And this time it has 4 wheels!
Meet my 1977 Renault 17TL Découvrable Automatic! The gearbox is not my preferred choice, and very not-oppo, but fret not a swap is planned. It’s not often these come up for sale, and this one was a right steal!
For those not familiar with older Renaults: it’s a pillar-less coupe based on Renault 12 and 16 parts, meaning it has a longitudinal placed engine, yet is FWD. In this case the engine is an aluminium Clèon-Alu 1.6, also used in some versions of the alpine A110 and A310, with 90hp when new.
This model is actually from a series of 3 12/16 based coupes: the 15, 17, and 17 Découvrable. Withthe latter being a pseudo-convertible/targa with it’s large cloth roof and pillar-less windows:
The condition if this car is pretty amazing, even though it hasn’t run for a while. It was kept inside as part of the collection of a Renault dealer since 1991, where it was taken on a spin semi-regularly, until it was moved to a private garage, where it sat for a few years. Due to this, it’s surprisingly solid, with no really worrying rust spots. That’s especially remarkable given the tendecy of Renaults from this era to rust as soon as they leave the showroom floor.
My plans for the car are to get it back to running condition, replace aged suspension bits, and have fun cruising it around.
Turns out all that unnecessary car shopping had a nice effect in the end after all!