Six-Cylinder's French Tales

[Six-cylinder]

Following on from my introduction I thought I would add some photos of the French cars that I have owned. I have started with the Renaults as there are only two, the Fuego GTS I bought in Feb 2004 and had for a couple of years. The other is the 4GTL I bought in June 2005 but only had for a few months.

I first saw the Fuego at the UK launch Motor Show and loved its looks, so I tried to buy a new 2.0 TX but as it was a new model the Renault Dealer in High Wycombe showed very little interest in me and would not concede to my request that a rear luggage cover be included in the deal. I had looked at a Ford XR3 but did not like the cheap interior that was so similar to a 1100 Pop. I also looked at a Golf GTi but the VW dealer was very off hand with me so I didn’t take that any further. That was January 1981 but it took until 2004 when I spotted a lovely low mileage Fuego GTS that I took the plunge and bought a Fuego. I still love the looks but found the drive a bit dull and only keep it for a couple of years.

I always liked the Renault 4 but had no plan to buy one. My wife and I were driving to a dinner party though Aylesbury and I was joking that this was a dangerous area as there were often cars for sale on the side of the road, as we left Aylesbury I gave her the all clear but then 2 miles down the road there it was, a R4 GTL with a For Sale sign on it outside a house. We turned around and went to have a look at it and were amazed at what a lovely 32,000 mile car we had found so not wishing to lose it knocked on the door of the house, test drove it and agreed to buy it there and then. We had to phone the host of the dinner party to let him know we would be ½ an hour late as we had just bought a R4 off the side of the road!

[bxzx16v]

What a gorgeous pair of Renaults , the fuego is a particular favourite of mine

Mark

[CitroJim]

the fuego is a particular favourite of mine

And mine hard to find a prettier car anywhere... Absolutely gorgeous

And the R4 will always have a very special place in my heart. I had two of them early in my driving career and what wonderful, reliable cars they were.. So cool they're positively cryogenic...

[Six-cylinder]

Now for Peugeots I have owned, easy again as there are only three.

My first ownership of a Peugeot was 13st August 1999 when I saved a blue 504 Cabriolet. It was under threat of being scrapped by Thames Trains as it had been dumped in one of their car parks. I called the Manager responsible and he was sympathetic and did not want to see a lovely old Peugeot scraped so he appointed me as there legal disposal agent and after all due notices were served I collected the car. I now had legal title to the car but it was a project car and required a bit too much work for me so I passed it on.



The next Peugeot was bought 14th January 2004 I had gone to Milton Keynes with a car dealer friend looking for cars for his used site and I stood in the door as a smart 205 GRD was being auctioned and the biding stalled at £120 so I put my hand up, the auctioneer just saw me in time and the next thing I knew was I owned it for £130. I did not set out to own a Peugeot that evening but was pleased with what I had bought on the spur of the moment. I had no real need for it at the time so a friend of my neighbour was pleased to take it from me.


I now own a grey 1974 Peugeot 504 cabriolet, it was restored by a friend some 15 years ago but following changing personal circumstances the car ended up being stored and started to deteriorate party because of a poor bare metal respray where the paint was lifting and allowing moister between the paint and metal. Very sound underneath but it dose need another bare metal respray and the worst bit is the deck panel between the hood and the boot lid which is badly rusted and needs replacing. (if anybody knows where I can get one or have one made a reasonable cost please let me know) I got the car in February 2009 from my friend but have not made much progress yet, I do like the car very much so hopefully will soon find a way to sort the rear deck panel.

Chris

[Six-cylinder]

Citroens started for me in 1976 when I was 17 and learn to drive, as my Farther had a green met L reg GS 1220 Club that I did my driving practice on. My farther continued to have Citroens and replaced my mothers 1965 Jaguar S Type with another Citroen GS so they ended up as a two GS household. In 1984 I needed a car quickly and it just happened that my farther was ready to sell his Silver 1976 GS Pallas so I bought it from him. The GS was always just a fill in and I soon bought myself a 1972 Reliant Scimitar and the GS was sold. In 1985 I was made redundant and needed an economical car and my farther came to the rescue as he now had a BX and was ready to sell his Brown met 1978 GS X2 that he had from 18 months old and less than 10,000 miles. It served me well but I did not realise what a special car it was and when I got a new Company Volvo 340 1.7 GL at the end of 1985 I sold it.

Unfortunately I never took a photo of the GS X2 and the best I could find was a tiny image in the back ground of another photo.

[Citroenmad]

Excellent blog

That R4 looks very tidy, a very rare sight now.

We bought an R4 GTL from the roadside in about 2002, a very tidy car but had a slipping clutch. Despite how easy they are to work on a clutch change is a long job!

[Six-cylinder]

The next Citroen came for me on the 1st January 1987 when the Volvo garage I worked for became Citroen. I was given a brand new BX 16RS as my first company Citroen, I had even been allowed to choose the colour myself. This was followed by a CX 20RE Familiale. I also made good use of a C15, which was an unallocated demonstrator to help with the restoration of my Triumph Vitesse. The company was not in good financial shape and after six months I left to work for the new Volvo dealer in Aylesbury. Sorry for the poor photos of the CX and C15 but I could only find photos with them in the background of other shots.

Chris

[Six-cylinder]

Quite a gap now of Citroen ownership as I worked for a Volvo dealer and then a Vauxhall dealer but being in the motor trade I still got to drive a number of Citroens.

Late in 1994 I went to work for Hildarks of Bedford and my old boss from the Aylesbury Citroen days and started me with a Red Xantia 1.8LX, this then led to a whole list until I left the motor trade at the end of October 1996:
Xantia 2.0i LX Red
Xantia 2.0i SX 16v Green Met
Xantia 1.8i LX White
Xantia 1.9TD VSX Red
Xantia 1.9TD SX Silver
ZX 1.9TD Memphis Magenta
Xantia 1.9TD SX Blue
ZX 1.9TD Memphis Magenta
Xantia 2.0i Auto Estate Emerald green
Xantia 1.9TD Dimension Blue
Xantia 1.9TD SX Estate blue

During that time I bought a 1988 2CV special from the company I had taken in part exchange. It was low mileage and had already had a new chassis under warrantee and was a lovely car. I did not have it long as when a friend heard that we had such a beautiful 2CV desperately wanted it and came down from Scotland to fetch it.

I am a Xantia and ZX photo short but maybe you have seem enough Xantia photos!

Now you will have to wait for 2002 when I choose my own Citroen!

Chris

[Citroenmad]

A very nice running history

I like the red VSX, I do like bright solid red Xantias, especially in the VSX spec.

Have you checked to see if any of those are still around?

[Six-cylinder]

Now it’s 2002 my wife is working in the USA and I am taking 6 week trips to be with her. My main car is a 1993 Mercedes 300TE 24V buts proves to have head gasket problems so a bought a 1985 Range Rover to keep me mobile while the long saga of repairs took place. 17mpg is heavy so I decided to buy an economical runabout, while selling Citroens in 1987 I was always impressed with the Citroen Visa diesel and set out to buy one. Even in 2002 it was not easy to find one but I did and it was great. I had it for 2 ½ years.

Chris