Anyone restoring a Renault 20?

[alcyonecorporation]

I wonder what the tyres are like 
 

[Bear]

I'm sure most of us remember what R20/30s were like when they were 10 years old - let alone pushing 15. I expect that tarp sounds a lot like rustling a bag of cheap market crisps if you lean on any car-shaped part of it.

Add to that parts availability post brexit etc. and I can totally understand why there isn't a queue for this. Hell, I think it could be a Talbot Tagora and the level of serious engagement would be similar.

It's a shame it is unlikely to be saved, but face it, it died 33 years ago.

This wouldn't be saving it, it'd be raising the dead.

A grumpy, ungrateful French zombie.

Bet the gearbox would make someone happy though.

[paulplom]

Would it make it back to Newcastle on a pre booked mot?

If so I could slightly possibly be intersted.

[danthecapriman]

14 minutes ago, paulplom said:

Would it make it back to Newcastle on a pre booked mot?

If so I could slightly possibly be intersted.

Who cares man! It’s MOT exempt. Get it started and it’s straight into daily driver territory.

[Dyslexic Viking]

There is actually a 30 V6 for sale in Norway right now, though it might already be sold.

https://www.finn.no/mobility/item/124245116?ci=1

[danthecapriman]

There is or was a guy down in Portsmouth that had a couple of these Renault’s. They were a very regular sight running around the city and surrounding areas. Pretty sure the bronze colour one he had was his daily driver. 
Neither were minters, and the bronze one had some pretty scabby bits, and obvious filler patches. Great to see them around though and they stood out a mile off amongst all the dull modern crap.

[Split_Pin]

34 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

There is actually a 30 V6 for sale in Norway right now, though it might already be sold.

https://www.finn.no/mobility/item/124245116?ci=1

I rescind my earlier comment elsewhere about Saab Espresso Black being the best car colour ever made.

[wuvvum]

On 05/07/2026 at 15:18, Spottedlaurel said:

Local-to-me (and @wuvvum) member Baz was trying to get one sorted, but it didn't work out.

Ah yes, Schrödinger's R20.  That was all very odd...

[Spottedlaurel]

On 05/07/2026 at 18:32, lisbon_road said:

Hope it finds a home (and not on the track too), though it can't see it being the car of choice for racing.  

Oddly enough I have seen one or two in old banger racing videos and when it was a typical domestic meeting with relatively light contact they seemed to do OK. Pretty sure one of them won its race.

[MrBiscuits]

14 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

There is or was a guy down in Portsmouth that had a couple of these Renault’s. They were a very regular sight running around the city and surrounding areas. Pretty sure the bronze colour one he had was his daily driver. 
Neither were minters, and the bronze one had some pretty scabby bits, and obvious filler patches. Great to see them around though and they stood out a mile off amongst all the dull modern crap.

That must be this one. Not seen it around for years so I think it may have moved. It's done over 300k and is still taxed. A few later pics show it without the silver stripe so could have had some well overdue body work by now too.

[danthecapriman]

26 minutes ago, MrBiscuits said:

That must be this one. Not seen it around for years so I think it may have moved. It's done over 300k and is still taxed. A few later pics show it without the silver stripe so could have had some well overdue body work by now too.

That’s the one!

It’s a Portsmouth registered car too, so stayed local. 
When I was working for SSE I’d regularly be driving around Portsmouth city and I’d see it frequently. In later years it was looking quite rough though sadly. 
One day I was doing a job in a substation which was tucked away in a garage compound and he turned up to one of the garage’s nearby in that car. When he opened the garage there was another inside. I couldn’t see much of it, but I’m sure I remember it being silver. 
Fingers crossed him and the cars are ok though if it’s not been seen for a while. I don’t live down that way anymore so I’ve not seen it in a while.

[Datsuncog]

Think I saw TBP at the NEC Classic Show around 2014 - the broad silver stripe was certainly a memorable addition.

Lovely to see an R30 of any description, but can confirm it was a bit crispy and wobby even then.

EDIT: Yes, it was the same car.

[danthecapriman]

Speaking of these Renault’s,

Did you know - they were also built by Dacia as the Dacia 2000 in Romania. Not that many were made and they were used for politicians and ‘party officials’ at the time. 
Besides the badge I don’t think they’re any different to the Renault’s though.

