Made it in life: Dacia Denem

[Alexg]

THE UNTHINKABLE HAS HAPPENED! Amazing, brilliant, exciting - Well done for finding this car, it's wonderful and can't wait to see your progress!

[Adrian_pt]

Very happy. I had heard there was one stashed away in NI and it couldn't have gone to a better home. Well done sir, you have won sir.

 

Amazing that even the base models had pinstriping and fake wood trim. The GLX was rather well equipped, with electric windows and a radio-cassette.

 

The bumpers and the design of the rear wheel are specific to Dacias. Also, although the rear lights are the same as a R12 phase 2, the roof (look at the C-pillar) is off a phase 1.

 

There's actually two types of hatchback based on the Dacia - the 1320 and the 1325. 1320 was 1987 to 89 and most ended up as taxis. The 1325 was presented at the 1989 Motor Show and then called Liberta after the Revolution. They were being made till about 1996 and were top of the Dacia range - still shit though. Making them in 1.6 guise was a pipe dream. I have been in a few in my time and no, they are not fiable.

 

Dacias were sold in China (where the FSO was also popular and at one time even assembled) but they have a silly rule whereby no car over 15 years old is allowed to be driven on the roads. As automotive museums in China aren't thick on the ground it's unlikely that there will be Dacias left - although one Oltcit has survived!

 

Incidentally, on the "very acceptable" story - the literal translation is "foarte acceptabil" which actually means "very good value" in Romanian. So it's a chase of shit translation as well as shit advertising. A bit like the picture (also used by Dacia UK) of a Denem and an XJ-S outside the same suburban house, with the family kids running gleefully towards the Dacia. Unlikely.

[chaseracer]

  Bren said:

Does anybody remember the newspaper ads for dacia in the 80's? I seem to remember they would occupy a very small section of a page, usually near the back - if you were interested then you would have to send for details.

I did just that, aged about 15 - hence the brochure in the attic

[trigger]

Dacia Denem Advert 1982 by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

Dacia Denem Range Advert 1983 by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

[Andrew353w]

I looked up the postcode on Googlemaps & there are a few empty sites on "North Way", which might well have been the home of all the Dacia cars that came into the U.K., including Sam's! Interesting, although no "lost cars" awaiting "liberation".....

 

Pity!

[ChinaTom]

  Adrian_pt said:

Dacias were sold in China (where the FSO was also popular and at one time even assembled) but they have a silly rule whereby no car over 15 years old is allowed to be driven on the roads. As automotive museums in China aren't thick on the ground it's unlikely that there will be Dacias left - although one Oltcit has survived!

 

Not officially - only government or governmental officials were allowed to 'procure' them - a bit like the 'O' plates today. In those days, imported vehicles were allowed to remain on the road for 12 years (that even applied to Toyota Crowns) and domestic cars only 8. That rule still exists today although I managed to get a stay of execution for my Pajero and Great Wall Deer. The Deer must be crushed in 2016. Unless I cross a palm with silver and get a later reg plate from a crashed 2009 car (last year the model was manufactured).

 

This limited availability was applicable to the Moskviches and old Cherokees. The General Public could buy the Shanghai Automobile version of the Mosk and the Xi'An version of the Cherokee. They could buy the Chinese assembled FSO's too. A friend of mine had one of these (a Polonez) stored in his workshop until quite recently but sadly no more. Even Olcits and Axels were unavailable to Joe Bloggs - he had to make do with the Liuzhou built Visa.

 

I bet some research on old photos of Romanian airports will uncover plenty of those Dacia semi-pick-ups. They used to bring check-in luggage to the baggage hall in the old Sibiu airport with them back in the early 90's.

[ChinaTom]

Did the GLX Denem really have leccy windows?

[M'coli]

  Andrew353w said:

I looked up the postcode on Googlemaps & there are a few empty sites on "North Way", which might well have been the home of all the Dacia cars that came into the U.K., including Sam's! Interesting, although no "lost cars" awaiting "liberation".....

 

Pity!

There was no sign of Dacia still being there when I worked for Ducal who had some 14 units on that estate in 1998, they were scattered around there including some of the units Norton had worked out of in the late 80s/early 90s. It was pretty boom-town at the time, there appeared to not be too much in the way of empty units/warehousing there in 98, I worked on virtually all the industrial estates in the space of 10 months (doncha just love agency work!). Shame, though!

[SambaS]

Nice one Sam!!! I've been away all of three days and we've got a Dacia Denem and a new forum!!!

 

I'm on the hunt for a Duster soft top in red Bit specific eh

 

Keep your ears peeled and your eyes to the floor for me

[Charlie Croker]

  CYANIDE STEVE said:

I feel slightly outshited! Well done Sam. That's fantastic!

I feel a search for a UK spec 1979 Polonez coming on!!!

[RENOMAD]

  Sam Glover said:

Its acquisition it was almost disappointingly easy.

 

I've been looking for one in a desultory sort of way for at least five years, with no promising leads at all. Then, during a rare visit to the Renault Owners Club group on Twitbook, I spotted it lurking in an Northern Irish barn behind a Renault 12TS. The chap that posted the picture sent me the owner's phone number. He turned out to be a thoroughly good egg - and a Dacia pervert to boot. He agreed to sell it, and was even so good as to arrange transport to my door.

 

It promises to be a pretty easy resto project - far more so than the Sport in front of it in the queue.

 

Next, I think a Liberta should be imported. Girls will be impressed by its elegance and fiability...

 

 

Only driving this model you will find full satisfaction!

 

Sam

 

 

Hi Guys,,,,its been a long time since I've posted here but I just had to make an appearance here. Actually I'm the guy who gave the Denems Owners number to Sam. I had actually made contact about the 12 TS and kept contact with him for a while. He wasnt going to part with the Denem initially, but when he hinted that he might I posted it on the Renault Owners Club Facebook page as Sam states. I suppose the right man got it. The 12 TS may also be for sale, but it does need work. The car used to belong about 15 years ago to Mr. Renault 18 who posts here from time to time. It has been parked in a shed for at least 10 years now and will need a lot of work.

 

John

[John F]

Miserable! And ace.

[Mr Lobster]

How did I not see this when it was first posted.

 

AWESOME.