4L International. A Renault 4. 1500 miles. Roadtrip!

[Mr Lobster]

After a few days break (which gives Outlaw's blisters chance to subside after the frenzy he worked himself into following the first pics), heres some more.

 

Sunday was pretty much more of the same so with a boat load of fresh crossiants under my belt we wandered back into the show again and had an hour or two wandering round and seeing much the same as Saturday. Not that thats a bad thing you understand. So after a morning of this....

 

 

 

 

....we decided that as we were there without kids, we decided to do what came naturally. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we went to have a look at a château, see the area, be touristy and to spot some old cars (of course).

 

Over the weekend we had kept passing a village garage that appeared to have a paddock full of old cars seeing out their final days. Obviously first job was investigating this.

 

 

 

 

I love finding stuff like this but alas, a big dog deterred investigating too much. So on we continued to have a look around a couple of local towns...

 

 

 

More later...

[Mr Lobster]

And we continue....

 

First up, some shite architecture.

 

 

This could be my dream house. There was a large workshop adjacent to the former showroom and a smallish forecourt. That'd be ideal for combined tat heaven and LobsterDiecast.fr French HQ.  Presumably the Citroen franchise now resides in some shiny, glassly place next to a wide road with plenty of parking. Just like so many others. Pity.

 

Back on the mean* streets of Montrichard, after consuming a superb 'Kebab Galette' (NOM NOM NOM), more spotting was to be had.

 

 

 

 

From Montrichard we R4'd alongside the river towards Chenonceau. Chenonceau is the second most visited site in France (behind Versailles) and the château itself sits atop the Loire river and is very scenic if......wait, what was THAT I just saw out of the corner of my eye?

 

 

So anyway. Chateau arrived at and dumped the van in the leafy car park next to a car that probably regretted that it didn't live in Cheshire so would never have the opportunity to be flogged on Gumtree to a succession of potless morons by a man who had incorrectly date stamped all the pictures he had taken of it...

 

 

I don't imagine that big châteaus aren't normally known for their collections of elderly, rusty shite but Chenonceau managed a couple of which this is 50%

 

 

Coming Up In Part 3 - Farmers, Autoroutes, High* Speed* Action*, Ferries, Alcohol, White Chocolate Oreos. Stay tuned tomorrow!

[mat_the_cat]

Right, that settles it. Not only do they have better weather, wine, food but their car shows look more interesting too! I really do wonder if we'll end up living over there?

[Mr Lobster]

Time to bring this particular story to its conclusion.

 

Its Monday. You are sat having a leisurely breakfast in your very nice b&b when the owner casually asks which port you sail back from tonight

 

'Cherbourg' you reply.

 

'Going up the autoroute near Caen?' he asks

 

'Yup' you reply

 

He then goes on to inform you that on the radio he has been told by a Frenchman that because this is France and French farmers live in France, that today, as an alternative to sitting around in fields on their tractors that they'll be sitting around on the autoroute around Caen on their tractors because they are unhappy with the price of meat.

 

No bother, we've got loads of time and a map. So after popping another croissant covered with lashings of homemade strawberry jam in we consulted the map and came up with a pleasing looking route. We'd already decided to stay away from the autoroute for the first 100 miles or so anyway and so had a nice drive through the countryside towards Tours and then to Le Mans and stopping for the obligatory picture on the circuit

 

 

 

After this we headed to the hypermarket to fill the van with 'provisions' (which is to say, biscuits, alcohol and car magazines).

 

So far so good. 

 

It was whilst stood getting a sandwich that the wheels fell off the plan. I think my thinking was along the lines of 'hey we've got just over three hours to get to Cherbourg but thats ok because its only 180 miles and our cruising speed is a happy 60 so that leaves...... oooh. That could be a bit tight.

 

So with the many purchases carefully* lobbed into the back of the van we hit the road and decided to find some autoroute for a bit of high speed* travel.  We'd planned to leave the autoroute about 70 miles south of Caen and cut across country and this we did but before that we needed petrol. And it seems that regular unleaded is not so common as here at least at autoroute service stations so a tank of 95/E30 ethanol blended stuff was obtained.  

 

Once off the motorway we needed to push on and despite the mild will we / won't we make it on time stress, it was actually fun. Theres quite a lot of enjoyment to be had in wringing every last bit of speed of of something relatively slow and going as fast as possible in it. I'd actually say I enjoyed the drive more in the R4 than if I'd been in something far more expensive, faster and 'sexier'

 

So yep, twisty 'N' roads, up hills, around corners and all that for about ninety miles and we we back to the autoroute having seen but successfully avoided Les Farmists. Back on the dual carriageway all was not well. Above 50mph there was something amiss - not significant but a definate hesitation and lacking something at the top end. Something didn't seem right but there just wasn't time to investigate so with fingers crossed we carried on and made it to Cherbourg with about ten minutes to spare.

 

 

An uneventful ferry crossing followed and once back in Angleterre we headed for Portsmouths finest Tesco for some good old English unleaded reasoning that if it was a fuel issue at least diluting the evil ethanol brew might lessen the problem. And it did. With a tank full of Tescos finest the problem went and the remainder of the M27/M3/A34/M40/M42/M6/M60/M66/M65 journey was completed without incident.

 

Conclusions from this trip? Well, old cars are cool. Obviously. In terms of topping up my old car mojo it was ace and I'm definitely doing the show again in 2017. In the meantime though I fancy another foreign R4 trip. Theres Reims next march and a big Renault show in Holland next September I quite fancy....

[forddeliveryboy]

Great trip, great autoshite coverage!

