You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Zut alors!
The BX 4TC. https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph-spottedykywt/spotted-citroen-bx-4tc/25937
The CX loadmaster. By 'eck.
What else have you found...?
Clio V6.
Take a short hatchback, widen the track and stick a great lump of V6 where the rear seats should be.
Proper bonkers
People carrier
[img] 
[/img]
Not a Renault 4..
R8, before the moniker was knicked.
My friend did Peking-Paris in one of these (his was blue)
Delage 15-S
Peugeot 405 T16 2.0 turbo with 220 bhp and awd.
I love French non-mainstream cars.
I don’t think they’re that mad really, they’re just built to a different brief than the usual Germanic brands and their followers. Where BMW owners might love the balance and handling and they’re usually fairly quick even the cheap ones and look at some french cars and think they don’t have that much grip and the dash isn’t all pointed at me etc, but they’re usually built for comfort, they do make great handling cars but not through rock hard suspension and massive wheels.
Anyway, I’ll punt for the Renault Avantine a ‘coupe’ that’s more like a 2 door Espace that’s fast as long as your on a endlessly long French motorway and not a circuit and very comfortable.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Renault Spider - the one without the windscreen
Still have a soft spot for our old C15 van. Took us to Switzerland and then '95 Worlds in Germany. World Cup xc in Norway' 96 and then honeymoon in '97 🙂
Sold in 99 at 155k - mot database says it eventually died at 238k in 2008!
Would love a Dangel 4x4 version. Or a Renault 4 Sinpar van.
4x4 2cv conversions
A local Balti owner used to have one of those Renault turbo 2's.
He was also well into his gokart racing.
Seem to remember the Renault didn't last long...
Had a quick meeting with a hedge.
Of all the cars on this thread so far, the only one I really want is that yellow 2CV rally/buggy thing.
(although the Clio and R5 are close seconds)
Clio V6 was a really could have been/should have been car. Performance was really throttled by Renault getting cold feet and not wanting to have the Clio RS outperformed (The V6 was engineered and built by TWR so was politically a bit of a target) so it was limited to 160BHP when it could have easily been putting out 220+ and the chassis was more than capable of taking this.
Before TWR hit the buffers we were working on re-engining a V6 Clio with a spare F1 V8 engine...
This one...
Some lovely crazy French cars here. I owned three XM V6 in the noughties. Amazing smooth ride and from the last one (24v) great performance. I’d have a CX Mk2 CTI tomorrow!
DX safari?
[img] 
[/img]
Well not really mad but I used to see one of these road rallying near Bedford.
Or Matra simca Bagheera
[img] 
[/img]
3 seats across. Just a we touch of french bonkersness
Not sure if the Delage is technically mad but that's a work of art - Espace F1 for madness win. 🙂
A local Balti owner used to have one of those Renault turbo 2’s.
He was also well into his gokart racing.
Seem to remember the Renault didn’t last long…
Had a quick meeting with a hedge.
I understand that was a common fate. 🙁
Epicyclo - thats a brilliant story behind that!
Talbot-Lago T150-C SS
Went round my mate's for a bike ride. His wife has an Uncle who collects cars/wrecks. He was transporting one of them from a lock-up in London down to Devon, and had stopped at my mates.
On the trailer... a Citroen SM. Not terrible condition either. I got a little guided tour around it and the various mechanical oddities it has.
Oh, and a friend of mine has three Renault Estafettes for her street food business.
https://www.myogroup.co.uk/meet-the-gang
I had a blue clio V6 255 - for four weeks before I wrote it off. It was great but not very quick, the turning circle was laughable and the handling was extremely eye opening.
I had a TVR Griffith 500 before I bought it and it made that seem sure footed in the wet!
Great thread this. My local mechanic restores such cars so I have a look around when down there. Has an alpine of some sort and a 5 turbo 2 at the moment.
Cheating a bit:
Obvious DS.
Always wanted one of these:
Clio V6 was a really could have been/should have been car. Performance was really throttled by Renault getting cold feet and not wanting to have the Clio RS outperformed (The V6 was engineered and built by TWR so was politically a bit of a target) so it was limited to 160BHP when it could have easily been putting out 220+ and the chassis was more than capable of taking this.
Before TWR hit the buffers we were working on re-engining a V6 Clio with a spare F1 V8 engine…
eh? The Clio V6 had something like 220hp and the facelift 250hp. The big problem was the 172 was a lot lighter so not much slower.
An Alpine a110 like in Slowoldmans post is one of the cars id buy if i ever got a euromillions win.
The Clio V6 had almost no steering lock. Not enough to drive it fast anyhow.
I'll have a Zoé e-concept if ever they make a road version.
