Clementine's Garage
Clementine the Cat
 
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Yellow R4
 
Réparateur d'automobiles

Bonjour Madame Quatrelle!

KeithS

Enthusiast
Messages
99
Location
Cornwall
So, having paid for the car at the end of January and arranged for it to be given the once-over by a garage in France, lockdown came into effect and my plans to fly out to Toulouse, stay with friends for a few days and then drive home to Cornwall via Roscoff-Plymouth ferry were scuppered. As it became obvious that nothing much was going to change for the foreseeable future (plus being higher risk, I'm not keen on the thought of flying for a while), I decided to have my 1987 R4 shipped back to the UK. The first quote I got from shiply.com was just over £1600, but within an hour or so, the quotes had dropped to a bit over £800! I finally chose a company whose records showed they normally delivered/collected high-end sportscars, and who are fully insured, who quoted £869 delivered to my door. Considering it's an eight-hour drive from Roscoff to my friend's house where my car was stored, plus a ferry, plus transport to my door, I reckon that's not bad at all.

So, as of 10.00pm last night when the car was collected, the Quatrelle is now on its way to me and should be here by the weekend – they quoted delivery to me in 48 hours... It's a Leboncoin find, originally from Perpignan but lately near Toulouse and is what I was after: an honest unmolested car (as opposed to the majority which appear to have been 'restored' by virtue of a quick paintjob and some underseal) with some history. Previous owners had kept a log of all the service work done, down to buying windscreen wiper blades etc, and although it has had a gentle knock on the front right side, it is in very good honest condition – sans rust. I had it checked out by my friend, who then gave it to his garagiste to go through it and fix any problems. They amounted to a new gear linkage bush, two brake hoses, a ball-joint and an exhaust rubber. I also had them blast and repaint the original wheels and fit four new tyres. Once over here, I have a pair of headlamps to swap and a rear fog lamp to fit, then it's time for the MOT.

Needless to say, I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve right now, waiting for the car to be dropped off. More to follow once it's here, if anyone's interested. :)

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Hello Keith, we are always interested in peoples new acquisitions, and what folks are up to. The car looks great, and I bet you can't wait to get your hands on it.
Are the headlights needing replacing due to condition, or just to convert to driving on the left? because you can modify the exciting ones by filing a small slot to reposition the bulbs, to throw the cut off to the left. There is stuff on this forum about this. Regards Brian.
 
Hello Keith, we are always interested in peoples new acquisitions, and what folks are up to. The car looks great, and I bet you can't wait to get your hands on it.
Are the headlights needing replacing due to condition, or just to convert to driving on the left? because you can modify the exciting ones by filing a small slot to reposition the bulbs, to throw the cut off to the left. There is stuff on this forum about this. Regards Brian.
Hi Brian - the headlights are in poor shape (a cracked lens has let water in, I'm guessing), and I read the 'how-to' on bulbs, so am ready to get stuck in. Another R4 soon to face the rusty climes of Cornwall!
 
Oh I see, that's fair enough, and you are up to speed re bulb mods, great.
Yes the salty Cornish air can be a problem, but I'm sure you know the drill on how to protect your new baby. Looking forward to meeting up sometime.
 
Remember to get your Nova papers sorted asap after arrival, If you have a problem, talk to Brian Whiteside of the Renault Classic Car Club who has a lot of experience in doing this. I think it has to be done within two weeks on importation. You can then register the car in the UK.
 
Remember to get your Nova papers sorted asap after arrival, If you have a problem, talk to Brian Whiteside of the Renault Classic Car Club who has a lot of experience in doing this. I think it has to be done within two weeks on importation. You can then register the car in the UK.
Thanks – I'm up to speed on all that having imported about a dozen vehicles in the past, the last being a year ago from the USA. NOVA is the easy bit. Biggest hassle at present is DVLA using COVID-19 as an excuse for being even slower than usual and limiting on-line access... :(
 
She's arrived! Not bad - collected late Wednesday night and delivered here 1.30pm today. It's amazingly sound, with not a spot of rust. Everything works as it should, engine sweet as a nut. Now to make her UK-legal and get an MOT ready for DVLA to lose the paperwork (which they did last time...).IMG_8144.JPG
 
Remember to get your Nova papers sorted asap after arrival, If you have a problem, talk to Brian Whiteside of the Renault Classic Car Club who has a lot of experience in doing this. I think it has to be done within two weeks on importation. You can then register the car in the UK.
Dont panic NOVA'S are very easy and remember there is no proof required for the date on import, so it was last week!
 
The problem now is that my wife's friends all think it's her car... Have to put a stop to that. :D
 
So, MOT time and the Quatrelle passed with no advisories. The headlights gave a few minutes entertainment as the offside one was dipping the wrong way. Thought that was odd as I'd modified the reflectors and made sure the bulb was rotated, but sure enough, the beam dipped to the right... Took the light apart and discovered the bulb had fallen to pieces, meaning the 'collar' was in the right place but the main body of the bulb was free to rotate! They searched their stores and found the last remaining old-fashioned bulb, I fitted it and bingo, the beam was perfect.

The problem now is that DVLA has shut down... Due to the virus (so they say) they have announced they are not processing any paperwork, other than that needed by key workers, until things are back to normal. On-line services are generally OK, but any service where you need to send in forms that need to be handled by a human being have been closed. HMRC has also shut down, meaning that they have not issued a NOVA reference number... Oh joy.
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Cool - HMRC aren't there to take taxes any more if I send them by post? Well we've all got to keep safe. (pity I don't have any taxes to send them as that would have been fun).

I notice the traffic wardens are out so it's probably going to be a wait for the new idiocy we are promised. The R4 looks fab and well done for the MOT.
 
Pretty sure when I did my Nova's that it was just an automatic online thing and you get the certificate to print out at the end of it.
No humans required.
V nice 4 by the way...
 
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