1976 Renault 12 TL from UK and Ireland - Comments

Very little considering I bought it at a car boot sale for 200 quid.

The car had "head gasket issues" from day one and as such was prone to overheating. Driving with the heater on and the windows down during the summer solved that.

A local mechanic, overcome with nostalgia kept me on the road with some kind MOT results and reconditioned bits and pieces when things went pear shaped. Clutch 100 quid, carb 70 etc.

Rust was a bit of a battle, but that's what Halfords is for.

The car ultimately died of terminal head gasket, meeting its maker in a shopping centre carpark in North County Dublin.

Very quick as weighed close to nothing.

Go anywhere ground clearance.

Long bonnet - ideal for sun bathing!

Excellent petrol mileage for its age.

More comfortable than anything I have owned or driven since (I am not kidding here).

Very roomy and supremely stylish.

A third gear to die for.

Your R12 comments brought back memories. I bought an 1982 model here in Canada and almost immediately had top end problems. The dealer was of no value, which was reasonable as I suspect I owned the only Renault east of Quebec City.

We finally had a new head installed and thereafter took care of business ourselves. We solved the problems by going to the local auto parts store, buying a Dodge flathead 6 carburetor (We just drove it in the bay & kept looking until we found one that fit. I don't recall making up a plate), removing approx. 6 miles of anti-smog hosing and generally laying it out in a way able to cope with our winters. After that, it was a darling little car. It ran for years. To this date, I have not had a car able to match the cornering ability/general fun of that little auto!

I had a Renault 12 when I lived in Carlisle in 1979. Its reg. was TRM 365S. I have to say it was a v. comfortable car, ahead of its time, good economy etc. Looked good... very reliable...wish I had kept it!!!

David Meikle davidwmeikle@aol.com.

I own a 1977 Racia 1300 (Renault 12), which has been my grandfather's car... he was the only owner...

After 29 years, I still call it the best car I see..

Really comfortable, good gas mileage, and most importantly, great performances, considering it has a 1,3 liter engine.

54 hp, 0-60mph in about 12 sec... that is something

too bad I can't upload pictures

definetly a keeper.

My dad still rates his (M-registered) 12 as one of the best cars he ever owned. Smooth, comfy, economical and reliable.

Apart from a sunroof which leaked like a sieve and left footwell puddles in anything heavier than a moderate drizzle, and the carb needing a rebuild, it was faultless in the 2 years he had it.

It finally died when the gearbox ingested itself one afternoon on the local ring road. No warning or odd behaviour, just suddenly made odd grinding noises and wouldn't come out of fourth. Off it went on the back of a low loader to the local scrappie and that was the last we saw of it.

Great car - can't remember the last time I saw one.

We used to have one back in the 80’s and kept it in our back garden right up till about 00.

My father loved it, he still thinks it’s the best car he ever had. At 1 stage we had three in our back garden. He is a mechanic so that is why he loved it so much as it needed a bit of TLC every now and again.

I can remember it overheating a few times in really hot weather and in heavy traffic. That fan trick works for all Renaults I think! I have fond memory’s of the heater on full blast on the warmest days in summer and turning the windows down.

We used to leave the coolant tank lid off it so it could boil over!

My Da always had a gallon of water in the boot incase we needed a top up.

It was a great family car with buckets of room. I can remember going to a hurling match with the whole team squashed in!

And you would have to keep it topped up in the summer. The 12 had a great set of springs and a solid chassis and handled the road great.

The steering was a bit nasty looking and it was made of that really hard plastic so that when it was cold in the morning, the thing was freezing and you had to pull your sleeves around it.

It never let you down all the same. I think there was about 180K miles on the clock. We kept it for years it was still driving, but the rust got it (it literally collapsed into the ground and almost disappeared) and we had to scrap it a few years ago. Pity it got so bad as I would have liked to have restored it.

You're absolutely right, the cooling system could only be described as "adequate" at best, particularly because I live in Australia. I had an electric thermo fan installed in mine which came on automatically at a certain temp, and could also be turned on/off manually. It kept heavy-traffic problems at bay until it stopped working a couple of weeks ago in a McDonalds drive-thru on a 38 C day. I could hear the coolant boiling, and feel it through the footwell. It lost about 200mL of coolant through the top of the bottle, I let it sit for 5 mintues and then it was fine again. It was great passing all the cars on the freeway with their bonnets up.

Re the steering wheel - we have the opposite here. That black Bakelite plastic is a heat magnet and in summer the steering wheel and gear knob are red-hot for the first 10 minutes.