Hey Everyone, What started off as a car i wanted to tick off the list quickly evolved into a full blown love affair. My very first car at 17 was a phase 1 Clio 1.2 in white reg M96 VBV. I bought it from garage down the road from me and it lived in my garage until i past my test. From the first day it was love. I'd hankered after a Clio because of a Clio Williams that i had to run past every morning on my milk round. I was just obsessed with it... At this point there we're also lots of 5 Turbo's about also. The love for fast Renaults was deep inside me... The trusty 1.2 was amazing. I grew up in a village just North of Preston and it was B road central with plenty of mud and animals to keep you on your toes. It was these roads i really learn't to understand my car and develop my way of driving. Near misses and races with friends a plenty. These were epic days of freedom and good times. As i grew up a equal passion took over, skiing and my will to become a skiing instructor. I moved to Canada and the car was sold. In winter i lived in Canada and summer i was a bartender in Manchester. No car needed... Until i was 23. At 23 i needed to travel to the bar i was running in South Manchester and needed a car. There was only one car that would do. After much research and denial that i couldn't afford it. I bought a Clio 182 FF cup pack. ML05HNF... What a car. Absolutely the most fun living where i lived. 3 wheeling roundabouts and lift off oversteer where ever i got the chance. Lots of traffic racing and all round good times. I could literally feel the DNA running through the Clio's. Time moved on and so did my career and i got the chance to open my own bar in Preston. So back i went with everything packed in my trusty 182. 2 years later i got done over by my business partners and kicked out of the business. 2 weeks later ML05HNF was stolen. House broken into, keys and car gone. Never to be seen again. No business, no car... So it was time to rebuild. So with family and friends we built another bar. Then another. Then another... During this period of 4 years I went through some cars. Poor cars... I was desperate at times. I had a phase 1 Corsa 1.2L 120k miles in purple... I swapped my mobile phone to get it... Then there was Gordon the Golf. Think it was a mk4 or 5 GTI in Green. 150k miles (blow the engine swiftly)... Then a finally when the business could afford we bought a brand new Toyota Hilux. Which is still used by the business and is absolutely awesome. All through this time i needed a fast Renault in my life. After setting up the last bar in Chester and living there for a short while i decided i needed that raw fun that only a Renault could give me. 6 months ago i bought my 230 F1 in Liquid Yellow from Inverness in Scotland. 1 lady owner, full service history. 35k miles. At first i found it strange (for an hour) and i put it down to the LSD. So i perceived... What a totally astonishing car. I was uneasy about it being a 7 year old car and the shape must be 10-12 years old. But i love how its evolved through its different guises. I was gonna plum for a R but price vs I had a hankering for the Yellow that i'd seen on all the press releases back in the day. Having got to grips with the car and using it as my daily commute I soon decided that it was gonna need some upgrades and general maintenance and to say the last few months have been expensive would be a understatement. I will add at no point has the car missed a beat. Its all been preventative measures and upgrades on wear items. My daily commute is mostly motorway but a trip to South Wales via Snowdonia was an absolute highlight. Also chasing a Steam Engine from Chorley to Appleby via Settle etc was truly memorable. Stopped at a station waiting we we're chatting with some motor cyclists (old ones...) and they said there was no way we would beat the loco to Ribblehead Viaduct... Mission accepted...We did it with seconds to spare on damp rounds. It was absolutely epic. The way the car takes everything and just builds your confidence is amazing. Never biting your hand off just easing you up to its amazing limits. Those runs finished off a lot of my wear items so my list goes like this below:- -Short Shift mod (just because...) -Front discs and pads- Brembo HC plain and Ferodo DS2500's. -Rear discs and pads- Standard R26 items. -Service at RS Tuning- Belts etc and general health check. -Inner tie rod bush- TFD -N/S Steering Arm (flagged on MOT) -Suspension Top Mounts (when in Rome) -4x new R26 Dampers (old were shot) -Cooksport Springs -4x Michelin PS3's All have been great additions except the Cooksports didn't want to sit in the N/S mount properly. Sorted now. Also possibly slighty too low for my liking but i think i just need to time and some dry roads and no big speed bumps. Next to be done:- -Midbox chop- I need pops in my life. Adds to the theatre of it all. -10mm Spacers on the wheels to sort out the arch gap that should never have been there. -Then finally when all is right. A trip back to Paul at RST for a good service and a map. I'm really looking forward to the next year of driving this brilliant car. I think about other cars and i'm not sure anything would fulfil my practical and emotional needs like this car does. When i do buy another car this one is staying. Its gonna live in a garage and get used when i need that fill. I guess this car just gets me and I get it. Hard for others to understand but i reckon some of you do. Hope you get the same pleasure i do. It all goes back to my youth.
Good read that fella. Sounds like you have earned it and hope you get lots of fun from the car. You need to post some pictures up we all love a picture.
