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Going out for me was mostly limited to paying a visit to the auto parts store to buy parts to fix my old Renault, and learning car mechanics along the way. Hobby got started this way.
A Renault 19 was hardly and "old" car in 1998. the oldest was probably 10 years.
You said it : it was 10 years old and back then THAT was old for a car !
So I bought hit e Renault 19 as my first car, well, my dad did buy it as a present so I could move with my stuff to go study at Hatfield.
He gave me a budget of 15.000 Francs and said I had to buy it from a professional used car dealer, not a private seller.
Used cars for so little money were rather scarce. This R19 was the only half decent car I could find locally for that price, and it was a bottom of the barrel one. Phase 1 / Mk1, middle age power train : 1.4L "Cléon" carbureted engine (which did not even have an overhead camshaft...) with points ignition.
FOUR speed gearbox, couldn't believe it !
Of course no power steering no nothing. Did have power brakes, guess I can't complain. Not that you needed it since the brakes were pretty much useless on that car anyway.. well I guess they matched the engine !
Looking at Wikipedia, the R19 hit the market in 1988 and the Cleon engine (in carbureted form) was dropped in 1991. My car was so old it was probably an 88 since it still had the orange rear light clusters, when back then the two tone black/red lights were becoming all the rage I remember ! Every manufacturer was replacing the orange lights with black/red clusters at the back !
So let's say it was 88. Bought it in summer 1998 so t was spot on 10 year old. Well, as I said, might be only 10 years old but even when I bought it was already an ancient and technically obsolete car, bottom of the barrel (especially mine with a 4 speed G/B !
), and was the cheapest / crappiest car I could get from a used car dealer !
Fast forward 16 months later... X-mas 1999. I drove back to France for vacation. Had only a week before I had to go back to Hatfield. So I took that opportunity to give the car to my local Renault garage so they can look at a few problems I was having with the car. Mostly, fuel consumption was insane, like 12L/100kms which is absurd for a tiny engine in a small light car that does nothing but carry just the driver and no cargo, to get me to uni and back.
garage said sorry your car is toast, it's dangerous to drive I can't let you take the wheel again or else if you crash I will be in trouble. I said OK then, but it's 14H00 and I must pack the car and leave at 18H00 at the latest, to catch my ferry to head back to England, so only a few hours to find a new car !
I had only 10.000 Francs in the bank I remember. The only car had for sale at such a low price was... a R21. Was an Mk1 GTS, 1.7/ carbureted, electronic ignition. So when I boughi it it was 11 years old, and even the day I bought it was the crappiest/cheapest I could find !
Fast forward 2002. I bought another 21, this tiume a sporty Mk2 TXi model, loved it. Was in gaet nick. Car was a 1991 MY IIRC, or there about.
Sadly had to sell it soon after, in 2004. Car was only 13 years old then. Looked great and was in excellent cosmetic and mechanical condition, it was a vry reluctant sale ! Went to a few used car dealers that do "old" cars (not dealerships I mean), and they all told me "I DON'T DO OLD JUNK, get out of here !! ".
WHAT ?!
So ended up sold for only 450 Euros on Ebay, 5 or 6 time sless that what I paid for it just 2 years before !!
So my point is... in those times, 10 years ago was a lonnnng time for a car, probably because progress was being made at a fast pace, so it goldf old fast, just like computers of that era.
However newer cars last longer I find. My mom's 206 still is great shape, still looks as modern as any modern junk. All cars look the same for the past 20 years, all the same crap. Now you can't even tell a Renault from Jaguar or a Mercedes. The just are all the same, all with the same problems, same electronic junk, same cheap parts that don't last, yet cost a fortune, same ugly fat SUV's.... but better corrosion resistance though.
Well that's just my opinion of course.. I am sure others will disagree and say their col German SUV is or hybrid is so much better looking or tehcnicalle better than X or Y.... yeah right, if it helps you sleep at night, go for it ...
