Renault Clio Williams MKI

I owned from new a MKI Renault Clio Williams from May 1994 till May 2009 registration number L423 OSC. At that time the car was sold for scrap for about £200, after being severely vandalised. Unfortunately I can't remember the plate number but I'm sure it was in the twenties. I see you have quite a few unaccounted for in the twenties (21, 23, 25, 27, 28 and 29). I seem to recall it was an even number like 26 but that is accounted for and all the others are odd except 28 which is my birth day and lucky number and I don’t recall it being that.

I’m currently looking to buy another Williams and have about nine I’m investigating at the moment. They are a mixture of I’s, II’s and III’s. I was one of the original complainers when they introduced the MKII and then the MKII having promised exclusivity with the MKI. I was a bit of a puritan when it came to the MKI which was built for rallying so was kept as light as possible with the exclusion of a sunroof, ABS and various electrics. As it’s for my wife I would be quite happy with a MKIII with the sunroof, ABS, electric windows, etc. She used to drive the Williams all the time after I got myself a Nissan Skyline GT-R33.

There is a story which I’m not sure if anyone has heard before about the introduction, I think in 1996, of the Clio Williams as a safety car in Formula 1. That was the year of Olivier Panis’ only grand Prix win in a Ligier-Mugen-Honda and Williams Renault won the constructor’s title with Damon Hill winning the driver’s championship again in a Williams Renault RS8 3.0 V10. During the practice sessions the safety car was being driven by a French Rally Driver, who must have fancied himself as an F1 driver, and when called in to action after one or two F1 cars crashed, he came speeding round the corner and piled into the back of the F1 car causing quite extensive damage to the F1 car and writing off the Clio Williams in the process.

The race report makes interesting reading as only 3 cars officially finished out of a field of 22.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Monaco_Grand_Prix

PS I also have an original Renault Clio brochure (July 1993) with the 16V and all equipment options (does not include the 2L Williams), a later Renault Clio brochure (August 2000) with the Sport 172, two original Renault Clio V6 brochures the first reprinted from Car magazine February 1999 and the second from February 2001.That was a car that promised so much when originally announced but suffered so many modifications the end-product left much to be desired.


I have two of the original Clio 2L Williams featuring Frank Williams on the cover along with the original Renault press release for the the Geneva Motor Show in March 1993 and an original Renault price guide (15 September 1993) with the Williams priced at £13,275.


I have several magazines with reviews including Autocar (8 December 1993 - 6 pages) with a road test stating “The Formula One badge is more than a marketing gimmick: this Clio is a 150bhp giant-killer, awesome on track and road”.


I also have the Autocar Road Test Yearbook for 1993 that only features the Renault Clio 1.8 RSi, which still get 5 stars and the comment “Another polished fast Renault”.


I have the December What Car Road Test Yearbook featuring five hot hatchbacks (11 pages) including a Ford Fiesta XR2i, a Honda Civic 1.6 ESi, a Mitsubishi Colt GTi a Peugeot 205 GTi and of course the Renault Clio 16V (not the 2L Williams). The final rankings were Renault 5 stars, Peugeot 4 stars, Mitsubishi 4 stars Honda 4 stars and the Ford 3 stars with the Renault top for Performance, second to the Peugeot for Handling and Ride, second equal with Honda behind Mitsubishi for Quality and Equipment, second equal with the others behind Peugeot and Honda for Economy, second equal with the others behind Mitsubishi for Behind The Wheel, third equal with the others behind Mitsubishi and Ford for Accommodation, second equal behind Ford for Service and Costs, second behind Mitsubishi and Honda for Depreciation and finally first for Security.


I have the February 1994 BBC Top Gear magazine featuring the Porsche 962 (237mph and 0-60 in 2.8 secs.) yours for a measly million dollars. It also, of course, has an article where Paddy Hopkirk, the rally legend, pits the Clio 2L 16V Williams against his favourite rally car the 8V 1275cc Mini Cooper. Not really a fair comparison with the Clio on performance winning all time and speed tests with the exception of fuel consumption as one might expect given it’s almost twice the engine capacity and twice the price on the road.


Finally, and in my eyes the icing on the cake, Jeremy Clarkson's Book “Hot 100 Cars that make you go PHWOAR!”. With only about one-third of a page dedicated to commentary on all but the Nissan Skyline GT-R33 which gets two pages and two-thirds of a page commentary and it was Midnight Purple just like mine. Jeremy can’t praise the car enough (like myself) and it is his Number 1 out of 100. Anyway, enough about Nissan this is the Renault Clio Williams Owners Club after all so here’s what he had to say about the Clio.


“For year after relentless year, Renault invested millions in its Formula One programme, endlessly developing that incredible V10 engine so that the combined might of Mercedes and Porsche and Ferrari were left exhausted in its wake. But in the real world, they were selling cars like the Laguna which has about as much sporting appeal as afternoon tea. Renault never capitalised on its success in F1, marketing its cars to us on the strength of price and that infernal Nicole woman, But then came the Clio Williams, a mildly tweaked hot hatch which was most noticeable for its gold coloured wheels.


It was a limited edition special and the promise of a good residual value coupled with the strength of the Williams name, made it an instant hit. So much of a hit, in fact, that Renault decided it wouldn’t be a limited edition special after all and that anyone could have one. The people who'd bought on the first batch were thrilled, Not. But they should have been because where there’s one or 20,000 examples on the road, it was still a damn good car. Tight. Fast. Neat. Precise. And most of all, big, big fun”. JC


Mines was chipped and would do 140mph easily with a 0-60 about 6.5 secs. With harder valves it would have done 150mph. But already having a Nissan Skyline capable of 210mph I didn’t bother.

Coincidence or not, but I'm sure this is on ebay.....

L423 OSC is sorned but was MOTed recently - runs out in November 2017. So it wasn't scrapped.

I remember a badly vandalised Williams for sale a couple of years ago, not sure if it was this one.

The story you're on about was Jean Ragnotti in a Clio Maxi running into the back of Taki Inoue's car that was being towed back to the pits, this was at the 1995 Monaco GP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58ETMy0OP1g

Yep - this is it:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1994-RENAU...gAAOSwal5YLcQ2

If I remember correctly Jeremy Clarkson also said about the interior on the Williams - that without the smell, you wouldn't be able to tell if a Welsh rugby team had vomited all over the seats :lol:

092 - http://williamsclio.co.uk/forum/show...0-0092-L423OSC

Priceless ad calls it number 94!

As Ayli says L423 OSC is currenlty for sale on ebay

Funnily, looks like the same images have been used to advertise some Williams wheels for sale in Italy :D

http://www.subito.it/vi/186141622.htm