Tuesday 14th August 2012

Spotted: Renault 21 Turbo

Fast, French and, yes, front-wheel drive, Harris finds temptation in the form of an old Renault 21

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This is where the planets collide for this Spotted correspondent: French, old, turbocharged, sassy and bloody fast. I'm only typing this to stop my hands dialling the vendor's phone number.

21 Turbo made a big impression on Harris

Half presentable 21 Turbos of the Phase 1 variety (the best to these eyes) appear about as frequently as Halley's Comet. Now this 116K miler is clearly a long way from perfect, but it seems to have escaped being sodomised by the Max Power mob in the 90s.

Of course it's not as fast as a Sapphire Cosworth and, yes, it's front-wheel drive - which remains just the right side of wrong-wheel drive (had to use that phrase again) with this amount of torque - but I loved these back in the day. I remember being taken out in one, aged 13, watching the boost gauge flicker and thinking the sky was about to fall in. Compared with any other French saloon I'd experienced, it felt certifiable.

Gutsy 175hp turbo rapid for its day

And it arrived at a time when the Germans were getting it wrong. The E30 was old, cramped and overpriced, the new Audi 90 had the damping qualities of a worn brothel mattress and about 12hp. And to get a Merc 190 to stay with the 21 in a straight line required a spend which, adjusted for inflation, probably equated to about £175,000 these days. And even then the 21 was faster. The Turbo was blue-collar speed for the family man.

You got a full leather interior, lots of funky electrics to fail in the first few months of ownership, and a Philips stereo that glowed orange. I always remember the orange.

Legendary car. Rare too. If only I had more space...

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RENAULT 21 TURBO
Engine: 1,995cc 4-cyl, turbo
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Power (hp): 175@5,200rpm
Torque (lb ft): 199@3,000rpm
MPG: 24.1 (Autocar 'test' cycle, 1988)
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1988
Recorded mileage: 116,040
Price new: £16,500
Yours for: £1,250

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See the original advert here.

 

[RevOne]

Is that engine placed longitudally...? In a front wheel driver? Kerazy French!

[LouD86]

They did the Quadra 4wd one aswell, hence the engine!!

I miss these, my dad use to bring them home, new and used when he worked for Renault as a Salesman. So much fun!

[Dave Hedgehog]

[homer] hmmmm boxy [/homer]

[myhandle]

After the Citroen BX and XM (which were hatchbacks), arguably the most avantgarde saloon of the 1980s.

Edited by myhandle on Tuesday 14th August 10:23

[e8_pack]

What a great looking car, looks good from the few pics taken, definately worth a punt, though would like to see it go to someone who will look after it. 24mpg, crikey!

[JamesHayward]

I used to walk past one of these everyday on my way to school. Never did go out in it but always wanted one after I got a model of the Supertouring version.

[The Donster]

Get. It. Bought.

[mik_jg]

Funnily enough I was looking at this site yesterday and found this one...


http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C315959

[VolvoMariner]

Love it! My Dad had a Renault 25 2.2GTX from new which got passed onto me, I loved that car - 270k before it was sold for £150! I always wanted the 25 V6 Turbo - an even rarer beast than the 21. This would do now - I am sorely tempted as there is a space in my garage!

[Strawman]

myhandle said:

After the Citroen BX and XM (which were hatchbacks), arguably the most avantgarde saloon of the 1980s.

I'd argue not, unless you add from France, looks like an Austin Montego with a body kit to me, boring bland and like most other 80's rep mobile saloons, with go faster bits added, from that era.

[omgus]

VolvoMariner said:

This would do now - I am sorely tempted as there is a space in my garage!

Buy it!

Please i am too broke to buy it myself.

[Hoygo]

Turbo Quadras were fkin fast,and are fast even with today standards.

In a 200 hp+ 21 Turbo i had a ride years ago left me impressed for its huge torque available in low-end,it could leave a lot of modern 200 hp cars behind.

Saying that there are not much left standard though.

[lazyitus]

Reminds me of..

When I was a kid, my Dad got an invite to the local Renault dealer for a mooch. I'm pretty sure it was the 21 Turbo which was being showcased. The attraction? Each visitor was given a key upon arrival and if this key turned the ignition on, the car was the prize.

I watched my Dad slide into the seat, key in hand. Once settled, he reached forward and poked the key into the dash and tried to turn it.......... the horn beeped loud, on off on off. st, we won the car !!!!!!!

Only we hadn't. Some joker was sat in the car behind beeping the horn for a laugh. Funny. Really funny.


Nice rare car.

[nick-elise]

Would love a drive in one of these, its just reminded me of how much fun (as a passenger as I wasn't old enough to drive) the Peugeot 405 Mi16 was!

[The Donster]

Strawman said:

myhandle said:

After the Citroen BX and XM (which were hatchbacks), arguably the most avantgarde saloon of the 1980s.

I'd argue not, unless you add from France, looks like an Austin Montego with a body kit to me, boring bland and like most other 80's rep mobile saloons, with go faster bits added, from that era.

Have you ever owned or driven one? Then you haven't lived if you think it's a Montego with a bodykit. For a start, aside from the ubiquitous Cossie, nothing could touch it on-boost back then. Secondly, it felt like a very comfortable and nice place to sit. Thirdly, it handled. Fourthly, yellow foglights were cool in the 90s.

[s m]

No DaveL485 post yet?

[Andrew_M]

I agree with the montego being comfy. Very forgiving in the beds too - shame they all rotted instantly...e

[350Wedge]

I've owned two of these over the years, sold my last one only a couple of years ago.

Wonderful old things, very comfortable and very rapid too. Both mine were up around the 250 bhp mark, my original one was identical to the silver one in the advert.

Would love another one day, standard ones are very difficult to come by and quadras even more so, very few left at all.

Here is a pic of my last one, standard looking other than the wheels.

[Strawman]

The Donster said:

Have you ever owned or driven one? Then you haven't lived if you think it's a Montego with a bodykit. For a start, aside from the ubiquitous Cossie, nothing could touch it on-boost back then. Secondly, it felt like a very comfortable and nice place to sit. Thirdly, it handled. Fourthly, yellow foglights were cool in the 90s.

No I was just commenting on the exterior styling, to me it looks like a Montego, which was hardly avantgarde back then, I'd say turbo SAAB 900 from that era handled better with their double wishbone front suspension. I still think yellow foglights are cool.

[jjones]

i had a charade gtti at the time, pretty quick. then my mate took me out in his tuned quadra damn that thing was fast