For example, I now drive a Renault Safrane, which put an end of 20 years of various R21 models (must have had like 10 of them or something ! Loved them....). R21 ownership had become too troublesome. Lack of parts be it new or used, lack of decent used ones on the market, rust that wold not pass MOT anymore... it was forced out of 21 ownership. So bought the Safrane so I can still drive an old Renault without too much electronic garbage in it, easy to maintain, reliable, bullet proof, cheap and pleasant ownership. Bought a late one, 2000MY, with the Masaxel special in it : The Volvo "modular engine", in in-line 5 configuration, 2.5 20V, N/A. I just love this engine. Nothing beats a straight 5 pot for sound when you rev it
Well OK maybe an old italian V12 from an early Diablo of course, love the old Diablo too.
Anyway. Car is now 21 years old, yet it aged much better than my R19 or any of my 21 did. Just because it's design is newer (hit the market in 1992, Mk2 in 1996 or 1997 can't remember).
my Lotus Elite having even more Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious than normal.
Oh, a Lotus man ?!
Actually other than the early '90's Renaults, my other passion is the Lotus Esprit. Moving to the UK for 3 years definitely fueled the fire as I was able to see them in real life and get some rides with coal owners met on the Yahoo group/ mailing list back then. When I moved for a year to Saint-Ives / Cambridgeshire to do my industrial placement, I was not that far from the Lots factory, so I would sometimes drive there in the middle of the night on a saturday. I would visit the local dealership in Cambridge, and he would arrange a visit of the factory ! Guy was cool. said I was too big to fit in an Esprit, which was correct and he would tel me "You are French why don't you go after an Alpine instead ?!". Replied to hell with that Alpine junk, it's a POS and looks ugly ! I had only eyes for the beautiful Azure Blue / Magnolia Esprit S4s he had in his showroom !
20 years later still very much in love with them. modern cars ha ve not put a dent in my love for them, just the other wayt around. The crappiest anbd ugliest the modern cars become, the more and more I appreciate the older early '90's cars !
A few years later I went to the dealer to get a part and was ambushed by salesman on the way to the parts counter. Haing assured him I was not going to buy a new car I made the mistake or asking if the personalised plate was included with the used 11 Turbo? It wasn't but he pursuaded me to take it for a test drive. After half an hour or so on Hampshire lanes I had a big grin and the salesman was a lot quieter and paler 
The 11T was bought.
Never fancied a Turbo Fuego ?! Kinda the same era and body style.. I never figured why Renault had two similar cars at the same time ?!
A 21 Turbo followed that.
All the guys in the R21 cub / forum drool of the turbo... as we speak I have a friend who bought one 15 years ago, been off teh road for 10 years for restoration.. still not back on the road but he refuses to get rid of it ! One day it wil drive again, he says... hoping by that times comes he will still be young enough to be able to stand the stiff suspension and low seat.
I prefer the TXi engine and body looks and interior. Especially the Quadra /4WD version. Very rare here, much rarer than the already are Quadra Turbo.
Even 10 times rarer because I wanted a 4 door TXi Quadra and 99% of the few TXi Quadra were... 5 doors ! Because it's more practical blah blah blah...
So when I finally managed to find a 4 door TXi Quadra I bought, could'nt afford not to. Of course it was a rust bucket + numerous mechanical issues. So I embarked into a restoration. Stripped the unibody completely, was well motivated. Found two donor cars to get parts from. Was cool. Restoration did not complete as I got in a conflict with the friend (I thought...) who owned a car restoration garage. Anyway, my dream of a spanking new 4 door TXi Quadra is no more. So now I enjoy my 5 pot Safrane instead, and focus on getting an Esprit to pu in my garage that I am supposed to start the construction of.. well right now, if only I could move my ass a bit...
put over 100k on that and it was one of my all time favorites. It was black
They aren't that many Black 21 Turbos. They do tend (here anyway) to command a premium. My buddy with his Turbo in restoration has a red one, but he wants to paint it black when the time comes to repaint the car.He has already painted the inside of the shell black when the car was stripped. Now he has put all the interior and mechanics in place, just needs to go to the bodyshop to prep and repaint the exterior of the car... but that's precisely the bit that costs an arm and a leg, so he's been postponing it for years now !
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