[MrBiscuits]

So, I went down a bit of a rabbit hole on that gold Renault 30 at lunchtime. The original owner who apparently had it since 1985 is no longer with us, so that would explain why I've not seen it for a good couple of years. His car however definitely lives on with a new owner. Here's a video of it from January, its clearly had a respray and some body restoration, as ever its hard to tell on screen but it looks like a reasonable job and certainly a lot less crusty and wobbly than the last time I saw it in person. I think the original owner clearly loved it and did the best he could to keep it on the road despite the obvious challenges with spares etc. so its nice to see it looking a bit smarter.

 

[Dave_Q]

22 hours ago, alcyonecorporation said:

I wonder what the tyres are like 
 

£5 here towards the tyres as long as the person rescuing it can collapse into endless boring diatribes referring to themselves in the 3rd person within a couple of weeks.

[alcyonecorporation]

12 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

£5 here towards the tyres as long as the person rescuing it can collapse into endless boring diatribes referring to themselves in the 3rd person within a couple of weeks.

Alcyonecorporation hears you, alcyonecorporation has no bearing on current events

Alcyonecorporation is Jack's sense of horse against train 

[danthecapriman]

21 minutes ago, MrBiscuits said:

So, I went down a bit of a rabbit hole on that gold Renault 30 at lunchtime. The original owner who apparently had it since 1985 is no longer with us, so that would explain why I've not seen it for a good couple of years. His car however definitely lives on with a new owner. Here's a video of it from January, its clearly had a respray and some body restoration, as ever its hard to tell on screen but it looks like a reasonable job and certainly a lot less crusty and wobbly than the last time I saw it in person. I think the original owner clearly loved it and did the best he could to keep it on the road despite the obvious challenges with spares etc. so its nice to see it looking a bit smarter.

 

I had feared that its original owner had passed, unfortunately. That’d explain why I suddenly stopped seeing it. 
On the bright side though, he clearly did a hell of a job keeping that car going all those years and miles. Bless him. Also fantastic to see it’s still around and being cared for by someone else. Although I’m guessing it’s no longer in the Portsmouth area??

These are my favourite era of French cars. I’m far from a French car fan tbh but this era - 18, 20/30 etc etc were so much better looking cars than their predecessors. Things like the 16 I really don’t like at all but they shifted away from that awkward love it or hate it styling with this generation.

[MrBiscuits]

7 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I had feared that its original owner had passed, unfortunately. That’d explain why I suddenly stopped seeing it. 
On the bright side though, he clearly did a hell of a job keeping that car going all those years and miles. Bless him. Also fantastic to see it’s still around and being cared for by someone else. Although I’m guessing it’s no longer in the Portsmouth area??

These are my favourite era of French cars. I’m far from a French car fan tbh but this era - 18, 20/30 etc etc were so much better looking cars than their predecessors. Things like the 16 I really don’t like at all but they shifted away from that awkward love it or hate it styling with this generation.

That video shows it driving round Orpington, greater london so I guess it lives there now. He mentions not taking it far due to a starting issue. I also completely forgot it had a side exit exhaust - probably due to an original being unobtainable.

[sierraman]

It’d be great for someone to take it on and it seems the road again, wonder why it was laid up in the first place though? 

[flat4alfa]

Whoever takes on this Renault

Could I get my £20 back please?

[BorniteIdentity]

Right!

Well, it's simultaneously better and worse than I thought it would be.

The owners (who I've not actually heard from in a couple of days) have given it a stay of execution from the scrap men.  Mostly because, I assume, they've realised they're actually sitting on a little bit more money than they previously thought.  

BETTER because Glass and interior is pretty bloody good.

They've also got a set of keys.

WORSE because it's actually been outside, albeit sheltered on three sides and out of the majority of the weather

And much worse because someone's clearly put it into the back of a lorry or something.  

I still think it's pretty much what I anticipated.  A parts car, or a stupidly brave restoration.

They've put it on eBay  - I guess - because no fewer than 23 people were apparently chasing after it at the last time I spoke to the owner's friend.  

Obviously we can all spend pages and pages talking about how shit it is, how you knew you'd be right about it being a basket case etc and that's all fine.  But what would be tremendously helpful would be if you could mention it to anyone you know who wants glass/interior/dash/etc of a Renault 20.

Sorry it isn't quite as good as I hoped but then I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I'm also a relentless fucking optimist about all things in life which can lead to me getting a bit over excited about stuff.

