"Mr. Cigarrette Times" It gives me chills to remember that in the first jet airliners that I flew in, manufactured in 1958, there were ashtrays in the pilots' flight deck (Aviation Medicine Finding later that "covering" the alveoli with nicotine, greatly diminishes flight capabilities)!
As much as I love the exotics, it's nice to see these more affordable cars that still deliver a ton of fun. In many ways the smaller less expensive cars can be more fun to drive because the limits are lower and you're not so afraid of bending a 7 figure vehicle.
@@golden.lights.twinkle2329 Also Ian said "you can easily park these in supermarket car parks". No chance! Most of these are now wrapped in cotton wool.
Brilliant! My Dad had a Williams 2 and 3 at the same time and this brings back so many fond memories! I remember being ecstatic when he put me on the insurance - what a car! Also valeted them regularly- seeing all the close ups brought back so many memories. Thanks again.
I owned both a Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 and a Clio Williams - one after the after. I loved the 205, but the Clio was my favourite - one of my favourite cars of all times. Nimble, fast, torquey, engaging and very, very quick point to point - plus it looks soooooo cool!
Of all the channels on Classic Cars I follow hence appreciate, the one I enjoy the most is Tyrell’s superb features. No fuss, true expertise with just a hint of humour. A pure delight. Bravo and merci.
I'm loving this channel. Mr Tyrrell, It's so nice to see your experience, knowledge and dry whittled English humour. You say it as you see and know it. You actually get engineering by sound, knowledge and feel without needing to plug and play. There's no "look at me" nor a flogging of sponsorship.. So, from a chap in Australia 🦘 I say thanks mate 👍
Many thanks for taking the time to make this video! It's great to see a bit of an "everyman's" car sitting pretty amongst all that exotica - always loved the Clio Williams and the early Renaultsport Clio's. These, and the Renault 5 Turbo's were well loved cars when I was growing up, so they're definitely modern classics in my eyes!
The Renault 5 turbo he mentioned is not the run of the mill machine. he was talking about the very rare homologated version with the Renault V6 engine mounted at the rear where the passenger seat was originally mounted. The Renault Williams Clio was not an everyman's car. It was about the same cost as the 4WD Escort Turbo
@@barryrudge1576 Thanks for your comment. I am quite aware there are different versions of the Renault 5 Turbo - obviously the rarer V6 Homologation being considerably more expensive. But compared to the normal exotica seen in Tyrrell's Garage, this Williams Clio is definitely more of an 'affordable' performance car, things being relative.
@@barryrudge1576 If I recall correctly, the mid engined Renault 5 Turbo 1 & 2 were 4 cylinder cars with rear wheel drive. The later Clio mid engined car was a rear drive V6. I believe Ian was talking about the front engined, front wheel drive Renault 5 Turbo, hence the discussion on how he learned to drive a front engined, front wheel drive car which you seem to have missed.
Amazing to see one again, i owned a Williams 1 back in the day, still one of the best handling front wheel drive hot hatches ever made, had so much fun in that car. Thanks for reminding me.
I love the driving techniques described. I used to have a Lancia Fulvia coupè hf rallye1.6 first series pre Fiat, with negative wheel convergence, no servo brakes... That was fun !! Pity I have no longer the car, they are VERY rare today.
Beautiful. I remember hammering my old wheezy 1.1 fiesta through windy b roads in the early 90s, daydreaming I was driving a Clio Williams ... Got to see my dream again at 12:30 😀
When I was young I used to drive front wheel drive cars such as the Lancia Fulvia then VW golf GTi 1.8 and a Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9. Without blowing my own trumpet too much I was very fast on tarmac B roads and never used left foot braking, although I used heel and toeing quite a lot. Left foot braking was more commonly used on rallies on loose forest tracks to help set the car up through the bends. It wasn’t necessary on fast tarmac roads as you could set the car up purely with throttle control.
I recall going to pick up my Clio (a RT 1.9 D...lovely, but not Williams) from a tiny Yorkshire dealership. In the showroom, only big enough to 3 cars, was a Clio Williams. I obviously admired it and the sales manager said to me an 85 year old man had just bought it! He was an ex-Spitfire pilot who wanted to have a last thrill in his life! Good man, I hope he thoroughly enjoyed ragging it like Iain. Later I had a nasty moment in my Clio when going into a bend, the back caught some spilt diesel and flicked out instantly, pitching me off the road and rolling the car. I was ok the car was a bit battered. Then a year or so on, and I was talking to a Ford engineer when I had a brief pre-launch drive of the mk1 Focus. He told me they had noted how a Clio could flick out the back end, and made sure that trait was designed out of the Focus chassis. I said how I had experienced the sudden loss of grip too...
I guess this would happen if you hit the brakes hard just before turning sharply or in mid bend avoiding an obstruction this bringing the back end of the car around performing a 360 spin. It will happen in most front wheel drive especially if the rear is very light and the front heavy just like a pendulum effect akin to a rwd car.
