Going Dutch, well French-Dutch

[hammy]

My old mucker mk2_craig convinced me I should come online and post my latest mental breakdown  piece of shite motoring.

I've always had a soft spot for the original Renault Twingo, since I first encountered them on a school trip to Normandy in 1993; they had been newly launched and advertised everywhere. A simple thing but I knew I wanted one. It dared to be different in a sea of dull supermini hatchbacks.  We know the rest, Renault never did a RHD and before you know it you've been driving 21 years and not owned one.

So, when the chance arose this year (Brexit and Global Pandemic) I decided to buy a Twingo.  Nothing circulating at the time in the UK so I opted after months of searching AutoScout and The Parking that the sensible thing to do was buy from Europe and ship it back; especially as it would now be customs liable and because travel was banned. 

I happened on this Methyl Blue 1997 Twingo in a Dutch dealership, some reasonably honest photos and a Google Streetview to suss out the dealer (looks OK) and I find myself buying the Twingo in my best Google Translate Dutch. A bargain at £450 and the dealer can sort export papers if I arrange transport. 

That proved  to be tricker than I first thought, thanks to good old Brexit a lot of European transporters did not want to know; or wanted silly money.  A British Car transporter quoted me £600 but after a bit of searching I found a company called Transporting Wheels based in Holland. The very helpful Gerdo emailed back in impecciable English meaning I could leave the Google Translate emails in the deleted folder. He sorted paperwork, arranged with the dealer to have the car collected and transported to Rotterdam. 4 days later it was on a Vessel bound for Purfleet Docks in Essex where I could collect the car. All of this for just shy of £300 customs docs included.

After it's arrival, a geezer with a Transit flatbed transported it from Purfleet to Bristol where it was very kindly stored by my employer for a few weeks.

Sure I've broken all the rules, never buy a car unseen etc etc, but remarkably nobody ripped me off and everything took place exactly as arranged with the transport. When it arrived, it didn't event appear to be too bad. There is surfact rust in places and it was a little ripe in places underneath, but it starts up and runs around with no obvious issues. 

It's had a bit of work for the test, which included wiring up an £8 rear fog light to meet UK MOT law. The LHD headlamps were got around with a £7 set of beam deflectors purchased from Eurolites.  Two strut top mounts were required as there was a bit of play, and a couple of patches of welding around the rear arch were also required but I'm happy to say it passed an MOT with two minor advisories that can be attended too as running repairs. 

I've now sent off the paperwork for a V5C to be issued, so I can get UK plates on it and begin using it. 

It's a November 1996 build, as such it has the DiET engine (D7F 8v) and this one was specified with optional power steering.  Comfort Trim level means electric windows, radio cassette, electric adjustable mirrors and full length canvas folding sunroof.  From looking at the Dutch equvilent of the HPI, it was registered in January 1997 and had one owner until September 2020. It changed hands again very quickly and wound up at the dealers in January 2021. 

The 2nd picture taken this week, after successfull MOT test.   

More info on the process can be found on my blog

 

[stuboy]

funky lil cars... u got me racking my brains where i used to drop off a patient at sheltered housing who owned one..

[wuvvum]

I had one of these a few years ago - great fun little things, although the early cars with the daft seats and proper basic Fisher Price interior are the best of the bunch IMHO.

Being pedantic, Twingos are feminine in French so your blog would more correctly be called latwingoanglaise.

[hammy]

11 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

I had one of these a few years ago - great fun little things, although the early cars with the daft seats and proper basic Fisher Price interior are the best of the bunch IMHO.

Being pedantic, Twingos are feminine in French so your blog would more correctly be called latwingoanglaise.

I agree the early interiors are best, mine is slightly toned down in comparison although it does have seat trim entitled "Poisson" which is suitably fish themed. 

A Benetton special with fabric roof would be my ultimate choice for charm Vs wacky. 

[tommotech]

I worked in Paris when these were launched on to the market, suddenly they were everywhere!

Your avatar caught my eye, it’s been a while since I’ve seen that logo. Good work. 

