That Renault 5 Turbo ..brought a smile.
I always liked the look of them and had a hankering for one back in the day but one of my buying defaults was that a car should be able to turn a corner ..and those things just didn’t !
I was surprised to see a picture posted of one still intact 😁
A mate was in management at Renault UK when they came out and got me a loan of one for a weekend based on my ‘journalist’ credentials.
Blimey it was fun. It was the one with the windscreen though. A few day later I got to drive a screenless one round Silverstone, much more bonkers one built up for the race series they tried to get going.
I was doing some work on an old F1 car a few months back and the guy had a BX 4TC rally car sat in the corner of his workshop, it was the first time I’d ever seen one in the flesh. When I showed a bit of interest in it he said “don’t bother looking at that it’s a piece of s**t”!
eh? The Clio V6 had something like 220hp and the facelift 250hp. The big problem was the 172 was a lot lighter so not much slower
I reckon he’s got the Clio V6 and the Renault 5 turbo 2 mixed up somehow as he was talking about 160bhp which is what the turbo 2 has.
I’ve got a 172 cup as a daily driver, the newer Clio V6 would smoke it in a straight line but it’s an awesome little car. You can’t buy anything similar these days, it’s got no traction control, ABS, or any of the other electronic rubbish manufacturers put on everything.
@matt, first car was a GSA, query though not hugely bonkers. I loved it.
Then inherited my dad’s BX, it was pretty crap TBH and not helped by being a/ version 1 (I think) and b/ being previously driven by my dad, not the most intuitive of drivers. Was happy to get shot of it for a 205..
I love this. They only had one thing in mind – to set the speed record down the Mulsanne. Dog of a car otherwise –
“Speeds on the straight by the Group C prototypes reached over 400 km/h (250 mph) during the late 1980s. At the beginning of the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans race, Paris garage owner Roger Dorchy driving for Welter Racing in a “Project 400″ car dubbed the WM P88, and powered by a 2.8 litre turbocharged Peugeot V6 engine, which sacrificed reliability for speed (the car was out after just 53 laps or approximately 4 hours with turbo, cooling and electrical failure), was clocked by radar travelling at an all-time race record 405 km/h (252 mph).[4]”
It’s not mad, but I love my Twingo 133. 1.6L non-turbo engine that revs to 7000. No sixth geer because the engine was too big to fit the gearbox. Needs more power really. Takes a bike with only the front wheel off. Sad that the new one is a Smart Car.
Learnt to drive in a Citroen Ami 6 … you could see it rusting before your eyes …
Dad has a GS Club …. which was lovely to drive
Wifey had a Matra Simca when I met her. It has the traditional french build quality issues.
I had a BX 16v as my company car … 109k miles in 2 years and 26 weeks off the road. Citroen head office even told me “these were not meant to be company cars”. Plagued by electrical faults … it would always tell me it was overheating, and I need to stop “now”. It wasn’t. It lost all it hydraulic fluid in the centre of B’ham. It told me … and I didn’t believe it …
The first time I goot in, and shut the drivers door, the speaker mounted in fell out.
It was so noisy that you couldn’t hear the radio … the best way of reducing the noise was to always drive with the sun roof open …
Hence, I wold never own another french car …. but would love a DS , or one of the Maserati engined ones from the 70s
Trail_rat should also avoid clicking that link – far too many Berlingo 4x4s…
Why do we have none in the UK? *Perfect* bikes/hikey/paddle wagon for many.
while its true i love a 4×4 – and i love a berlingo….. I hate propitiatory parts…..
ive never seen the need for a 4×4 one as the stock ones are so good in the dubs with the winter tires on (10 years of battering them up farm tracks in winter and going to events in fields and forests. Ground clearance was always what got me ****. – my new ones got a 20mm lift and a steel belly pan on the underside.
I do wish they brought the Trek over in car version though – which is an LSD in the gearbox which locks the front wheels together in a slippage situation which would give you most of the benifits of 4×4 without the propriatory dangel parts and the associated drag/wear/noise.
– probably still wouldnt have bought one.
the one thing i do wish id done with my old one – as the shell was good it was just a bit slow/noisy/unsafety rated for my wife taking other peoples kids around in….. was fired in the v6 from a 406 coupe – straight swap – whole front end running gear . 200 BHP berlingo. Was late to the party and the v6 swap was popular across the Pug range so donors were pricy.
Probably not much benefit to counter that argument of ‘unsafe’ but I Rollesby previous Berlingo down a hill – took out 2 small trees and ended up upside down when it did stop (3.5 rolls maybe 4.5).
Anyway, outside of car had dents and bumps but the passenger area – front and rear remained in shape. Panels and roof had dents but otherwise we were intact.
Obviously fine if car rolls, notice the same as an idiot driving into you, but I was impressed at lack of damage inside vehicle when the outside was bashed all round.
My first ever company car (I’ve mentioned this before)
My company back then had a deal with the local Citroen dealer and Toyota dealer. I got to choose a model from either brand, so I went with this. It was fabulous. For some reason the dealer had some large green comedy frog stickers put on a few models and a moniker staring “le frog” needless to say I removed them.
I loved it, put about 10k on it before chopping it in for a Celica GT4, that came as quite a shock to my right foot I can tell you. Mates hated the 2cv, but oddly would always want a lift or taking somewhere more often to Boardwise in Cannock (Windsurfing dealer) whereby they’d jump out at the end of the road and walk. I pulled right outside one day and the owner came out an piled praise all over it.. my mates were rather sheepish after that.
I could get two Klepper wave boards in, two sails and last and boom. I had to remove the front seat and rear bench but there was plenty of room..
Of all the cars I’ve owned, this is the one I miss most.