Renault Clio Williams 3
Discussion
Well, this was a slightly unexpected purchase, but when I spotted an advert for a Clio Williams 3 locally, I just had to go and have a look. I wasn't really looking for a car at all as I have at least one too many anyway, but the opportunity arose, so.....
I owned an 'N' reg Clio RSI back in 2000 when I was 18, holding on to it for 3 1/2 years and covering over 40,000 miles in it, commuting to Uni in it, I met my wife while I owned it, so the nostalgia was strong. Of course, what I really wanted back then was a Williams! The idea of a faster, chunkier-looking Clio with gold wheels and a loose F1 connection really appealed!
So I went and viewed the car which looks great from a few paces, but does have a few imperfections. Fair enough I suppose given it is a 29 year old Renault. Here is my first picture of it in sunny Brighton.
Overall it presented well and the owner had just had the wheels refurbished and shod with brand new Michelin Pilot Sport 3's, which really helps to lift the car. I guess all these cars went through a period of being relatively cheap and potentially not brilliantly looked after, but the last two owners have had the car dry stored and have spent a lot of time and effort getting the car looking good and mechanically fit. The underside has certainly seem some attention with various parts being replaced and undersealed. The last few MOT'S were pretty encouraging, suggesting little has needed attention of late.
Mileage is sensible at 119k, without long periods off the road which I take as a positive. There are only about 18 '3's taxed and on the road now, so if I wanted one, there weren't going to be many to choose from!
The interior is pretty much perfect, with correct Williams carpet mats and the parcel shelf with the suit carrier, which the previous owner took a while to track down.
Being a 3, it has the brighter shade of blue that my old RSI had, and even matched the first three digits of its registration. I guess it was meant to be......
On viewing, I wasn't sure at first, but I took it for a drive and it drove really nicely. I had a strange compulsion to buy it, so we came to an agreement on price, and that was that!
I picked it up yesterday, and here it is back home.
It does seem pretty good fun to drive, although I'll admit it never seemed particularly fast. My daily is a Giulia Quadrifoglio, though, so I guess that might explain that. It sounds good in an angry 90's hot hatch kind of way, and grips well with some decent steering feel. You forget how slow the steering was back then - you really have to turn that massive wheel a long way!
I'm really not sure what I'm going to do with it, but I do enough driving to swap in to it every now and then, so it will get used. I need to arrange a full service and cambelt change first of all, as it has not moved much recently and I think the cambelt is over 6 years old.
I may attend to a few of the paint imperfections, but then having it not perfect is sometimes a good thing, and doesn't prevent a barrier to getting out and actually driving it without panicking about parking etc.
Anyway, a long held ambition to own a Williams, so let's see how we go!
I owned an 'N' reg Clio RSI back in 2000 when I was 18, holding on to it for 3 1/2 years and covering over 40,000 miles in it, commuting to Uni in it, I met my wife while I owned it, so the nostalgia was strong. Of course, what I really wanted back then was a Williams! The idea of a faster, chunkier-looking Clio with gold wheels and a loose F1 connection really appealed!
So I went and viewed the car which looks great from a few paces, but does have a few imperfections. Fair enough I suppose given it is a 29 year old Renault. Here is my first picture of it in sunny Brighton.
Overall it presented well and the owner had just had the wheels refurbished and shod with brand new Michelin Pilot Sport 3's, which really helps to lift the car. I guess all these cars went through a period of being relatively cheap and potentially not brilliantly looked after, but the last two owners have had the car dry stored and have spent a lot of time and effort getting the car looking good and mechanically fit. The underside has certainly seem some attention with various parts being replaced and undersealed. The last few MOT'S were pretty encouraging, suggesting little has needed attention of late.
Mileage is sensible at 119k, without long periods off the road which I take as a positive. There are only about 18 '3's taxed and on the road now, so if I wanted one, there weren't going to be many to choose from!
The interior is pretty much perfect, with correct Williams carpet mats and the parcel shelf with the suit carrier, which the previous owner took a while to track down.
Being a 3, it has the brighter shade of blue that my old RSI had, and even matched the first three digits of its registration. I guess it was meant to be......
On viewing, I wasn't sure at first, but I took it for a drive and it drove really nicely. I had a strange compulsion to buy it, so we came to an agreement on price, and that was that!
