Remember these.? All our yesterdays

[mickthemaverick]

Now if you'd have got the footbridge at Munden Grove, Garston in that picture Chris you might have seen Bob and I hanging over the side waiting for the first cars!! We went there on our scooters and sat on the bridge for ages and were eventually rewarded with a large black Humber passing underneath us!!

[myglaren]

Motoring was a lot like that in the '50s Mick. Most people of my income level were running on bald tyres, exhausts tied up with wire, or if you were very poor string. Radiator leaks stopped up with putty - surprisingly effective! I used to carry a set of tyre levers and an old inner tube to cut up to make patches and could be seen parked up at the side of the road with a tyre off. They eventually wore through the canvas so you had to change them, no tyre laws then of course and no speed limit either - not that you could have broken it with most cars anyway.

Peter

[Gibbo2286]

You must be nearly as old as me then.

Peter

Get on Peter, you're only a baby yet.

[Peter.N.]

I'm about this old

That would do it - until the straps wore through.

Peter

[CitroJim]

Have you have ever owned, driven, or been a passenger in a car with an umbrella handbrake and a walking stick for a gear lever If yes, this little drive out in a Renault 6 will be a nostalgic reminder of the days when French cars were just a little bonkers

Yes!!! Two Renault 4s back in the 70s

[NewcastleFalcon]

Have you have ever owned, driven, or been a passenger in a car with an umbrella handbrake and a walking stick for a gear lever If yes, this little drive out in a Renault 6 will be a nostalgic reminder of the days when French cars were just a little bonkers

Yes!!! Two Renault 4s back in the 70s

Reckon driving a Renault 4 is just like riding a bike Jim. Could you release the handbrake and find the gears from the get go it you stepped behind the wheel of a R4 again?

regards Neil

[CitroJim]

Reckon driving a Renault 4 is just like riding a bike Jim. Could you release the handbrake and find the gears from the get go it you stepped behind the wheel of a R4 again?

yes, I reckon so Neil I just need to remember that early 4-speed R4s had first and reverse gears transposed compared to the later ones! I had both at one time and needed to take extreme care as when you think you have selected first and the car runs backwards it causes quite a lot of surprise

[mickthemaverick]

yes, I reckon so Neil I just need to remember that early 4-speed R4s had first and reverse gears transposed compared to the later ones!

My aforementioned brother-in-law found that out the hard way. When he bought the car it was delivered and dropped off round the back of the pub which my ex father-in-law ran. The first thing he did when he got in it was reverse into a stack of beer crates, much to the amusement of those of us that were having a beer in the garden at the time!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

There is an outfit at Louth in Lincolnshire called Renault Reborn who specialise in restoring R4's and other Renaults.

A friend of mine has been getting his Renault 4CV restored there (well its actually a Renault 760 from 1949 same thing really)

https://www.facebook.com/pg/RenaultRebo ... e_internal

They have a lovely works van

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

An Aside thing seeing As I brought up the Renault 760

from the Renault Classic Car Club
http://www.renaultclassiccarclub.com/Mo ... story.html

Production had already started in the UK at the end of November 1949 at Renault limited's Acton works the car was launched as the 760 and later the 750 on fitting the 748cc engine .Renault sourced many parts in the UK to help trading relations and to put as much British product into an otherwise all French car. The 750s were assembled from knock down kits imported from France right up until 1961 when production ceased.

I knew Citroen were in Slough, but I didn't know Renault were in Acton

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

I found it quite easy to find the gears. An easy car to drive altogether.

[Peter.N.]

The Austin A40 van I learnt to drive in had an umbrella type handbrake but column gear change.

Peter

[NewcastleFalcon]

Gibbo must have used one of these things....BL special tool 18 G 703.





Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

Not only used one Neil, owned one for a long time, you couldn't really work on those cars for long without having to dismantle part of the system and re-pressurise it.

Got me scratching my head now, where did it go? can't remember selling it or chucking it away.

Ps. That guy only did half the job.

[white exec]

What was the fluid for Hydrolastic suspension?
It was an amazingly reliable system, at its best on longer wheel base cars - like 1100/1300 and larger.
The Mini 1000 I had for a short while was somewhat choppy, and I think I preferred the Moulton rubber of the original.

The Reborn Renault van above is a delight, right down to the corporate colours and typeface!