Discussion
Watching old episodes of The Professionals lately (
) and there appear to be Renault 16s everywhere, in every London outside scene.
I was only a kid at the time, but don't remember them being quite so prolific.
Were there loads? Anybody own one? What were they like?
Had a Top Trump pack of British v French cars at the time and the TX always looked a snazzy thing.
Made me look to see if any were for sale and what sort of prices they were and not surprising, not many popped up at all. One in fact:
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1527247
Perfect for pottering round the cheese markets, villages and vineyards of Charente. What a lovely thing.
) and there appear to be Renault 16s everywhere, in every London outside scene.I was only a kid at the time, but don't remember them being quite so prolific.
Were there loads? Anybody own one? What were they like?
Had a Top Trump pack of British v French cars at the time and the TX always looked a snazzy thing.
Made me look to see if any were for sale and what sort of prices they were and not surprising, not many popped up at all. One in fact:
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1527247
Perfect for pottering round the cheese markets, villages and vineyards of Charente. What a lovely thing.
vixen1700 said:
Watching old episodes of The Professionals lately () and there appear to be Renault 16s everywhere, in every London outside scene.
I was only a kid at the time, but don't remember them being quite so prolific.
Were there loads? Anybody own one? What were they like?
Had a Top Trump pack of British v French cars at the time and the TX always looked a snazzy thing.
Made me look to see if any were for sale and what sort of prices they were and not surprising, not many popped up at all. One in fact:
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1527247
Perfect for pottering round the cheese markets, villages and vineyards of Charente. What a lovely thing.
If you head over to the Period Pictures thread, you'll see much discussion of Renault 16s, instigated by me. I noticed the proliferation in old pictures, just like you have, and didn't really remember it from when I was a kid.) and there appear to be Renault 16s everywhere, in every London outside scene.I was only a kid at the time, but don't remember them being quite so prolific.
Were there loads? Anybody own one? What were they like?
Had a Top Trump pack of British v French cars at the time and the TX always looked a snazzy thing.
Made me look to see if any were for sale and what sort of prices they were and not surprising, not many popped up at all. One in fact:
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1527247
Perfect for pottering round the cheese markets, villages and vineyards of Charente. What a lovely thing.
The thing is, my dad had one, and it was probably one of the best cars we ever had.
His mate, and my old headmaster, had a yellow one, and my dad was so impressed with it that he traded in our yellow Mk1 Escort 1100 deluxe (XDM398G) for a dark blue 16TL (CUN770L - yes, I'm aware the plate might be worth a bit nowadays...).
This thing had reclining seats, a split front bench that could allow it to accommodate 6 people, a hatchback, column change, strip speedo and the spongiest, squishiest vinyl seats known to man. As an 8-year-old I was massively impressed that they were light beige / mushroom in colour, as they retained less heat than the Escort's black and didn't burn my legs as badly.
Father was immediately impressed that he had acceleration uphill (the Escort 1100 certainly didn't) and soon got used to the column change, even preferring it to floor change in the end.
Even though the 16 as a design was about 10-12 years old by then, it still felt way ahead of anything we'd had previously. Ours was a facelift, 1565cc car, identifiable by the squared-off tail lights. TL was the basic model, but it was still a huge step up from the Escort. Probably the only Brit that got close was an Austin Maxi.
He chose this one over a higher-spec one (TS or TX, I forget which) because he didn't want an auto. In an ironic twist, when the 16 finally died from rising ferrous oxide, he had been so impressed by the marque that he replaced it with a 20TL auto (TGT155R), which was possibly the worst car he ever owned and didn't have enough power to get out of its own way.
So - in summary - Renault 16s are a great car.
They were very popular in their time . Extremely comfortable, plenty of space, reliable. From a time when Renault built good cars quite well. R 4 ,5,12 and 16 spring to mind
On the minus side all rusted and timing chains engine out job on R4,5,6 and 16
A relative took family of 6 and towed caravan to south of France each year with 16TS
On the minus side all rusted and timing chains engine out job on R4,5,6 and 16
A relative took family of 6 and towed caravan to south of France each year with 16TS
I remember seeing quite a few of them around in the 60s/70s.
My best mate's Dad used to do a bit of spannering at weekends and looked after a neighbour's 16. I seem to remember him saying it was one of the first cars to come fitted with radial tyres.
