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Renault 16

Renault 16

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Renault 16Renault 16Renault 16Renault 16Renault 16
Renault 16Renault 16Renault 16Renault 16
Lot number 15
Hammer value £4,000
Description Renault 16
Registration ABB 69E
Year 1967
Colour Green
Engine size 1,565 cc
Chassis No. 0812408
Engine No. 040117595

The Renault 16 made its debut in Geneva in 1965. It used a similar layout to the brilliant Renault 4 model introduced four years previously and carved its own niche in the market, being the only mid-sized hatchback on the market until the Austin Maxi arrived in 1969.

A huge success by any standards, over 1.8 million left the Le Havre factory, the versatile Renault 16 remaining in production long after its successor was introduced. The gearbox was placed ahead of its engine which made for excellent weight distribution and the supple torsion-bar suspension provided a very fluid ride, which combined with Renault's trademark large squidgy seats gave limousine levels of comfort.

Initially fitted with a meagre 1,400cc all-alloy engine, capacity was soon increased to 1,565cc, the final versions emerging from the factory in 1980 with 1,647cc engines and five gears. Stirling Moss was so taken with a Renault 16 that he had driven in 1970, that he announced to the British Motor Industry that they should all buy one and find out why it was so good. Finely balanced and hugely accomplished, they were extremely clever cars – a shame then that only 83 Renault 16s of all varieties remain listed on the DVLA database.

This 1967 LHD model appears to have been imported into the UK in 2001, having lived in Sainte Cecile, a small town not far from its birth place in Le Havre. A Controle Technique document and an MOT, both from 2001, show an indicated mileage or kilometerage (we are not quite sure) of 62,000. At some point it appears to have been fitted with a mph speedometer, although as the odometer is located separately, we cannot confirm if this was changed at the same time. The car doesn’t appear to have been UK registered until 2008, the V5 showing that it has had two former UK keepers since then.

This rare and interesting survivor remains in lovely condition and comes with some general information on the model, a UK brochure, English handbook and an MOT certificate which expires in March 2016. 

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