Sold Safrane, so good? Now needs new home for £250 shiter price

[bramz7]

So, this was unexpected. As the for sale thread mentioned, I got bored of my ZX. It's great at what it does but I was driving the same car just after i passed my test, and 15 cars later it just wasn't what I wanted.

So I dropped that off at Downham Market this morning, meeting Beige1100 of this very forum in the process, who very kindly took me to the station after in his oddly crusty (but weirdly alluring) 405 NA Diesel estate.

 

I then ended up in Luton somehow.

 

I was picked up from the station by someone driving a Saab 9-3 2.8T Cabriolet...which was incredibly nice dare I say.

 

Then, words were spoken, drives were tested, money was exchanged, y'know, the usual.

 

So I then got back to Reading. And this was parked outside?!

 

fullsizeoutput_125e by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

fullsizeoutput_1261 by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

Yeah, it's the Safrane RN which was on eBay forever. It had slowly been dropping in price and was at a very tempting £400 a week or so back. I messaged the seller, we spoke on the phone and a plan was hatched. I was expecting it to have issues but actually, the drive back down the M1, M25 and M4 was smooth. Very smooth. And ridiculously quiet. And the fuel gauge barely moved. I suppose that might be because the tank capacity is 80 litres...

 

So what do you get with an RN Safrane? Not a whole load as it turns out. No double din stereo. No fancy heating controls. Manual rear windows. Steel wheels. No AC, no ABS (I think), and slightly less plush seats.

 

But who cares. It looks sweet, the paint is all the same shade, there is barely any dings, it came with some useful spares, it had the tensioner and cambelt done 12k ago, and supposedly, only broke down once on the previous and longterm owner.

 

Driving a car this big is weird. Also I reversed into a hedge when I took it for a spin.

 

Best of all, the insurance for a 2.2VI Safrane was the same as the ZX. Gotta love weird insurance, I guess there's next to no ref data for a car like this with my age group.

 

 

I will update this thread with some driving thoughts soon...

 

 

fullsizeoutput_1262 by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

fullsizeoutput_125f by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

fullsizeoutput_1260 by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

[CreepingJesus]

Oaft, that is lovely. Love that old shape Renault dashboard with the overhang. And that gear knob. All of it in fact.

[ProgRocker]

Nice buy, bramz7. I do like burgandy cars.

 

At least with it being an RN spec, not too much is going to break on it.

[DVee8]

Oh my that's lovely.

How many Safrane's are on this site now?

[rantingYoof]

Good lord...that is a seriously nice old French barge.

 

Where did that 2.2 come from? Was it a Renault-own unit or did it start out elsewhere? I knew the facelifted Safrane came with that powerplant but not the earlier models.

[mk2_craig]

I am torn between hoping those wheeltrims have already been Frisbeed into the nearest canal, and hoping you never remove them ever.

[BorniteIdentity]

Smashing. Well bought!

[CreepingJesus]

Good lord...that is a seriously nice old French barge.

 

Where did that 2.2 come from? Was it a Renault-own unit or did it start out elsewhere? I knew the facelifted Safrane came with that powerplant but not the earlier models.

4 pots were theirs, 5 pots were Volvo's Audi engine, and the V6 was the PRV one.

[Brodders]

Oh my that's lovely.

How many Safrane's are on this site now?

I think there are six on here at the moment, but reckon there could be a few more lurking around the place.

 

Well bought anyway. I have seen that on eBay for a while and thought it was quite nice, especially for that price. Hopefully it should serve you well.

 

Does it have the on board computer that talks to you? That really put a smile on my face when I first heard it.

[bramz7]

Oh yeah another thing. It's registered 6 cars before the Lovejoy Safrane. Which still exists...

[twosmoke300]

Lovely car , now go and buy some new jeans ! Have you been loading small bale hay all summer with those or what ?

[forddeliveryboy]

4 pots were theirs, 5 pots were Volvo's Audi engine, and the V6 was the PRV one.

I think they used both 4 and 5 cylinder Volvo petrol motors in later cars, nothing Audi though.

 

Blooming lovely purchase, much Renner envy here. Top buying!

[25v6turbo]

Good man,well bought,i have seen this for ages on ebay and thought surely it will be snapped up soon,looks really nice,same colour as mine aswell,Persian red(777)if it was first launch(Feb,March 93)it would of had the 8V engine not the J7T 2.2.

Think there are 3 V6s,one V6 RT,one V6i and one V6 RXE,which is interesting as its every version of V6,plus this RN and the silver RT.

