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wuvvum

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Yep, the R12 definately made it to V....I nearly bought one on a V as my second car....Went for the 18TS instead! Wuvvum, the 304 estate looks splendid....Hope I get to meet it someday!

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Renner 6 ran from '68 to '79 with a facelift in '74 (I think). Never a strong seller in the UK. I have it on good authority that there are only 4 remaining in roadworthy condition in this fair isle. :shock: Therefore they must be the pinnacle of ULTIMATE SHITE. My dad had a 6 when I was a lad, it was totally obscure even then. He rated it highly - whilst it was pretty dog slow it was devilishly reliable and vaguely enjoyable. I remember having to sit on a bobbly orange cushion off a 70's sofa whilst riding in it so that the kiddie belts didn't decapitate me. And the umbrella gearlever. Quality. When the clutch went he chopped it in for the ORSUM POWER & LUXURY that was the Renner 20TL. QUAL.

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I have it on good authority that there are only 4 remaining in roadworthy condition in this fair isle. :shock: Therefore they must be the pinnacle of ULTIMATE SHITE.

If that's true then half of them are in Worthing! A white S reg one was seen by me & also a brown N reg one. Can't vouch if they're still there mind.
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My dad had two 6's - one when I was extremely small that I don't remember anything about and one that he bought in about 1983 that I remember vividly. He'd bought a Marina estate when my little brother was born in '82, but it turned out to be an unreliable heap of crap (once breaking down in the fast lane of the M3 on our way to Devon) so he flogged it and took me with him to the Renner dealer's. The salesman tried to flog him an ex-demo 11 in blue (I think it must've been a TC as it didn't have a rear wiper) but he decided that that was too expensive and instead went for a last-of-the-line 6TL on a T plate (YMC35T) in blue, which he kept for five years. Yes it was slow, but it was completely reliable and the only thing I remember going wrong with it (apart from the exhaust needing frequent patching up) was that it developed a large rust patch on the OSR quarter - it was starting to bubble a bit when Dad bought it and by the time we sold it it had developed into a hole big enough for me to fit my 9-year-old hand into. Other than that it was a great car - I can still remember the smell of it, and the weird half-moon-shaped door pulls that you pulled back to open the doors and pushed forward to lock them. And the distinctive noise the indicators made. Wonderful old car.

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I must dig out the pics of my old R6. It was a 'round eye' TL - first of the 1100s, but still with the round headlights and chrome surrounds. It was pretty rotten when I got it - did a lot of welding - that rear quarter wuvvum mentioned was pretty thin, and the rear passenger door striker plates were falling off. I fitted a R5TS motor - about 50% power boost. It was low-geared though, but acceleration was quite brisk! :) I left it 'hidden' in Ireland for a short while between trips there - sadly not 'hidden' well enough as it disappeared with a load of NOS spares inside and 5 speed R5 'box I intended to fit.Overall I think it was a better car than the 4 it was based on. Never sold well here - quite over-priced if I recall.About 10 years back I saw LOADS of 'em in Majorca - some were quite posh with tinted windows an' all.

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No worries. Could probably pick you up from the station and drop you to the seller if required. Might make a nice break from trying to fix my 405's starting problem...

That would be ideal. Looks like I'll be getting into Reading at 10.51 on Saturday - would that be any good for you?
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No worries. Could probably pick you up from the station and drop you to the seller if required. Might make a nice break from trying to fix my 405's starting problem...

That would be ideal. Looks like I'll be getting into Reading at 10.51 on Saturday - would that be any good for you?
Should be OK, wife permitting - send me your number by PM and I'll try and think of somewhere to park that's nearby!
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Well, it's home.

 

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With huge thanks to Mr Welfare, who gave me a lift from the station to the seller's house and then followed me back to the M25 to make sure the old gal was running OK, my 304 is safely back in sunny Norwich. And I think I got a bit of a bargain, despite her scruffy looks. She drove absolutely superbly, with no overheating and sensible fuel consumption, and, although I had been intending to trundle home at 60, she settled so naturally into a 75mph cruise that it seemed rude not to. The interior is great - real wood decking in the boot and wonderful brown vinyl pretty much everywhere else. The seats are squashy and amazingly comfortable, the ride is superb with surprisingly little body roll and impressive handling, the gearchange is slick, and the brakes work fine, although one of the rear drums groans a bit. Best of all though, she came with nearly half a tank of fuel, a full litre bottle of Castrol GTX engine oil (which is about twelve quid now from garages), three different workshop manuals, a set of spare belts, and - get this - six months' more tax than what it'd been advertised with. Lord only knows why, but the woman had advertised the tax as running out at the end of this month. Well it doesn't. It runs out at the end of next May. :D And all for £160 - I'm well chuffed.

