Has anyone ever owned a Renault 16?
My father had a 16TS in which I learned to drive. An excellent car spoiled only by the dreaded rust; apparently Renault's "electrophoresis" chemistry, which was supposed to attract paint, occasionally did the opposite.
Very comfortable, roomy, versatile layout and quick considering its 1600cc engine; first car in which I did 100mph - just the once. It cruised beautifully, handled well and had great brakes with a pressure limiting valve for the rear drums.
Would still be a great car today if the safety could be brought up to modern standards.
Geoff
My father had a 16TS in which I learned to drive. An excellent car spoiled only by the dreaded rust; apparently Renault's "electrophoresis" chemistry, which was supposed to attract paint, occasionally did the opposite.
Very comfortable, roomy, versatile layout and quick considering its 1600cc engine; first car in which I did 100mph - just the once. It cruised beautifully, handled well and had great brakes with a pressure limiting valve for the rear drums.
Would still be a great car today if the safety could be brought up to modern standards.
Geoff
Yes ! 
My father had a R16, it was in the early 70s, just like this one :
I had a R5TL, just like this one too :
Yes : clearly, the enemy was rust who killed nearly all of them. Other than that, they would have lasted a lifetime, particularly the R5TL, a true workhorse... I remember the specs : 1100cc, 45CV@5000rpm and 10.8mkg@2800rpm, gas capacity 45L, max. speed 145km/h... The cast-iron (not aluminium) motor block and cylinder head engine was indestructible, very responsive and smooth running, despite its side camshaft and rocker arms...
That's also Renault who launched the famous concept of the Monospace, with the Renault Espace, "la voiture à vivre" :
But today, I'd rather say : " A Renault, that's OK. A car, that's better". They give me that impression that they always more or less miss the boat, the train, the plane...
T
My father had a R16, it was in the early 70s, just like this one :
I had a R5TL, just like this one too :
Yes : clearly, the enemy was rust who killed nearly all of them. Other than that, they would have lasted a lifetime, particularly the R5TL, a true workhorse... I remember the specs : 1100cc, 45CV@5000rpm and 10.8mkg@2800rpm, gas capacity 45L, max. speed 145km/h... The cast-iron (not aluminium) motor block and cylinder head engine was indestructible, very responsive and smooth running, despite its side camshaft and rocker arms...
That's also Renault who launched the famous concept of the Monospace, with the Renault Espace, "la voiture à vivre" :
But today, I'd rather say : " A Renault, that's OK. A car, that's better". They give me that impression that they always more or less miss the boat, the train, the plane...
T
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My first car was an early 1970's R15 (bought used, of course!) Yup - while my peers bought gas-guzzling (who remembers the fuel crisis of the mid 1970's?) American muscle cars, I was wooed by this stylish, compact, & economical European sports car. Indeed - it had a lot of appealing attributes, but - certainly due in part to the "tacked-on" emission controls of the time, as well as an automatic transmission (ugh!) - power & speed weren't among them. Top end was ~ 55 mph, and it took its time getting there! After some modifications, I could handily hit 65 mph (YEAH!!!). As to safety: mine had the "5 mph bumpers" in vogue at the time (never tested 'em). Picture is clipped from a scan of badly faded 35mm slide... what a beauty! He-he: In my graduating year, I scored a job interview with GM in Oshawa; one of the questions in the interview was: "what brand of car do you own?" I'm convinced that my innocent answer to that question effectively torpedoed my chances of an offer from them!
Some years later, my brother bought a new Renault Fuego - now that was a sports car! Very peppy & fun to drive - with 5-speed manual shift & turbocharged ~1.5 litre, it could do over 30 miles/gallon while loaded with 4 occupants & stuffed with camping gear! It had pretty futuristic styling for its time as well, but certainly had some quirks as well. That was about the last of that brand's presence around here...
Top end was ~ 55 mph, and it took its time getting there! After some modifications, I could handily hit 65 mph (YEAH!!!). As to safety: mine had the "5 mph bumpers" in vogue at the time (never tested 'em). Picture is clipped from a scan of badly faded 35mm slide... what a beauty! He-he: In my graduating year, I scored a job interview with GM in Oshawa; one of the questions in the interview was: "what brand of car do you own?" I'm convinced that my innocent answer to that question effectively torpedoed my chances of an offer from them!
