HMC- Mr Chowdhury’s Mercedes

[grogee]

BT Cellnet regional manager company car circa 1997.

Absolutely bloody lovely. Can you share a video of it talking? 

Is it a French autobox or also Volvo sourced? 

What an absolute beauty. Well jell. 

[mintwth]

20 minutes ago, HMC said:

As its the range topper it also talks

Oui, bien sur

20 minutes ago, HMC said:

In English

Yes, of course 

[RoadworkUK]

Hard to top that as a combination of "what on earth is that?" style, allied to THAT exhaust note. You're doing the lord's work.

[HMC]

14 minutes ago, grogee said:

BT Cellnet regional manager company car circa 1997.

Absolutely bloody lovely. Can you share a video of it talking? 

Is it a French autobox or also Volvo sourced? 

What an absolute beauty. Well jell. 

I think is an aisin warner 4 speed (the facelift in 96 saw them ditch the in house unit)

[wuvvum]

15 minutes ago, HMC said:

I insisted the vendor keep the jag wheels and chuck back on the chunky sidewall 90s original wheels and tyres for MAX WAFT

Does that mean it's still got the original tyres on it?  Impressive if so (although probably fine if they've been stored properly - the nearside rear tyre on my Volvo is from April 1990 but spent most of its life in the boot).

[sierraman]

My uncle had a 2.0 in the metallic red as per the brochure. Lovely cars, all the bores will have you believe they were crap compared to BMW etc but they were a superb car, lovely inside. The top one was the BiTurbo and the Questor IIRC. 

[sierraman]

18 minutes ago, grogee said:

BT Cellnet regional manager company car circa 1997.

Absolutely bloody lovely. Can you share a video of it talking? 

Is it a French autobox or also Volvo sourced? 

What an absolute beauty. Well jell. 

Aisin Warner I think on those. 

[sierraman]

3 minutes ago, HMC said:

I think is an aisin warner 4 speed (the facelift in 96 saw them ditch the in house unit)

The in-house Renault boxes of that age were prone to one of the 20 odd sensors going or more terminally the oil cooler leaking. Not many left as very few went through life without a replacement which needless to say was horrendously expensive. 

[wesacosa]

lovely, I make that 4 Safranes on here now.. What a time to be alive 

[loserone]

1 hour ago, bramz7 said:

Wow! Okay as per tradition on your threads, dibs 😂

Yeah, please can I claim second dibs on this one? Ahm going to follow you again till this is sold @HMC

[andyberg]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

So whats the mystery 20 valver? Not @bramz7 a lancia thesis, nor anything VAG.

Its a Renault Safrane 2.5 20v ; fitted with a 5 cylinder 2.4 volvo lump. Keywords: WAFT and FRENCHNESS. As its the range topper it also talks. In English (alas)

 

Another one join's the fold. We must have just about all the drivable and on the road Safranes in the UK now 😁😁 Sir you are a star of the highest order ( something we all know anyway)

[andyberg]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

It appears (perhaps due to underwhelming customer interest) the dealer registered it and held onto it for about 6 months…

then a chap bought it…

Held onto most things…

And then in july this year was purchased by the guy i got if off.

It was then fitted with 18 inch jag wheels and low profile tyres.

NON!

That its at odds to the waft and comfort raison d’etre (see what I did there) of a safrane and so as part of the sales process I insisted the vendor keep the jag wheels and chuck back on the chunky sidewall 90s original wheels and tyres for MAX WAFT

I thought I saw this one on faceache. I did mention to him that the jag wheels would ruin the ride. He insisted that it was improved 🙄 

[Schaefft]

15 minutes ago, loserone said:

Yeah, please can I claim second dibs on this one? Ahm going to follow you again till this is sold @HMC

I am claiming dibs once it's in your possession and you decide to move it on. Imagine having a buyer for a car you don't even own!

Alternatively, I would like to register my interest, wherever I happen to land in the list.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Classy! I used to see loads of local LJ plates when I lived in Darzet for a few years. I didn't know these ever shared Volvo lumps - I'd imagine the 5 pot sounds sweet when proceeding from the Waft lane into the I'mAnExecutive lane. 

[andyberg]

His words a couple of weeks ago….

[timolloyd]

Short lifetime then…

[Schaefft]

53 minutes ago, sierraman said:

The in-house Renault boxes of that age were prone to one of the 20 odd sensors going or more terminally the oil cooler leaking. Not many left as very few went through life without a replacement which needless to say was horrendously expensive. 

The 4-speed auto on the pre-facelift Safrane, at the very least the V6 model, was actually bought from VW, wasn't it?

[somewhatfoolish]

7 minutes ago, andyberg said:

I thought I saw this one on faceache. I did mention to him that the jag wheels would ruin the ride. He insisted that it was improved 🙄 

It may well have improved the ride but only because the tyres aren't 30 years old; new tyres of the OE size would probably be like riding on a waterbed borne aloft on a raft of baloony frenchness.

[andyberg]

1 minute ago, somewhatfoolish said:

It may well have improved the ride but only because the tyres aren't 30 years old; new tyres of the OE size would probably be like riding on a waterbed borne aloft on a raft of baloony frenchness.

On this point I totally agree. Describes the ride from my safrane completely 

[Schaefft]

I remember the Safrane to be one of the most comfortable if not the most comfortable car I've driven at the time I had mine, very much comparable to my Senator actually. The only thing I disliked about it was the somewhat high up seating position, something I assume wasn't changed with the facelift.

[bramz7]

My old 2.2 RN ph1 may have had the performance of a dry slug but my god the ride quality was superb. It was hush quiet on the road. 

 

 

[loserone]

1 minute ago, Schaefft said:

somewhat high up seating position

These are sounding more perfect by the moment 

[shampooefficient]

21 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

It may well have improved the ride but only because the tyres aren't 30 years old; new tyres of the OE size would probably be like riding on a waterbed borne aloft on a raft of baloony frenchness.

Agreed. We've put 15s on the Lupo replacing the 13s (needed wheels and they were in the shed) and instead of being compliant and comfortable its like going round a skateboard while strapped to an RSJ. 

Looks sweet though. Honest.

[HMC]

I think new tyres are essential- one is a goodyear nct (as in version 1)

[somewhatfoolish]

I'd say tyres old enough to vote need retiring. 😁

[Split_Pin]

Man alive what a car! Swedish 5 pot and French waftiness. Surely among one of the ultimate cars!

[brownnova]

Phwoar! All of the yes to a Safrane! 
 

Whichever dibs number we’re up to… can I have that one please. 

[Ohdearme]

3 hours ago, bramz7 said:

Wow! Okay as per tradition on your threads, dibs 😂

Whatever happened to the V6 talky computer equipped Laguna you took off me?

[bramz7]

Just now, Ohdearme said:

Whatever happened to the V6 talky computer equipped Laguna you took off me?

It's still around..my friend has it but it's currently off the road. I may ask him for it again one day. Maybe. 

[Ohdearme]

2 minutes ago, bramz7 said:

It's still around..my friend has it but it's currently off the road. I may ask him for it again one day. Maybe. 

That was an equally lovely thing to drive, apart from the weird whooshing noise on full chat.