 

By the way, yup, that is the Subaru parked next to it - picked that up on Thursday night. That drives pretty well too - as it should with 59K from new, backed up by a FSH - but it doesn't have much left in the way of sills, so it's going to need a bit of welding work come MoT time in January.

 

Not much in the way of shite on the roads today. Highlights were an immaculate Sid'n'Doris owned (and driven) Mk1 Alto in Reading, a chome-bumpered CX Prestige (on the back of a recovery truck) on the M11 and a beige Méhari on the A11, but that was about it really.

 

So, all in all, well worth dragging mymself out of bed at 6.30 on a Saturday morning for...

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although I had been intending to trundle home at 60, she settled so naturally into a 75mph cruise that it seemed rude not to

Whoops - that'd be my fault! 75mph is my standard cruising speed. You got back quick then!I can say that, having been a rear-seat passenger during the 'test drive' with our correspondent at the wheel, it really does feel like you're in a '70s French cop movie starring Jean-Paul Belmondo or Alain Delon. This car is too cool for skool.RW felt he almost blew negotiations by pointing out to the seller the tax was 6 months longer than expected, but no problems! The vinyl seats on this baby are unbelieveable. I am extremely jealous!Missed the spotted Alto but we did see a Morris Minor van in traffic, plus I spotted a '65 or '66 Chrysler sedan (Newport?) going westbound on the M4 around Slough...
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I'm very jealous too....PROPER French style! 8)

 

I hope to clap eyes on it in person someday soon....It won't be Tuesday night unfortunately....Work has scuppered that yet again! :evil:

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It's just brilliant - can just imagine it hurtling through Paris with a 404 in pursuit! Seems to have a really nice look to it, like it's been sat in a warm climate for years.Rip those mirrors off though!

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plus I spotted a '65 or '66 Chrysler sedan (Newport?) going westbound on the M4 around Slough...

Was it a black pillarless one? - I seriously want one of the these so I am trying to find out how many are in the UK, I have a strong suspicison importing one from the states might be cheaper, even with all the taxes, shipping costs etc.Hows the R800 going?
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Brilliant work Wuvvum! You are bringing it to The Angel on Tuesday aren't you? New Laurel arrived today so that'll be there, there's a couple of other new cars that should be in attendance, then Mr_Bo11ox avec 323 should be coming too?Edit: Good weekend for Autoshite car collecting, as I'm off with Baz tomorrow to get the new 9.

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Is the body solid apart from the tattiness? I hope the plan is to keep it that way. :)

From a very brief glance it doesn't look too bad at all. Sills were replaced for the last MoT. I shall be having a crawl round underneath tomorrow, weather permitting, and I'll be able to give a more detailed answer then.

How did you get on with the Justy? I'm still a bit 'meh' about those Suzuki-ised Justys.

It's actually quite pleasant to drive. Not as much fun as the 121, or as quick for that matter (although it will still just about manage the ton) but it's very easy to drive as it has PAS, and the cornering ability is frankly quite extraordinary for something that is based on a 20-year-old Suzuki Swift, despite less than communicative steering. I have yet to find the limit of its grip, despite severely overcooking it into a couple of corners on the way back from a mate's bonfire party this evening (headlights are crap so night-time driving is a bit of a seat-of-the-pants affair). And being Japanese it's likely to be reliable. Of course I would rather have had a "proper" Justy, if only because I love 3-pot engines, but I haven't seen an MoT'd one of those for under a hundred quid in a very long time.
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I find myself drawn to the left of your picture though, where it would appear there’s a kindred spirit for:

 

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Yup, it's this.

 

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My old 245. The only car in the fleet that makes the 304 look tidy... I have got to get this bloody thing MoT'd soon. The front tyres are unevenly worn though (almost bald on the inside edge) so I might have to borrow the wheels off the 164 to get it through. And I'll have to swap all four wheels over as the 164 has 15s whereas the 245 has 14s. So it's going to be a bit of a faff. Other than that I've done everything else I could see it needed, so hopefully it'll be back on the road soon scaring the hell out of white van drivers - much in the same vein as that superb 145. Although I have to pay for the tax disc on mine. :x

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Yeah, for quite a while. The mk3 Justy is basically a Hungarian-built Suzuki Swift with permanent AWD, the mk4 was a rebadged Suzuki Ignis (sold in the rest of Europe, not UK), again with AWD, and the mk5 is a FWD Daihatsu Sirion... :?

:shock: In other words Subaru are a bunch of tarts! :lol:
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