How about the Facel Vega :
https://classics.honestjohn.co.uk/reviews/facel-vega/hk500/
And Panhard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panhard_PL_17
and the modern Alpine:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_A110_(2017)
There are lots
Those CX Loadrunners were used to transport newspapers around Europe, i remember seeing one on holiday in france probably early 80's, was fascinated by its length and 6 wheels. There's a great article about them here
Make sure you open the newspaper cutting images, zoom in and read them.
Would also love one of those Alpines like Slowoldman posted.
Not really exotic, but we used to have an old Peugeot 504 estate. Was massive. You could sleep in the boot without putting the rear seats down! My dad made a box to fit in there which could hold about 5 sheep to go to market without a trailer! When it got a bit expensive to maintain some old bloke came round and made us an offer we couldn't refuse and took it away. I did wonder what happened to it until about 10 years later I went to work in Tunisia and realised that every single Peugeot 504 ever produced was still alive and well and working as a taxi in North Africa. Quite a sight to behold...
@meeeee, that's a really great article; thanks for posting.
About 30 years ago an old boss of mine had a CS - baby brother to the DS; driving position was almost horizontal, on your back.
I loved the way you could feel and hear the hydraulic suspension adjusting as soon as you got into the car.
Since then I've always been tempted by a DS - but resisted the temptation so far; check out the DS Ursine......
That Renault 5 Turbo ..brought a smile.
I always liked the look of them and had a hankering for one back in the day but one of my buying defaults was that a car should be able to turn a corner ..and those things just didn't !
I was surprised to see a picture posted of one still intact 😁
Twizy F1 anyone..?
Let's not forget the interior of some of these things... My learner car was a BX. Felt like a spaceship...
Thanks @meeeeeeee
Really enjoyed that CX article and scans.
We've barely touched on mad... [Edit: yes we had - missed the pintrest link!]
i really wish i had a use for a twizy ..... as it is a bike does all that a twizzy does.
played with one in france - GREAT fun personal transport.
Renault Spider – the one without the windscreen
A mate was in management at Renault UK when they came out and got me a loan of one for a weekend based on my 'journalist' credentials.
Blimey it was fun. It was the one with the windscreen though. A few day later I got to drive a screenless one round Silverstone, much more bonkers one built up for the race series they tried to get going.
Peugeot 504 Dangel - epic want.
I was doing some work on an old F1 car a few months back and the guy had a BX 4TC rally car sat in the corner of his workshop, it was the first time I'd ever seen one in the flesh. When I showed a bit of interest in it he said "don't bother looking at that it's a piece of s**t"!
eh? The Clio V6 had something like 220hp and the facelift 250hp. The big problem was the 172 was a lot lighter so not much slower
I reckon he's got the Clio V6 and the Renault 5 turbo 2 mixed up somehow as he was talking about 160bhp which is what the turbo 2 has.
I've got a 172 cup as a daily driver, the newer Clio V6 would smoke it in a straight line but it's an awesome little car. You can't buy anything similar these days, it's got no traction control, ABS, or any of the other electronic rubbish manufacturers put on everything.
Actual race version of the BX 4TC:
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4124/5021177408_ab264bfb52_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4124/5021177408_ab264bfb52_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/8DGR7h ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiteless1/ ]kiteless[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4127/5021177800_a9be8dccec_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4127/5021177800_a9be8dccec_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/8DGRe3 ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiteless1/ ]kiteless[/url], on Flickr
Rally DS:
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4089/5021176582_1e999ddf32_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4089/5021176582_1e999ddf32_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/8DGQS3 ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiteless1/ ]kiteless[/url], on Flickr
Megane Trophy:
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4087/5020573899_54683b623a_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4087/5020573899_54683b623a_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/8DDKGX ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiteless1/ ]kiteless[/url], on Flickr
Rondeau / Inaltera LM:
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4128/5020584697_e511f9c42b_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4128/5020584697_e511f9c42b_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/8DDNV8 ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiteless1/ ]kiteless[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4153/5020585069_d922296849_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4153/5020585069_d922296849_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/8DDP2x ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiteless1/ ]kiteless[/url], on Flickr
Always liked the look of the early Dauphines ..
@matt, first car was a GSA, query though not hugely bonkers. I loved it.
Then inherited my dad's BX, it was pretty crap TBH and not helped by being a/ version 1 (I think) and b/ being previously driven by my dad, not the most intuitive of drivers. Was happy to get shot of it for a 205..
I love this. They only had one thing in mind - to set the speed record down the Mulsanne. Dog of a car otherwise -
"Speeds on the straight by the Group C prototypes reached over 400 km/h (250 mph) during the late 1980s. At the beginning of the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans race, Paris garage owner Roger Dorchy driving for Welter Racing in a "Project 400" car dubbed the WM P88, and powered by a 2.8 litre turbocharged Peugeot V6 engine, which sacrificed reliability for speed (the car was out after just 53 laps or approximately 4 hours with turbo, cooling and electrical failure), was clocked by radar travelling at an all-time race record 405 km/h (252 mph).[4]"
I know we've done these before but...