So in conclusion, there's no Youtube opportunities here.  Just a chance to take away a rare old car - salvage what you can and throw the rest away.  I dare say some of the trim is completely unobtainable but that's of little interest to the owners who want their space back.

 

[flat4alfa]

On 07/07/2026 at 09:09, MrBiscuits said:

I remember him well. He was always spotless and smart himself, with the cars presented very well. He was also very enthusiastic about the model. The car (and him) did get into Practical Classics magazine about ten years back. I think it was at NEC he mentioned even back then he wasn't well.

More recently, the car made the Telegraph pages https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/renault/uks-rarest-cars-1983-renault-30-tx/

[danthecapriman]

I guess the smashed front end would explain why it came off the road then!

Best of luck to the owner(s) whatever happens. EBay is probably the best shot it’ll get at at least becoming a good spares donor so fair play for listing it instead of just weighing it in. Fingers crossed it brings in a decent bit of unexpected money for them.

[Angrydicky]

I met the owner of A295 TBP when I saw it pulling into a disabled bay at a supermarket in Norfolk circa 2017 (he definitely got around in it). I stopped and had a chat to him, very friendly chap, very enthusiastic about old Renaults, and he did say he was on holiday up there from the south coast.

Sorry to hear he’s passed away but glad the car lives on.

The one Bornite posted looks like a great donor for unobtanium spares.

 

[Rightnider]

There’s a 20 that’s supposedly done 340,000 miles a mile away from me, southern Sweden £ 1,550.  
 

https://www.blocket.se/mobility/item/22837042?ci=1

In case anyone is interested in both a shonky Renault and a trip through Europe. 

[Dj_efk]

A barn find apparently - although it looks like the barn has been sold and taken away by its new owner....

 

Interesting that it's up to £500+! Someone must really want that interior.

[BorniteIdentity]

23 minutes ago, Dj_efk said:

A barn find apparently - although it looks like the barn has been sold and taken away by its new owner....

 

Interesting that it's up to £500+! Someone must really want that interior.

And glass. And a few panels. 

Take the Sierra bASe. How much do you reckon the new owner would pay for a decent interior alone? If the car is otherwise finished?

As I always say - it doesn’t have to make sense to you. Just someone 🤷

[Timewaster]

On 07/07/2026 at 11:20, danthecapriman said:

Speaking of these Renault’s,

Did you know - they were also built by Dacia as the Dacia 2000 in Romania. Not that many were made and they were used for politicians and ‘party officials’ at the time. 
Besides the badge I don’t think they’re any different to the Renault’s though.

I heard that, but I seriously wonder if Dacia went to the effort of tooling up a production line just to make a few hundred Renault 20s  Or did they just buy up some unsold stock and rebadge them for a bit of local pride having El Presidente waft about in what appears to be a Romanian car?

[danthecapriman]

33 minutes ago, Timewaster said:

I heard that, but I seriously wonder if Dacia went to the effort of tooling up a production line just to make a few hundred Renault 20s  Or did they just buy up some unsold stock and rebadge them for a bit of local pride having El Presidente waft about in what appears to be a Romanian car?

No idea tbh. I’d imagine they were Renault with a Dacia badge nailed on. 
But, I know at the time lots of countries had quite high taxes on imported vehicles so lots of manufacturers would allow their products to be built under licence by local companies which obviously reduced or removed entirely those taxes. It even went as far as percentage of domestically manufactured components. Plus, it probably wouldn’t have looked great for the government at that time to be smoking around in something from the Western pig dogs!

That sort of practice was very very common in Latin America where companies like AMC, Chevrolet etc etc allowed local manufacturers in various countries to build their vehicles under licence. Some were even allowed to use the chassis and mechanical bits but come up with their own panel work for the body. Others were more or less the same as the American version of the vehicle but had either a locally sourced engine etc or the engine was the same as the American vehicle but completely manufactured under license to get around taxation for imported vehicles and parts. 
Spain did it too. Locally produced Dodges, BMC’s (SAVA), Land Rover (Santana), Commer vans became Santana. Even Ford Thames trucks were produced under licence by Ebro. 
It’s a right old wormhole to start going into!😆

[Dyslexic Viking]

Renault 20 advertisement from the dealer Autocar AS in Tromsø Norway. I doubt they sold well in Norway.

Har det de fleste biler mangler = has what most cars lack.