Phase 1 is a pretty car in my opinion that's why I,ve owned several over the years,well done and give me a shout if you need anything.

[Shep Shepherd]

That's really lovely. I've liked Safranes ever since I got to sit in a metallic grey high-spec one at the 1992 Motor Show, which incidentally is reputedly still on the road 

[25v6turbo]

That's really lovely. I've liked Safranes ever since I got to sit in a metallic grey high-spec one at the 1992 Motor Show, which incidentally is reputedly still on the road 

Tell me more....

I have pics of that in my Safrane collection it was a Tungsten Grey V6 RXE,they had a Tungsten grey RT(which Frank Williams had) and a Persian red V6 RXE aswell at the show at the NEC in 92.

[25v6turbo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRzRzi8VVFg

Can anyone copy this for me....From 7.40 SAFRANE PORN!!!

[CreepingJesus]

I think they used both 4 and 5 cylinder Volvo petrol motors in later cars, nothing Audi though.

I was meaning the engines Volvo bought from VAG which became the silver block B5/B6 engines. B5254 was the one in the Safrane iirc, Renault badged it '20v'.

[Shep Shepherd]

Tell me more....

I have pics of that in my Safrane collection it was a Tungsten Grey V6 RXE,they had a Tungsten grey RT(which Frank Williams had) and a Persian red V6 RXE aswell at the show at the NEC in 92.

 

I recall reading on a forum (possibly the blue one) a couple of years ago that the car was still in existence.

 

My over-riding memory of the car was the flap that concealed the stereo system and the fact that I heard a fellow show attendee refer to it as a SafRAIN 

[Shep Shepherd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRzRzi8VVFg

Can anyone copy this for me....From 7.40 SAFRANE PORN!!!

 

That's the very car I sat in! 

[25v6turbo]

Hmm be nice if you can find a link to that,be VERY interested to find out more about weather it still exists....

Yes lots of people call them SafRAIN i say SafRAN.

[purplebargeken]

Very nice indeed. Lovely shape.

[forddeliveryboy]

I was meaning the engines Volvo bought from VAG which became the silver block B5/B6 engines. B5254 was the one in the Safrane iirc, Renault badged it '20v'.

That's a bit of a hole in my knowledge, the VAG to Volvo engine thing. I'd always imagined the Volvoid lumps were pure Swede, but never having taken one apart I'm not really in any position to say.

[Lord Sterling]

Bloody hell, I thought that was the Lovejoy Safrane until you pointed out it wasn't.

 

 

Being a Birmingham registered plate I think this would have orignally come from the big Renault dealership in Digbeth, Birmingham.

[bramz7]

OW is a Soton plate Mo!

 

Pre-registration by Renault UK.

 

The Lovejoy Safrane now resides in that there Scotland.

[25v6turbo]

Renaults practice is to self register a large amount of a certain model,i think at least 3 Safranes I have owned have been registered with Southampton plates,my current car is aswell.I always felt that Renault made a mistake in the launch of the Safrane as they only released 2 versions,so you could buy a 2.0 8V RT or a 3.0 V6 RXE,that was it with a 10k difference,its strange the RN didn,t get released straight away as it would be RN,RT,RXE.Renault invested a fortune in the Safrane and of course got it wrong,the Phase 1 never sold well in the UK and there fancy ideas of fitted toys like electric memory steering columns,electric rear seats,computer controlled suspension etc with its own ECU all backfired(note the word ELECTRIC)so customers would be bringing them back with problem after problem,they became bad news for Renault and they quickly dropped or option listed the more complicated toys and put a high price on them HOPING no-one would tick that option box!Even in complete standard form an early RXE had all the above toys as standard but still had options to be had,leather trim,CD player(double DIN)and the inflatable front seats with sections that would inflate using buttons built into the seat,very cool............. 

[Snipes]

Anyone else remember the tv adverts? Where a french lady wins the lottery after being dumped (and naturally goes out and buys a big Renault).

 

“Shame, ee wuld ‘ave enjoyed spending eet”

[25v6turbo]

Yep this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VixI1aMs-gU

[ProgRocker]

That's really lovely. I've liked Safranes ever since I got to sit in a metallic grey high-spec one at the 1992 Motor Show, which incidentally is reputedly still on the road 

 

I went to the '92 Motor Show too. The last one I went to. I couldn't remember the Safrane but I remember the Toyota Camry estate with it's twin rear wipers.

[holbeck]

I've always liked these.

 

A friend who lives in Paris had one, it made quite an impression on me at the time.

[bramz7]

I don't suppose anyone has Safrane RN wheel trims?