SOTW: Clio Williams
A hot hatch legend for a grand? Where's my cheque book?
Leave it Nicole, this Clio's mine...
OK, so it’s the let’s-pee-off-those-who-bought-the-original Mark 2 version, but it’s still one hell of a car for less than a grand. When the Clio Williams came out, which apparently had nothing to do with the actual Williams but never mind, it was an instant cult classic.
It was hailed as the best hot hatch ever and those who bought one of the 2,500 limited edition Williams were no doubt feeling pretty pleased with themselves. Then the Williams 2 came out which was quite frankly a bit of a kick in the teeth.
It had a wider front track using Renault 19 16v bits and the suspension was tuned to make the already fine handling even more fluent and precise. It even managed to top the Peugeot 205 GTI in many eyes as the hot hatch king. The Williams was identified by Subaru-esque blue paint with wide Speedline gold wheels and each version had ‘Williams’ written down the side followed by the number ‘1’,‘2’ or ‘3’. 0-60mph was achieved in 7.7 seconds and the engine was a peach.
You don’t seem to see many of these around these days either, probably as most have either been dragged away from track days by a tractor or people are now keeping them safely locked away until they are worth big bucks.
That’s why I was surprised to find this one lurking on autotrader.co.uk for a measly £999. It’s a 1995 model with a reasonably low mileage (115,000) and to be honest if it wasn’t 350 miles away I would probably buy it. From the pics it looks straight and in good condition and thankfully all original. The interior could do with a clean up but it’s in very good condition and again the lack of ‘aksesoreez’ could mean that the car hasn’t been treated too badly.
So here you have it: a PH Hero with tax and MOT and FSH for £999. Please don’t buy it – I want it…
The williams was the best handling car i ever drove, like a go cart!
But beware, these things do cost a bit to run if not looked after, steering racks always common to go among other things.
But a classic in its own right.
They tend to suffer rust around the rear arches, and the joint at the base of the steering column is known to split, which is often mistaken to be the steering rack, and is actually quite a cheap repair. If buying one with a sunroof, check carefully, as they are well known to leak.
Saying that, they are an absolutely cracking car to drive. I've owned my Williams for 9 years now and still love it to bits. The originals are arguably the best of the three, but any version is a good buy as long as its had its tlc and is in pretty good shape. Have a look on www.williamsclio.co.uk for lots more info about the willy.
Deano
you can tell buy the suspension the Williams had independent and the 16v had a torsion bar...i finks..i think the willaims has a wide rear track than that..i could be wrong but it doesn't look right
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