Renault 6 rescue

A genuine garage find...

Isn't it every car enthusiast's dream to open up a long-forgotten garage and find a rare classic hidden inside? That dream still comes true surprisingly often and some amazing barn finds have been discovered in recent years, but I never thought it would happen to me. We were quite happy with the Maxi and weren't looking for another classic, and certainly had no intention of buying a Renault 6 but then this one unexpectedly found us and had to be saved. Read on for the story of its discovery after more than two decades hidden away in storage...



It all started with model buses. My friend Bob from the Model Bus Federation sadly passed away recently, leaving a huge collection of rare and unusual models built up over many years. I had arranged with his executor Barry to visit his house in Rugby and acquire a number of these for my own collection, and this I did but with a surprise bonus. The whole property was very run down and hadn't been lived in for some time as Bob spent the last two years of his life in a care home. A Vauxhall Zafira languished on the drive turning green, but Barry happened to mention there was another old car in the garage. He thought it was a Renault 19, it was L-reg and only fit for scrap, but we decided it was worth taking a look at anyway.

That's not a Renault 19!

Off we went to the prefabricated concrete garage at the bottom of the garden, expecting to find a rotten early-nineties hatchback. When the door creaked open we were in for a pleasant shock - it revealed not a Renault 19 but a dust-covered 1972 Renault 6 that had obviously been there a very long time and was surrounded by clutter. From what little we could see of it in the dark and cramped (but fortunately dry) garage, under the years of accumulated dust it was complete and surprisingly sound with no major rot, but the brakes and possibly the engine were seized so we couldn't get it out for a better look. According to the DVLA database it hasn't been on the road since 1994, and Barry said the boot was full of models, paperwork and even some cash when he found it, just as if Bob had driven home from an event one day, put the car away without even unpacking it and forgotten all about it for the next 23 years.

Lots of dust but it's all there and looks sound

As well as buses, Bob also had a keen interest in railways and had bizarrely painted the Renault to look like a British Rail locomotive! It was originally metallic green, but he brush-painted it in two-tone solid green and lined it with black and yellow tape stripes, as well as painting the front grille and lower part of the tailgate to replicate the yellow ends of a loco, so it has a unique and unmistakable appearance. The registration is a local issue (JNX 134L) and it had spent its entire life in Rugby, with two lady owners before Bob bought it circa 1981. There is some paperwork with the car, mostly from local garages but including a hefty bill for an engine rebuild from a Renault dealer in Bournemouth, suggesting it blew up while one of the previous owners was on holiday.

What dreams are made of - opening a forgotten garage and revealing something like this

Any Renault 6 is an unusual sight nowadays with fewer than 20 left on the road, but this is a particularly rare variation. It's an early pre-facelift car with round headlights and the original 845cc engine, basically a Renault 4 in more sophisticated clothes. The 845 was criticised for being underpowered and Renault soon introduced an 1108cc alternative, which accounted for the majority of sales. It has some very odd design features: the gearbox is mounted in front of the engine with the gear linkage running over the top and sprouting from the bulkhead just below the dashboard, and the umbrella handbrake works on the front wheels, so getting it mobile could be an interesting experience unlike any other car we've worked on.

The first time anyone has sat here for more than 20 years

Having examined what we could in the confines of where it stood, we concluded it was a sound project that needed a fair bit of work but was definitely worth saving and convinced Barry not to scrap it after it had spent half its life safely tucked away in Bob's garage. A deal was done, some cash changed hands and we became the owners of an immobile Renault 6 stuck in a garage 30 miles from home. What could possibly go wrong?

To be continued...