Automotive

The first one I remember was my mother’s Renault 4. She had two - the first one was red and she got it as a graduation present from her parents and that was also one of the first cars I got chauffeured around in (my first journey was in a /8 230E MB). The second one is probably the first I consciously remember and was in a blue tone like in the shot below.

These were popular back in the day, especially since they were locally produced and hence had no import duty levied on them. This one finally got replaced by an Opel Kadett and my mom mourned it for a while, even if the Kadett was objectively a much better car. 

My most intense memory was losing a Porsche 924 in it - anyone knowing the R4 will remember the inside door opening mechanism having a cutout in the metal, where a toy car could easily fall into. My father took off the door card and retrieved it just before the car got sold, I must have pestered him about it relentlessly for possibly years 😉🤷🏻‍♂️

Picture from: Hagerty

Next came a rather unexpected one, since my father by that point was driving primarily German cars - the Renault 30. Powered by the PRV V6 - a joint development and engine for Peugeot, Renault and Volvo - it was a very comfortable cruiser and quite spacious. 

I remember a shopping trip to Italy from our skiing resort in Austria in it. Originally uneventful, it turned out much more exciting, when the other families figured out that the Italian customs required the green insurance card to cross, which none of them apart from my father had. So they crossed on foot and subsequently all squeezed into the R30 of ours. Memory is a bit hazy (was the first half of the 1980s in my defense) but there were either 10 or 11 of us in there and when we arrived to the town, where the shopping was to be done, an Italian gentleman was counting us exititing the car and concluded with a heartfelt mama mia! 😂

Picture from: The Originals Museum

The final one in our family was the Citroen BX, as discussed with Mike and Nico in another thread. Apart from my first driving practice (unknown to my parents) and almost my first crash (I believe I was 11 😉) it was a decent, if uneventful car. Was a turbo diesel, and I remember appreciating the fact it had AC but most certainly didn’t appreciate the uncomfortable seats. It disappeared when the overall family car park switched to Volvo in the mid 1990s and nothing made in France has appeared since (although I am still hoping to add one of the final Alpine A110s, if circumstances permit 🤞🏻).

Picture from: AutoBild

Finally, when I first met the fine lady that was to become my wife, she often zoomed about in a Citroen AX. And I remember being driven in it a handful of times but not driving it myself. Was certainly a fun little car… But while that one is long gone, I kept the wife - and am certain that was the right way to go about it 😁

Picture from Wikipedia 

So, any other fans of French machinery? 🤞🏻🇫🇷

  login to reply