My intro

[Simon.AU]

Nice to see that this site not only still exists, but has only improved since I first visited it a couple of years ago and just happened to rediscover it the other day. Well done!

I've also got the R4 bug. the main ones being a 1963 R4 van (R2104) sans roof flap and a 1964 R4 (R1123) among other Renault's. Both were assembled in Australia, the van in 1964 and the car in 1966 being delivered in 1967. The van is currently awaiting motivation to do the nastiest of nasty jobs, the rear suspension bushes on the early anchor lever suspension.......

http://www.renault4.co.uk/forum/files/r4action_165.jpg
http://www.renault4.co.uk/forum/files/r4koalasmall_177.jpg

 

[malcolm]

Welcome Simon,

I see you're having some fun with the saloon in the photos. You know the later Renault 4s have rear wheel handbrakes - that makes them excellent for autotesting. The light weight and good traction can make them quite competiive (so long as there aren't any Minis around).

I don't envy your rear bush job.

:clementi:

 

[Simon.AU]

That was just my way of running the car in after its full rebuild. I suppose the motorkhana tests were where the car excelled, especially after getting shut down by a Corvette and a Merc in the 1/4 mile drag. If only it wasn't for a particularly well tuned and more experienced Honda 360 Scamp the old 4 would have put in a good showing. I knew I should have rebuilt it to 1093 Monte Carlo spec :-)

The rear bush job on the van has been a long time waiting, and now it is coming to the top of the pile, I've moved, and also the other projects are now complete, so I'm running out of excuses. But I still can't find a nice cam adjust private import R4 that has been scrapped to donate the rear end. I'm just going to have to get stuck into it, I still wonder why I love R4's!!

 

[Pieter]

Hi Simon, I wonder if my old blue '64 R4 SRM-898 is still somewhere in Adelaide? And do you know of Clem Mingies and his family? I haven't heard of them for some years but they had about 5 R4s at one stage.

 

[Simon.AU]

Was that car Cosmic Blue originally, with blue trim, the exterior having been painted brown, then orange, then yellow and finally blue again?

As for Clem, he's probably having a wonderful adventure somewhere behind the wheel of one of his Renault's since passing on around five odd years ago now after moving up to Queensland. He ended up getting rid of the R4's after finding a lovely Dauphine Gordini, although his son was still running around in a South African private import R4 at the time.

 

[Pieter]

Yeah, now I recall Clem finding a really nice dauphine, although when I left Adelaide he hadn't got rid of the other cars. I remember his son's car was really good except for the bonnet where the previous owner had hit a buffalo (?) or a cow and it had been really roughly beaten out. Funnily enough his son was in a band with my brother at one point.

My old car was mid blue originally- the pre-66 turquoisy blue, it was then repainted a slightly different colour (Ford Gambia blue I think) along with a really pathetic attempt to bog up a few little dents that could have been pushed out by hand. It was in extremely good nick. I sold it in '83.

You used to see heaps of R4s in Adelaide, compared to Melbourne.

 

[Simon.AU]

I was thinking that it could be a car that I bought as a wreck (and still have as a wreck) in 1987, but I don't think so as that one had a rotted floor pan when bought. Otherwise it sounds fairly similar, in the instant fade Cosmic Blue, with a current lighter blue top coat over pathetically bogged shallow dents, but this one has a number of different paint colours between the top and original blue coats, but the seats and trim were in good condition. It had a crummy bonnet when I got it with no rego plates. But on visiting someone else they had the bonnet off that particular car, and the rego plate started with SR, the rest of the number I don't recall.

I think the fact that Melbourne has rego inspections and Adelaide still doesn't probably meant that not too many were left on Victorian roads, ruled off the road with rotted floors, shagged balljoints and driveshafts, not to mention Vic Roads fettish with oil leaks. But there were two at this years Vic. FCD.

I remember looking at a fair number of R4's in the early 80's here. However now, an R4 is also fairly rare sight on Adelaide roads.