[Crackers]

I love these! Their gawky, happy little face is so cute. I bet they're a riot to drive too. You can't help but smile when you see a Mk1 Twingo. 😁

[rusty998]

I drove one of these back in day when they were newer, the one I drove had a 5 speed manual gear selector but only two pedals, you just put it in gear without using a clutch pedal (because there wasn't one) squeezed the throttle and of you go, all very French/odd,

Earliest memory of these was watching them Zoom by on the Autoroutes whilst being driven down to Le Mans around 1993/4 by my friend who was a coach driver at the time,

Great/odd/quirky little cars, well bought Sir !

 

[Dobloseven]

Think there used to be a garage in North Wales, near Porthmadog that used to import a few back in the day. 

[hammy]

5 hours ago, rusty998 said:

I drove one of these back in day when they were newer, the one I drove had a 5 speed manual gear selector but only two pedals, you just put it in gear without using a clutch pedal (because there wasn't one) squeezed the throttle and of you go, all very French/odd,

Earliest memory of these was watching them Zoom by on the Autoroutes whilst being driven down to Le Mans around 1993/4 by my friend who was a coach driver at the time,

Great/odd/quirky little cars, well bought Sir !

 

Twingo Easy was the semi auto box model, much alongside the Alfa Selespeed set up. Twingo-matic was the proper slushmatic gearbox. For a car developed on the cheap, the auto box selection was remarkable. 

Mine is a standard 5 cog manual.

[hammy]

3 hours ago, Dobloseven said:

Think there used to be a garage in North Wales, near Porthmadog that used to import a few back in the day. 

Apparently there were Renault dealers doing the same, but who then got rebuked by Renault UK for doing so.

[hammy]

[stephen01]

I'll 100% have another twingo, they are brilliant. there's a French forum for them which seems nice and friendly - even in my broken google translate 😑

yours looks very nice. 

[GeordieInExile]

1 hour ago, hammy said:

Apparently there were Renault dealers doing the same, but who then got rebuked by Renault UK for doing so.

Such a strange decision not to import it to the UK, that decision basically left that entire section of the market to PSA.

[Mally]

I often hired them in the Canary Isles.
" man want's twingo to burn his head" is what they normally  said.

[hammy]

1 hour ago, GeordieInExile said:

Such a strange decision not to import it to the UK, that decision basically left that entire section of the market to PSA.

I've heard various stories, from belief that they would not sell through to  cost saving as engineering a RHD steering set up  wad required. 

I'm not sure what's true, given most of the car was made using Clio or 5 parts.  I know the Cleon engine was used because the Energy series used in the Clio/R19 had a front mounted exhaust manifold and therefore didn't fit in the engine bay of the Twingo.

[Bitzer]

I always liked the funny "special editions" with various Fisher-Price oddities. However, all Twingos I ever inspected in more detail were rotten through and through. So it was Punto I instead. Tells a lot, I guess.

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, hammy said:

I'm not sure what's true, given most of the car was made using Clio or 5 parts.  I know the Cleon engine was used because the Energy series used in the Clio/R19 had a front mounted exhaust manifold and therefore didn't fit in the engine bay of the Twingo.

It was a bit like the Ford Ka in that respect - funky modern-looking little car with a 1960s engine.

I desperately wanted my dad to buy one of these for my mum when we moved to France in 1993, but it was eventually ruled out because it was only a 4-seater and there were five of us.  She ended up with a year-old 205 instead.

[hammy]

The Ka was very much proof that the UK would lap up just such a car. Having driven both the Ka is the drivers car from the pair, the closest thing to an original Mini.  However the Twingo is far more practical in terms of space use. 

[Isaac Hunt]

On 5/18/2021 at 10:56 PM, wuvvum said:

 

Being pedantic, Twingos are feminine in French so your blog would more correctly be called latwingoanglaise.

With a Basweto folding fabric sunroof.  I could never understand why they never made these RHD, unless it was JTFH

[Tadhg Tiogar]

18 hours ago, hammy said:

I've heard various stories, from belief that they would not sell through to  cost saving as engineering a RHD steering set up  wad required. ....

I reckon the Australian aftermarket could probably convert a Twingo to RHD, just as they have done with the Citroën SM and various American cars over the years.