Now you may not recognise this car, and I would be willing to bet that you probably haven’t ever seen one in the flesh either (I certainly hadn’t). I saw this car come up for auction with CCA (Classic Car Auctions) when they were at the NEC in Birmingham and decided it was worth a look due to the rarity and that fact my Dad is a big Renault fan. He served his apprenticeship on Renaults and has told me more than once about how he got into fights at school because he liked them and the rest of the kids liked Fords. This was one of the only cars he never saw or worked on, a Renault 17 Gordini. He didn’t quite believe that it was a true one and gave the auctioneer a bit of a grilling before confirming for himself – it is one of less than five times I’ve seen him excited about a car and I knew we had to buy it. We also learned that this was a one owner car (the first being a Doctor who passed away), that the car had been garaged for a long time and that it was one of only two RHD models in the UK, and they only knew of the other because the owner wrote into the auction house. This car is going to stay in the family and be enjoyed by my Dad once restored, you’ll be able to follow the restoration here and I’ll be sure to post a photo of him with the big grin I know he’ll have the first time he gets to drive it.