Some years later, my brother bought a new Renault Fuego - now that was a sports car! Very peppy & fun to drive - with 5-speed manual shift & turbocharged ~1.5 litre, it could do over 30 miles/gallon while loaded with 4 occupants & stuffed with camping gear! It had pretty futuristic styling for its time as well, but certainly had some quirks as well. That was about the last of that brand's presence around here...
I think Renault went the way of other carmakers such as Peugeot and various German brands: innovation and interesting design went the way of the bean counters and non-challenging aesthetics. The last good Peugeot, IMHO of course, was the 505; after that, bleah.
Only issue with the Fuego - a friend had one - was that you could only fit one type of tyre. Well, that plus rust...
Geoff
Only issue with the Fuego - a friend had one - was that you could only fit one type of tyre. Well, that plus rust...
Geoff
180, that must have scared the hell out of you!
The 16TS really had a great engine, much better than the TL: more cc, twin choke Weber and hemispherical combustion chambers. Nice gearbox, too.
Ours was a light green with rust highlights. The car had a lot of body roll but great handling and plenty of grip in corners, especially compared to the rather ordinary six cylinder 'family cars' which were being sold in Oz at the time. For example, disc brakes weren't even available as an option on some mainstream cars, and as for innovation....cart springs and terminal under-steer were the norm.
Geoff
The 16TS really had a great engine, much better than the TL: more cc, twin choke Weber and hemispherical combustion chambers. Nice gearbox, too.
Ours was a light green with rust highlights. The car had a lot of body roll but great handling and plenty of grip in corners, especially compared to the rather ordinary six cylinder 'family cars' which were being sold in Oz at the time. For example, disc brakes weren't even available as an option on some mainstream cars, and as for innovation....cart springs and terminal under-steer were the norm.
Geoff
Check the Peugeot 508SW... Probably one of the best design of a sport SW today :
Here's mine :
... And here's the 505 :
In SW version :
For sure, I would not trade my 508SW for such an ugly oldie !
But it's me, OK ?
T
In our family, we had at one time or another: two Renault 12TLs; a Renault 16TS; two Peugeot 403s (my first cars); two Peugeot 504s; and a Peugeot 405.
The 405 was the least reliable, although it was the newest and the car just didn't feel special in the same way as the 504s: suspension was average, ride average, seats average and things were always going wrong with it.
The older Peugeots were excellent cars, again, apart from the rust. To be fair, just about anything else at the time suffered from that in time. Handling, braking, comfort and practicality were superior to most mass market offerings of the day.
The 403s, 404s and 504s had a 'wet sleeve' engine which made reconditioning easier than other cars: no re-boring was required, you (or better, your garage) removed the old sleeves and pistons are slotted in new ones. They were simple, durable and relatively easy to work on, unlike the later fwd cars.
Some time ago we changed to Subarus, Toyotas and Mazdas and had far fewer trips to the garage.....however, none of them, even the Outback, have been as good on bad roads as my 504.
I even used to take my 403s on some 4WD tracks and they worked well, with really low first gear and big 15" wheels.
Geoff
The 405 was the least reliable, although it was the newest and the car just didn't feel special in the same way as the 504s: suspension was average, ride average, seats average and things were always going wrong with it.
The older Peugeots were excellent cars, again, apart from the rust. To be fair, just about anything else at the time suffered from that in time. Handling, braking, comfort and practicality were superior to most mass market offerings of the day.
The 403s, 404s and 504s had a 'wet sleeve' engine which made reconditioning easier than other cars: no re-boring was required, you (or better, your garage) removed the old sleeves and pistons are slotted in new ones. They were simple, durable and relatively easy to work on, unlike the later fwd cars.
Some time ago we changed to Subarus, Toyotas and Mazdas and had far fewer trips to the garage.....however, none of them, even the Outback, have been as good on bad roads as my 504.
I even used to take my 403s on some 4WD tracks and they worked well, with really low first gear and big 15" wheels.
Geoff
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The 16 was a very nice comfy car in it's days, way ahead of the competition. I once bought an older one for a trip through Europe. You could see the road through the floor but otherwise it was flawless.
The R16 is probably in the top 10 of fastest rusting cars ever. Together with the R14, the Alfa Sud, Simca Rancho, Autobianchi/Lancia A112 and the Lancia Beta's, to name a few. Most of these cars did not last more than 5-10 years before they literally fell apart.
