My summer with a Renault 20...

[Vin]

When I first joined Autoshite there was, and am sure still is, a lot of love for the Renault 20. And 30 as well...

 

Back in 2006 I intended to do this post about the Summer of 1992 when I had a bit of fun playing about with a 20TS, but I didn't. Recently I found the album with all the photos I took at the time. I finally managed to scan some of them and now I can post them up and tell the story. Better late than never I suppose...

 

My late mother had two examples of the breed. The first was a green 1980 20TL (PKH 479W) which my Dad had brush painted below the side trim with metallic sea green hammerite - 'hammered' finish as well. Eventually it was burning oil big time leaving a big smokescreen wherever it went. It went to a mechanic mate of my Grandad who was a regular at Newark car auctions. The 20 ended up through a midweek night auction in the summer of 1989 - my Dad ended up with £100...

 

So along came the replacement, 20 number 2. This was a 1983 20TS 2litres. My Dad bought NTL 472Y from a farmer near North Kelsey Moor. He had a side business building and refurbishing horse boxes and it was used a tow vehicle. It had a great sturdy home-made towbar of angle iron.

 

Anyway, this was my Mum's daily transport and was until March 1992 when in wet weather she spun off the road coming down a local hill. Unfortunately there were woods on either side of the road and she hit a tree. She was fine though although shook up. Fortunately a neighbour passed by saw what had happened and gave her a lift back home. My Dad went with him with some tools (neighbour had a D reg Espace at the time  ) and then hammered back the bodywork that was fouling the rear wheel. They got it back on the road and my Dad drove it back home...

 

Here is the damage...

 

Side view...

 

 

The Vauxhall Carlton estate in the background belonged to my Uncle. It was an Auto, don't know what engine size, but it was fast...well it seemed fast to me at the time. It was a 1989 G reg - G606 NHA was the number I think...

 

Rear corner that took the brunt of the damage...

 

 

Rear end...

 

 

For any caravan pervs, the van to the right was a 1976 Elddis Cyclone. My Dad towed it with an 85 Rover SD1 2.6 VDP, but he chopped that in for an 85 Volvo 760 GLT Estate. He did tow the van a couple of times with the Renault, but it was a manual and he preferred Autos for towing which is what the Rover and Volvo where...

 

You can just make out the angle iron towbar...

 

Anyway, my Dad suggested to me, why not do something with it. I was interested in old cars and bodywork and he'd bought me an arc welder a couple of christmases before... so after I had finished my GCSEs I had all summer to do something with it. I decided I was going to turn it into a pick up truck because I thought it would look cool. Before I did any work on it I learnt to drive in it. I used to go back and forwards in to the garage and do three point turns on the drive and the grass. Not a lot I know but I'd learnt all about clutch control and stopping sharpish before I was let out on the Queens Highway. I used to enjoy sitting in it too. It was the comfiest car I have been in and still is to this day...

 

So exams were sat and I was free so I borrowed an angle grinder off my builder uncle and set to it. My vision of a pick up was to chop it all back, replace the damage and chop the roof and weld up the doors, make a cab wall and away you go. I was influenced by the car pick-ups I used to see when I went on holiday to Cornwall and Devon. In the little coastal towns I'd see cut down cars turned into pick ups for shifting nets and crab and lobster pots. I distinctly remember a Citroen GS chopped down for this purpose...

 

Here it is after a month with angle grinder and hammer and chisel...

 

 

Of note (in particular to the SVM) in the background is the Volvo 760 GLT Estate of my Dad. It was a 1985 example  and the reg was C518 KJV. He bought it from a BMW dealer in Grimsby called 'Harveys'.  I loved it, it was Ace. The air con didn't work though....

 

To the right of the pic is the replacement for the 20, my Mum's C reg Fiat Panda 750L. She loved that car, tbh she never liked big cars and she loved nipping about in it. I learnt to drive in it, and ended up buying it off her, the beginning my love of small Fiats...

 

So, after chopping all the bodywork I needed to replace it. So my Dad and I had a look round the local yards and found the perfect donor at the long gone 'Caistor Salvage'. We took the trailer behind the Volvo, stripped out the rear of the donor and the site lad chiselled and gas axed off what we needed. All the gas gear was stored in a knackered Hyundai Pony pick-up...

 

This is what we got...

 

 

It was then my Dad was talking to the mechanic he used to service his cars, still does them now actually. He mentioned what I was doing and he basically said don't bother. Unless you put major strengthening in it will just sag and you'll not be able to open the doors. I was obviously disappointed but I suggested why not put it back to being a car again and I would use it when I passed my test. So we decided that was I would do. My Dad's mechanic mate had said I need to split all the panels of the donor section, so I decided I would do that...

 

But, there was a big problem with my plan to rebuild it back as was intended. As I was going to turn it into a pick-up I had cut the C-Pillar quite high up and the donor section had been cut quite low down, thus meaning there was a big chunk of rear pillar missing... So that was the end of that.

 

So I packed all the bits into the back of the car and took one of the seats out. Because it was so comfy I put it on blocks to use in the garage for sitting and having a cup of tea. I don't have it any more though.

 

I do still have the rear lights and wheel trims somewhere in the garage loft. I kept the badges and the number plates too.

 

In the end, the remains of NTL 472Y were taken away by Eva Brothers scrapyard at Scunthorpe in September 1992. I got £20 for it.

 

So that was my summer with a Renault 20...

 

Badges...

 

 

Plates. The Renault dealer on both of them is 'Linpac Motors' of Grimsby...

 

[xtriple]

Jos Eva was a mate of mine (biker) back in the late 70s and spent a lot of time in the yard. They often had interesting stuff in there. Also remember Linpac motors always thought it was an odd name.

 

I was given a '20' TS auto when I was skint and I thought it was a really likeable car; big, roomy and very comfortable.

[twitcherman]

Ah, Newark Motor Auctions, I remember it well. 

[Vin]

Jos Eva was a mate of mine (biker) back in the late 70s and spent a lot of time in the yard. They often had interesting stuff in there. Also remember Linpac motors always thought it was an odd name.

 

I was given a '20' TS auto when I was skint and I thought it was a really likeable car; big, roomy and very comfortable.

 

Linpac was, still is I think, a group called 'Lincolnshire Packaging'. The car dealership was one of a number of their other concerns.