Can't remember the last time I saw one though!
My best mate's Dad used to do a bit of spannering at weekends and looked after a neighbour's 16. I seem to remember him saying it was one of the first cars to come fitted with radial tyres.
Can't remember the last time I saw one though!
finlo said:
They had a different wheelbase either side could only be French!
Indeed: pragmatism at its best. Why bother trying to engineer a better solution when the one you have works?The rear torsion bar arrangement does produce a wheelbase 2.5 inches longer on one side than the other, but it has no effect on the handling and AFAIK was the same for RHD / LHD.
Always had a hankering for something like a 16. We also had one for a few years - a 73/L-reg I think - it followed a string of BL/Ford rubbish and was like something from another planet. Except for the rust at 6/7 years. That was definitely the same.
Anyway, it obviously wasn't good enough to deter PB Snr as he decided one foray into Foreign Rubbish was enough, and it was back to the Local Rubbish after that - Mk4 Cortina paired with a Mk2 Escort.
Anyway, it obviously wasn't good enough to deter PB Snr as he decided one foray into Foreign Rubbish was enough, and it was back to the Local Rubbish after that - Mk4 Cortina paired with a Mk2 Escort.
Vixen
i had a Renault 16TL as a teenager, acquired from my headmaster's wife for £35.
Quick, comfy with a column shift Bench seat at the front configured to a bed!
Have a look on Le Bon Coin... they turn up very frequently
https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2232153612.htm
i had a Renault 16TL as a teenager, acquired from my headmaster's wife for £35.
Quick, comfy with a column shift Bench seat at the front configured to a bed!
Have a look on Le Bon Coin... they turn up very frequently
https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2232153612.htm
In a lot of ways a great car, economical, for the day, and comfortable. But they really did rust, a double skin floor that was open to the elements at the back, if I member correctly. And a thorough pain to work on in RHD configuration. Plus if driven like you stole it they snapped drive shafts which were expensive and a pain to change.
However it is remembered with fondness. RRX356F are you still out there?
However it is remembered with fondness. RRX356F are you still out there?
AndrewCrown said:
Vixen
i had a Renault 16TL as a teenager, acquired from my headmaster's wife for £35.
Quick, comfy with a column shift Bench seat at the front configured to a bed!
Have a look on Le Bon Coin... they turn up very frequently
https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2232153612.htm
Oh great. Well done. Thanks a bunch sunshine. i had a Renault 16TL as a teenager, acquired from my headmaster's wife for £35.
Quick, comfy with a column shift Bench seat at the front configured to a bed!
Have a look on Le Bon Coin... they turn up very frequently
https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2232153612.htm
I had plans for the weekend. I dont have time for any of that now..
Look at this magnifcance. (
)as a kid my parents owned at least 2 of those, they were really comfy and fine cars at the time for families :-)
I did not remember that de front engine was situated like that, inline I could guess, but not transaxle front and so engine behind the front axle, which could explain the good road behavior and pretty fast through corners although soft springs.
I believe we had the 1.6 TS
it was way more friendly then the NSU prins 1000 and or the Fiat 650 and 850 and so on and other small cars we (my parents) had before.
I did not remember that de front engine was situated like that, inline I could guess, but not transaxle front and so engine behind the front axle, which could explain the good road behavior and pretty fast through corners although soft springs.
I believe we had the 1.6 TS
it was way more friendly then the NSU prins 1000 and or the Fiat 650 and 850 and so on and other small cars we (my parents) had before.
williamp said:
AndrewCrown said:
Vixen
i had a Renault 16TL as a teenager, acquired from my headmaster's wife for £35.
Quick, comfy with a column shift Bench seat at the front configured to a bed!
Have a look on Le Bon Coin... they turn up very frequently
https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2232153612.htm
Oh great. Well done. Thanks a bunch sunshine. i had a Renault 16TL as a teenager, acquired from my headmaster's wife for £35.
Quick, comfy with a column shift Bench seat at the front configured to a bed!
Have a look on Le Bon Coin... they turn up very frequently
https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2232153612.htm
I had plans for the weekend. I dont have time for any of that now..[Img]https://img.leboncoin.fr/api/v1/lbcpb1/images/7e/9d/14/7e9d14e8e6fba20ddc11a422c5034b81f405b6e1.jpg?rule=ad-large[/thumb]
Look at this magnifcance. (
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