When a mandatory yearly technical inspection was introduced in the mid 80's here in the Netherlands most of these models disappeared from the roads very quickly.
The R16 is probably in the top 10 of fastest rusting cars ever. Together with the R14, the Alfa Sud, Simca Rancho, Autobianchi/Lancia A112 and the Lancia Beta's, to name a few. Most of these cars did not last more than 5-10 years before they literally fell apart.
When a mandatory yearly technical inspection was introduced in the mid 80's here in the Netherlands most of these models disappeared from the roads very quickly.
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Combination of things: quality of the steel, lack of anti-rust coatings, fragile paint and bad design with lots of crevices where damp could find its way in and stay there to do its thing. In those days the anti-rust after treatment of cars became popular. Big name was the "Dinitrol" brand. They treated those hollow spaces with a kind of oily wax.
All cars had rust problems then but french cars were the most problematic. They still have paint issues, if you see a car with the varnish topcoat peeling it is very likely a Peugeot, sometimes Citroën.
Ours was an Oz assembled R16, not sure if they were painted here or at the factory in France. Whatever, the paint was very thin and the rumour was that the alleged rust proofing process wasn't done properly. While strong, the R16 was also light and the panels thin compared with, say a Holden or Ford of the time.
Ours started rusting within five years. We don't salt roads here, so I can imagine that in Europe the rust started even sooner. As I said, most other cars of the day, except some Japanese models, were equally bad.
In terms of today's styling, the Mazda 6 wagon is possibly the best looking car of that type still around: most people have ditched wagons in favour of SUVs or utes.
Geoff
Ours started rusting within five years. We don't salt roads here, so I can imagine that in Europe the rust started even sooner. As I said, most other cars of the day, except some Japanese models, were equally bad.
In terms of today's styling, the Mazda 6 wagon is possibly the best looking car of that type still around: most people have ditched wagons in favour of SUVs or utes.
Geoff
Rust problem was largely down to the steel.
Any protective coating only works while it is intact.
Then it's down to how fast the steel rusts.
I had a Citroen with a penny sized paint blemish - never rusted through and I had that car for many years (I know, shame on me for not painting it).
I had a Polo, front wing arch rusted.
Took it off expecting extensive rust. It was literally just the 1cm flange that had rusted. Cut a strip of steel & welded it on. Didn't even need to form an angle, just fillet welded a flat strip (curved into the arch shape). That's how local the rust was.
Any protective coating only works while it is intact.
Then it's down to how fast the steel rusts.
I had a Citroen with a penny sized paint blemish - never rusted through and I had that car for many years (I know, shame on me for not painting it).
I had a Polo, front wing arch rusted.
Took it off expecting extensive rust. It was literally just the 1cm flange that had rusted. Cut a strip of steel & welded it on. Didn't even need to form an angle, just fillet welded a flat strip (curved into the arch shape). That's how local the rust was.
Back in the late 60's through the 80's every car rusted! Most while sitting on the showroom floor, Chevy Vega, Alfa Romeo Alfetta, etc. I remember when GM products chrome bumpers would rust for the back side forward leaving a thin coat of chrome to hold it all together.
Renault saved Nissan in 1995 form it's poor management, turned them around and made a fortune from the stock. They still own a majority share of Nissan, so as long as Nissan makes money, so will Renault.
No. It's Peugeot Design. Not Korean, Nor Japanese, nor Chinese, nor anything but unmistakable Peugeot Design - sometimes helped by Pininfarina.
T
The R8 and R10 were nice little cars, tough and roomy for their size; my father looked at a R10 before settling on the 16TS.
The R8 and R10 were rallied a bit and had some success in 'rallycross' events. Alloy head, iron block; I think Skoda built a version under license with an iron head and alloy block.....didn't work well.
Hino tried to copy the design but didn't do it well, with a review of the time saying "the bastard tried to kill me nine times'.
Geoff
The R8 and R10 were rallied a bit and had some success in 'rallycross' events. Alloy head, iron block; I think Skoda built a version under license with an iron head and alloy block.....didn't work well.
Hino tried to copy the design but didn't do it well, with a review of the time saying "the bastard tried to kill me nine times'.
Geoff