Something very strange is going on

[La Poste]

Clémentine the cat's Renault 4 garage?????? This is just too much of a coincidence! Let me explain....

My first car was a bright yellow Renault 4 (sunflower yellow, according to Renault, although I thought it was closer to canary yellow myself), and it was a stunner: 40,000 miles from new, full service history, NO RUST ANYWHERE :shock: - absolutely gorgeous. Alas it was written off twice: once by a VW Passat (which led to me rebuilding it), and once by an oak tree (after which there wasn't much left to rebuild - bodyshell, chassis, and gearbox all completely destroyed). I also have a very dear friend called........ Clémentine (who happens to love cats), and now that I think about it I also happen to own rather a lot of cats myself. Did I hear you mention MGAs? I've driven two, loved them both, desperately want to own one (a 1500 roadster in Old English white with black interior, if anyone feels like donating one). And did I imagine it, or does Clémentine the cat's e-mail address mysteriously begin with the name Malcolm (yep, you've guessed it - that's me)?

Have I been creating a Renault 4 website in my sleep, have I been cloned, or is it all just a huge coincidence?

Anyway, the website's cool, and it's almost inspired me enough to think about rebuilding my ex-French post office F4 van as I've not driven an R4 for what feels like an eternity (current transport is a selection of ancient flat-twin Citroens: several 2CVs, an Ami estate, and an Acadiane van).

Regards from Normandy

'La Poste'

 

[malcolm]

Hi La Poste, welcome to the forum.

Another coincidence - I was over in Normandy in August working in the automotive region south of Rennes - but only for a couple of days. I'm a big fan of the sunshine and pavement cafes you have over there.

Hopefully the coincidence ends there as my yellow Renault has only been written off once so far - and it wasn't the oak tree... A friend crashed into a tree in the summer. The tree was completely undamaged and he says the next car he builds will be made entirely of tree.

I've had the MGA for 12 years now. It's a lovely car but it's too cold to drive it at this time of year without the roof. Maybe it's time to fit the hardtop. I've written about the car on www.vord.net

Hope you get around to restoring the poste van.

:clementi:

 

[pinkpenguindog]

Hi!

and the other coincidence goes back to March 1973 when Tony Orlando and Dawn had a number one in the Hit Parade with ...

... tie a yellow renault round the old oak tree ...

I think?

Regards

PPD

 

[La Poste]

The plot thickens...

I forgot to mention the other coincidence: the rotten Aston Martin. I drove from Brussels to Switzerland in a friend's tatty DB2 a few years ago, and can wholeheartedly say that it was almost as nice as an old R4 (just the fuel consumption and awol windscreen wipers put me off a bit). I didn't look closely at the sills, but I think they were (and still are) made of chicken wire and mud. Three weeks after the Swiss trip the crankshaft broke, resulting in a 10,000€ engine rebuild. :? We both still love the old girl to bits though.

I vaguely remember Tie a Yellow Renault Round the Old Oak Tree, even though I was only one month old in March '73! It obviously had a deep and lasting effect on me, as 21 years and two months later I did just that. Good job it wasn't Tie an Ancient Aston Round an Old Swiss Tree - I don't think my friend would have been impressed if I'd pranged her baby. By pure coincidence, she owns an MGA too (also knackered).

I'm sure a few years ago a misguided French politician wanted to cut down all the trees lining French routes nationales because they were a danger to anyone driving into them. The trees are still there, but I've not seen a yellow R4 over here for years - have they all been tied around trees? Is that why, presumably in the interest of self-preservation, most ex-post office R4s seem to have been hand painted white with B&Q emulsion instead of being left in La Poste yellow? Is that why my La Poste van (still yellow) ended up in a ditch one night just inches from a tree (before I owned it, I should add, as I don't want to be branded the R4 killer)? The then owner blamed the local calvados, but I'm beginning to have my doubts.............

La Poste

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