Why French cars must always fail. - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

P.C. · #31 07-21-2014, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark DiSilvestro

Back in the day, I recall one auto writer slammed the Renault Fuego for it's "snail-like styling and acceleration"!

In 1980, I briefly owned a faded red, grey-market 1973 Renault R6-TL - a tiny, tinny 4-door hatchback, using mostly the same mechanicals as the version we got here later as the Le Car. This Renault had been given to a neighbor for his son, who had little mechanical ability, and even less interest in a funny-looking little French car. So the neighbor signed it over to me just to get it out of his driveway.
The major coolant leak turned out to be a heater hose - not the bad head-gasket the PO's mechanic had claimed. New brake pads and a CV axle were standard Le Car items so they were readily availible here at the time. Trips to local salvage-yards yielded a replacement Renault R12 rear tag light and a pair of Dodge Dart 7" headlights with mounts, so I could replace the broken original amber French 5" quartz-iodine headlamps and get through inspection. I wound up driving it for a few weeks, while my regular car was out of commission.
Front-drive, with a 1.1 liter pushrod engine behind the transaxle, four-wheel torsion-bar suspension, very comfortable ride & seats, leaned like a sailboat in corners, and a weird 4-speed shifter in the dash. It looked kind-of like an umbrella handle, but worked way better than the horrible, rubbery floorshift used in the later American-market Le Cars.
I had about $150 in it, then sold it to a co-worker's friend for $350. He got drunk and totaled it 6 months later!

Happy Motoring, Mark

I could see going through whatever hoops existed at the time to bring in a grey-market car that was interesting, like an Alfa Romeo Montreal or a Renault Alpine, but an R-6? You would have been better off going to a U.S. dealer to buy a Pinto!

Mark DiSilvestro · #32 07-21-2014, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P.C.

I could see going through whatever hoops existed at the time to bring in a grey-market car that was interesting, like an Alfa Romeo Montreal or a Renault Alpine, but an R-6? You would have been better off going to a U.S. dealer to buy a Pinto!

This R6 wasn't just your average grey market Renault.
I never met the guy, but the car's original owner & importer was Sol Gareth "Garry" Davis, a character of some celebrity (or notoriety). A former Broadway actor and WWII B17 bomber pilot, he became a peace activist and gave up his US citizenship in Paris after the war, to found the International Registry of World Citizens. On November 22, 1948, he interrupted a session of the UN general assembly to call for "One government for one world".
In 1954, he founded the World Service Authority to issue 'World Passports' which have been accepted in 180 countries at one time or another. He lived in France for many years and his operation was supported by Albert Camus, former French resistance leader Robert Sarrazac, Andre Gide, and Emmaus-Movement founder Abbe' Pierre. In the mid '80s he attempted to run for Mayor of Washington DC.
In recent years he sent World Passports to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in London, and Edward Snowden in Moscow. He passed away in Vermont, age 91, on July 24, 2013.

So far as his Renault goes, somehow he got it into the US, and the Feds didn't seem to be looking for it. So all I needed to do was fix the brakes & lights to get it to pass safety inspection in Virginia.

Funny you should mention the Pinto. Two years after my R6 project, I acquired a '77 Pinto Pony MPG, fixed it up, and made a modest profit on it too!

Happy Motoring, Mark

Jim B. · #33 07-21-2014, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark DiSilvestro

Back in the day, I recall one auto writer slammed the Renault Fuego for it's "snail-like styling and acceleration"!

In 1980, I briefly owned a faded red, grey-market 1973 Renault R6-TL - a tiny, tinny 4-door hatchback, using mostly the same mechanicals as the version we got here later as the Le Car. This Renault had been given to a neighbor for his son, who had little mechanical ability, and even less interest in a funny-looking little French car. So the neighbor signed it over to me just to get it out of his driveway.
The major coolant leak turned out to be a heater hose - not the bad head-gasket the PO's mechanic had claimed. New brake pads and a CV axle were standard Le Car items so they were readily availible here at the time. Trips to local salvage-yards yielded a replacement Renault R12 rear tag light and a pair of Dodge Dart 7" headlights with mounts, so I could replace the broken original amber French 5" quartz-iodine headlamps and get through inspection. I wound up driving it for a few weeks, while my regular car was out of commission.
Front-drive, with a 1.1 liter pushrod engine behind the transaxle, four-wheel torsion-bar suspension, very comfortable ride & seats, leaned like a sailboat in corners, and a weird 4-speed shifter in the dash. It looked kind-of like an umbrella handle, but worked way better than the horrible, rubbery floorshift used in the later American-market Le Cars.
I had about $150 in it, then sold it to a co-worker's friend for $350. He got drunk and totaled it 6 months later!

I think many here among us would call that a "public service" crash