about truly bad old cars will love it.
digilander.libero.it/cuoccimix/index.html
Richard Hall
bangernomics.tripod.com
|
|
|
|
|
Funny you should mention it - I looked at the same photo and thought the same!
|
|
|
|
|
|