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
It's not mad, but I love my Twingo 133. 1.6L non-turbo engine that revs to 7000. No sixth geer because the engine was too big to fit the gearbox. Needs more power really. Takes a bike with only the front wheel off. Sad that the new one is a Smart Car.
Very dangerous for Dangel 4x4 fans to go searching on Le Parking.....
https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/1565234576.htm/
How about an electric car from 75 years ago:
https://cardesignnews.com/articles/concept-car-of-the-week/2016/11/loeuf-electrique
Isn’t that ^^ the design test mule for a Skoda Yeti?
I will try again.
Very dangerous for Dangel 4×4 fans to go searching on Le Parking…..
Mon dieu!
Imagines jakester hitching up car trailer and booking ferry 🙂
Trail_rat should also avoid clicking that link - far too many Berlingo 4x4s......
Whats better than a Citroen SM? why a softop verion of course.
[img] 
[/img]
and lets not forget the original Renault Twingo.
[img] .jpg)
[/img]
Andy Saunders who is well known in the custom car scene has a thing for French cars and can be seen by these offerings...
The Picasso is fabulous!
I'm sure I saw one of those in Fallout 4.
What's with the 2CV? Ah wait it's the hubcaps!
many Berlingo 4x4s…
Why do we have none in the UK? *Perfect* bikes/hikey/paddle wagon for many.
No Bugatti yet?
Or if concepts are allowed..
DX safari?
Oooooooo, yes please!
I'd settle for the middle Bugatti.
Obviously I'd want a discount because there's no roof for the driver.
Its USP is that nice enclosed cabin behind the driver for storing one's Peugeots and Andre Bertins.
Learnt to drive in a Citroen Ami 6 ... you could see it rusting before your eyes ...
Dad has a GS Club .... which was lovely to drive
Wifey had a Matra Simca when I met her. It has the traditional french build quality issues.
I had a BX 16v as my company car ... 109k miles in 2 years and 26 weeks off the road. Citroen head office even told me "these were not meant to be company cars". Plagued by electrical faults ... it would always tell me it was overheating, and I need to stop "now". It wasn't. It lost all it hydraulic fluid in the centre of B'ham. It told me ... and I didn't believe it ...
The first time I goot in, and shut the drivers door, the speaker mounted in fell out.
It was so noisy that you couldn't hear the radio ... the best way of reducing the noise was to always drive with the sun roof open ...
Hence, I wold never own another french car .... but would love a DS , or one of the Maserati engined ones from the 70s
Trail_rat should also avoid clicking that link – far too many Berlingo 4x4s…
Why do we have none in the UK? *Perfect* bikes/hikey/paddle wagon for many.
while its true i love a 4x4 - and i love a berlingo..... I hate propitiatory parts.....
ive never seen the need for a 4x4 one as the stock ones are so good in the dubs with the winter tires on (10 years of battering them up farm tracks in winter and going to events in fields and forests. Ground clearance was always what got me ****ed. - my new ones got a 20mm lift and a steel belly pan on the underside.
I do wish they brought the Trek over in car version though - which is an LSD in the gearbox which locks the front wheels together in a slippage situation which would give you most of the benifits of 4x4 without the propriatory dangel parts and the associated drag/wear/noise.
- probably still wouldnt have bought one.
the one thing i do wish id done with my old one - as the shell was good it was just a bit slow/noisy/unsafety rated for my wife taking other peoples kids around in..... was fired in the v6 from a 406 coupe - straight swap - whole front end running gear . 200 BHP berlingo. Was late to the party and the v6 swap was popular across the Pug range so donors were pricy.
Probably not much benefit to counter that argument of 'unsafe' but I Rollesby previous Berlingo down a hill - took out 2 small trees and ended up upside down when it did stop (3.5 rolls maybe 4.5).
Anyway, outside of car had dents and bumps but the passenger area - front and rear remained in shape. Panels and roof had dents but otherwise we were intact.
Obviously fine if car rolls, notice the same as an idiot driving into you, but I was impressed at lack of damage inside vehicle when the outside was bashed all round.
My first ever company car (I’ve mentioned this before)
My company back then had a deal with the local Citroen dealer and Toyota dealer. I got to choose a model from either brand, so I went with this. It was fabulous. For some reason the dealer had some large green comedy frog stickers put on a few models and a moniker staring “le frog” needless to say I removed them.
I loved it, put about 10k on it before chopping it in for a Celica GT4, that came as quite a shock to my right foot I can tell you. Mates hated the 2cv, but oddly would always want a lift or taking somewhere more often to Boardwise in Cannock (Windsurfing dealer) whereby they’d jump out at the end of the road and walk. I pulled right outside one day and the owner came out an piled praise all over it.. my mates were rather sheepish after that.
I could get two Klepper wave boards in, two sails and last and boom. I had to remove the front seat and rear bench but there was plenty of room..
Of all the cars I’ve owned, this is the one I miss most.