I picked it up yesterday, and here it is back home.
It does seem pretty good fun to drive, although I'll admit it never seemed particularly fast. My daily is a Giulia Quadrifoglio, though, so I guess that might explain that. It sounds good in an angry 90's hot hatch kind of way, and grips well with some decent steering feel. You forget how slow the steering was back then - you really have to turn that massive wheel a long way!
I'm really not sure what I'm going to do with it, but I do enough driving to swap in to it every now and then, so it will get used. I need to arrange a full service and cambelt change first of all, as it has not moved much recently and I think the cambelt is over 6 years old.
I may attend to a few of the paint imperfections, but then having it not perfect is sometimes a good thing, and doesn't prevent a barrier to getting out and actually driving it without panicking about parking etc.
Anyway, a long held ambition to own a Williams, so let's see how we go!
I bought one new in 1996. I sold my then mint, 92 205 1.9 in order to buy it. The 205 had PAS and ABS, rare options for a 205 at the time.
I remember getting some discount on the Clio and a years free insurance. None the less, I sold the 205 for £7k and paid over £14k for the Clio.
There were no demonstrators for the Clio but my head was filled was magazine articles which proclaimed, amongst other things, that it was as quick as a 512TR on a B road.
It was a crushing disappointment. The 205 had a slicker gearchange and the Clio didn’t feel any quicker at all. It felt better put together- perhaps because it was new, and I liked the seats but I sold it after 3 months and, as I recall, made a small profit. They do look good though and I hope you enjoy yours.
I remember getting some discount on the Clio and a years free insurance. None the less, I sold the 205 for £7k and paid over £14k for the Clio.
There were no demonstrators for the Clio but my head was filled was magazine articles which proclaimed, amongst other things, that it was as quick as a 512TR on a B road.
It was a crushing disappointment. The 205 had a slicker gearchange and the Clio didn’t feel any quicker at all. It felt better put together- perhaps because it was new, and I liked the seats but I sold it after 3 months and, as I recall, made a small profit. They do look good though and I hope you enjoy yours.
UnderSteerD said:
Fantastic purchase! I had a couple of these back when they were cheap and I loved them. I'd love to have another.
I'm not sure that's the original steering wheel. I might be wrong, but I'm sure the 3 was airbag equipped.
Thank you! I'm not sure, but i've seen a few Clio Williams 3's interiors and they all seem to have this wheel. This is a '95 N, but weirdly, my '96 N RSI had the newer wheel with an airbag. Did that ever make it in to a Williams though? I'm not sure.I'm not sure that's the original steering wheel. I might be wrong, but I'm sure the 3 was airbag equipped.
Thanks all for the positive comments. Helps me, when my 10 year old daughter just asked me now 'Daddy, why did you buy that car? When are you actually going to use it?'
tgr said:
If you're used to Giulia Quadrifglio steering then obviously this is going to seem slow...
Very true. If anything, I think the Quad steering is a little too fast for a saloon car. To be fair, the Clio rack is similar to my Elise S1, but they both offer great feedback in return.The Clio looks to have gone through quite a few owners between 2004 - 2012 when they weren't worth a great deal, before settling with an engineer whose day job was preparing classic race cars. He owned the car for over 9 years, attending to all the mechanical bits needed to make it a reliable daily driver. He also attended to some corrosion underneath, generally future-proofing it.
The lovely lady I bought the car from (quite well known in motor racing circles) intended to keep the car forever, it being her dream car. Sadly, life and expensive storage got in the way and it got to the point she was paying a lot to drive the car 3 or 4 times a year, so reluctantly let it go. She has carried out some lovely cosmetic improvements - the wheels look great. Nice job by Crawley Wheel Works!
She also sourced a few bits for the interior, such as the bizarre parcel shelf with suit carrier!
One thing I would like to sort is the sunroof - I'm pretty sure it's not particularly weather-proof as it doesn't seem to sit tight enough to the rubber seal. We shall see, but I don't intend to use it in terrible weather if I can avoid it.
The engine bay is really tidy, but at some point someone thought it was a good idea to paint the rocker cover the same shade of Monaco blue as the body....
I'd quite like to get that back to standard if I can. I think the only other non-standard part is a Supersprint exhaust, but it sounds good and isn't too loud, so I'm in no hurry to change that.
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