 

A R4 has been on the drive the last couple of weeks, it's amazing how much more capable they are on our local roads (poor foundations, poor surface, narrowish and up and down) than almost anything modern. And it's so much fun to drive, the grip is superb. I think someone's fitted a R5 carb, since it feels quicker than I remember them - about the right speed for modern traffic.

[dollywobbler]

Glad I've finally caught up with this thread. It's like an alternative vision of all the 2CV meets I've ever been to, where the quirky small car is watercooled instead. Anyone else been to Le Mans this year?

[vulgalour]

Renault 6 joy!

 

Excellent thread too, enjoyed reading that.

[scruff]

Glad I've finally caught up with this thread. It's like an alternative vision of all the 2CV meets I've ever been to, where the quirky small car is watercooled instead. Anyone else been to Le Mans this year?

 

 

 

I know what you mean, it reminded me also of the series Landy events I've been to in Europe. They just do everything better over there, add in the journey and the holiday vibe and it is an excellent way to spend a few days. 

 

Excellent thread Lobz!! 

[Slappy]

Ah, just caught up with this too.

 

Was going to add that for an additional nerd point, the photo of The Spice Island where there were 2 cars parking spaces in front of it is the very extremely tippy endy bit of the A3.

 

Bet you are all relieved that you know that now.

 

Oh and Norfolk, I am expecting (hoping) that the nudity was in aid of the university naked calendar (now sadly discontinued due to politics*). I'll see if I can dig out a copy from around 5 years ago, when I'd barely graduated as opposed to now where it's like I can't move on....

[Cavcraft]

Lovely thread.

 

How come France can keep really interesting/proper 'olde worlde' building and houses, such as that former garage? In Britain that would 227 bloody glass fronted shoebox 'apartments' rented out to vacuous morons.

[PiperCub]

Great thread and terrific photos.

 

Quite like 2CV's but have always had a soft spot for the 4. Never managed to own one though, they appeal to me due to their no-nonsense-ness and the unique look and I don't normally have much love for Ren's generally (bar the 5 & bizarrely, the old Twingo - sorry).

 

As others have said, would fancy doing a road trip in one for the experience and to maybe replicate the one I did in an old Minivan back in the 80's.

[Vin]

Is that a Townsend Thoresesen GB sticker??? If so, then 8) 8) ...Jealous.

[hairnet]

madness - love it

 

how about retromobile in feb??

 

 

 

I'd actually say I enjoyed the drive more in the R4 than if I'd been in something far more expensive, faster and 'sexier'

 

like a 17??

[Mr Lobster]

Is that a Townsend Thoresesen GB sticker??? If so, then 8) 8) ...Jealous.

Sure is!

 

[hairnet]

Lovely thread.

 

How come France can keep really interesting/proper 'olde worlde' building and houses, such as that former garage? In Britain that would 227 bloody glass fronted shoebox 'apartments' rented out to vacuous morons.

cos apparently when the owner dies etc - it passes to the family - and if they wanna sell they all have to agree so lots get left until/unless it gets sorted

[forddeliveryboy]

madness - love it

 

how about retromobile in feb??

 

 

Retromobile is ace, the journey to and from can be made v interesting - we used to go out in a day and return in two, staying in a small hotel in a picturesque town and a good piss up. Must repeat.

[cort1977]

"the worst TGI Fridays in the UK".   And that's saying something!

 

Great thread, are the 4x4 versions a factory thing or a conversion?

[forddeliveryboy]

Great thread and terrific photos.

 

Quite like 2CV's but have always had a soft spot for the 4. Never managed to own one though, they appeal to me due to their no-nonsense-ness and the unique look and I don't normally have much love for Ren's generally (bar the 5 & bizarrely, the old Twingo - sorry).

 

As others have said, would fancy doing a road trip in one for the experience and to maybe replicate the one I did in an old Minivan back in the 80's.

 

 

They're tough and simple with not a little inspiration from Citroën's Traction Avant (engine behind the box for good weight distribution, torsion bars, large wheels at each corner) but structurally with a platform base a little like a simplified DS' without all the pillars, inner arches and bulkhead arch). Renault knew they had to come up with a guaranteed 2cv-beater, which in many ways it is. Not quite the same pur-sang but a gutsy 1108cc engine is much more suited to many of England's sharp-corner-at-the-bottom-of-a-hill little roads. If you prefer an XR3s to Suds, then you'll think it's the finest thing ever. Yet Alfa-Romeo built almost 40,000 of them in 2 and a bit years, fackt.

 

They're very straight-forwards for mechanics so they don't get into uncharted territory/fuckups like they did with Citroën stuff. I love 'em to bits, as I do the gorgeous 16. Just watch for chassis rot - it's more DS than 2cv-style, if in the wrong place. Prices has risen steadily over the last 3 or 4 years, but there are still 1500 euro belters to be had. Parts are all available from fransoze.de.

 

[PiperCub]

So pardon my ignorance but is the 4 a separate chassis then as the above photo suggests? Or has the top bodywork been removed/trimmed to achieve this?  (As i say, I'm clearly no expert on 4's!!).

[capsuleboy]

Yep, thats its platform chassis, the body simple bolts on top. 

 

On the plus side they are now available new and quite reasonably priced.

[forddeliveryboy]

It's described as a 'semi-monocoque', I'd describe it as separate chassis. I've never taken the body off one, but it's only bolted on.

 

 

 

Its predecssor the 4CV was a monocoque construction, so interesting that Renault should have designed the Quatrelle like this.

[Felly Magic]

Really nice thread Mr Lobster. Love the look of your fourgonette too. I remember a small grille R4 was used by Danny DeVito in Romancing The Stone. Poor thing ended up in a fast flowing river

[capsuleboy]

A good time was had by one and all, roll on 2017...