1973 Renault 16 TS review from Australia and New Zealand

Very little. It was purchased for $250 and used on a daily basis around Sydney. It was driven to the Snowy Mountains and the Byron hinterland a number of times, 800km and 1700km round trips respectively. It was regularly driven on harsh dirt roads in country NSW. The cooling system glass tank blew on a trip to the Snowy Mountains. A rear shock absorber snapped in the outback. In both cases, the car was still driveable. I changed the gearbox as it jumped out of 1st gear. This was not a difficult job.

It was my first car, a fabulous car. A wierd looking thing, but a lovely design and fantastic to drive. They are very comfortable and are happy cruising about the city or the country. At the time of ownership, a Renault 16 (or 12) was possibly the cheapest car to buy and since the people who owned one were generally cash strapped, the mechanics were very reasonable when it came to the cost of spare parts. I bought two wrecks for spares for $50 each. One was pillaged, the other was registered and given to a friend. I eventually sold it after 3 years of ownership to a guy in Coogee who needed a car to fit his drum kit in. I wonder what happened to it? Following this 16, I bought a Citroen CX, which was a truly marvelous car, but much less faithful than my 16. Find a good 16 and keep it, you will not regret it.