As always sir, regardless of the price your love of driving cars just enthuses us. I worked for a multi-national company that used to sponsor Stewart Racing from the early days and along with a few select colleagues I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Williams F1 factory (for our annual Mangers Day), back in the days of David Coulthard and Damon Hill, we were fortunate enough to spend some time in the factory museum and saw the No.1 Clio Williams (as the first limited car was noted), the model with the plaque on the dashboard. Also we were able to spend some time with the Nigel Mansell winning car. We had dinner in the evening and David was our guest for the evening, like so many drivers in motorsport he was the perfect gentleman, engaging and humble ... on his way to greater things.
Good to see the Tinkersdale to Dobshill road - I used to love blasting my cars through there when I was young, many, many years ago! Love the channel. All best wishes from Spain.
Great video again Iain. Really look forward to your and Harry's weekly uploads. Particularly like yours as you always drive round my old stomping ground, it really takes me back. (Y)
I enjoyed it a lot. Your explanation of left foot braking and heel and toe is perfect for unknown people and I love the Bond reference at the end. Thanks Iain!
What a fun video Iain! I’ve watched (and subscribed) to your videos since they first popped up in my feed. Your ability to articulate simply your approach to issues, based on years of experience, is absolutely wonderful. As I’ve watched, I’ve come to admire the depths of your lived experience in both the automotive world and the arts. Would you please consider sharing more of your ‘history’ at some point. The interview you gave to Cars & Guitars was really interesting. Perhaps Harry Metcalf or Chris Harris could provide you with an even better forum.
Someone who properly knows how to hustle a hot hatch, and can do so safely within the limits of the road and the car! A fine example of how much can be extracted from these pocket rockets! We have a 172 (the replacement to the Williams) and it too is a staggeringly fun car to drive, and flatters even the modest driver like me! Another top video and my ultimate indulgence content! 👍
Excellent as usual :) Had a 205 XS in the family way back. No GTI but what a fwd driving delight.. Skinny tires, only 85hp from a 1.4 but double barrel carburettor so great throttle response and eager to rev matched with low weight.. Charging up the Col de la Faucille, what a sensory experience..
As much as I enjoy the vids of classic supercars, this is just as brilliant and feels more relatable for a middle class guy. Please keep up the good work covering all sorts of classic cars.
Sir, you don’t have to hope we enjoy your videos. I going to tell you right now that this is unquestionably some of the finest content on the internet. Full stop. Mr. Metcalfe and yourself and precious few others are keeping the eternal flame of informative and interesting videos alive and very well! The extremely high production quality and thoughtful & educational presentations by hyper talented individuals are something I tell everyone who will listen to me about. So, from a middle aged MX-5 driver from the Colonies, I can’t thank you enough. Bravo!
My first car was a MK1 Clio 1.4 'S'.. I could only dream it was a Williams. I found my way into, and out of a number of roadside grassy banks in the rain, long before I understood lift off oversteer. Brilliant video as ever Ian
Really enjoyed this. Thank you Iain. The mixture of classic cars you cover is so interesting. And your knowledge and expertise is vast and I love the fun at the end ❤️
This a lovely car to drive. On a particularly windy piece of tarmac, the way you can drive these just makes you want to turn around and go again. Cheers for showing this car, they're fabulous little things!!
I always thought hot hatches are a more grassroots type of fun. Most of us would have begun driving in hatchbacks, old Fiestas and Clios feel natural to me because of that. But in all fairness Williams built a masterpiece with the Clio, even the 16v model is a cool little weapon unfortunately time hasn't been kind to the lil Frenchies. I look forward to the videos, it's rare to see someone with an interest in cars as a whole and not just flash badges and £££. Even though there's lambos and other beautiful machines around, this man knows what's going to interest us because he's a car nerd like us all 👍
Love the Clio! Have mk2 Golfs in 2.0 8v and 16v flavours. I owned a 1.6 Sorrento Green 205 Gti from 04 to 06. Found it as a rolling shell 300 miles away and is now back home after 15 years and 8 owners. The only car i have nearly crashed several times but somehow managed to not total it. I'll be very aware of the lift off oversteer when she is back on the road! 😀
What a wonderful upload. I had a Williams 1 back in the late 90’s, which was a worthy successor to my 1.9 GTI. Bloody loved every minute in it. Sadly, it was wrapped around a lamppost by the next owner 😢
If by "station wagon" you mean "something that bears no meaningful resemblance to a station wagon and would never be mistaken for a station wagon under any circumstance" then yes, a Lamborghini Espada looks exactly like a station wagon.
The confusion is understandable, what with Espada's iconic faux external wood paneling, anemic powertrain, 4 doors, fold-down rear bench seats, tailgate, roof cargo rack and all. What would you say the other shared characteristics are? The 2-door coupe layout? The 46" height? The V12 and NACA ducts on the bonnet? The manual transmission?
Hi Iain, saw you & Harry at London Concours but didn’t interrupt; a great show. Love your videos. I don’t want to be pedantic but isn’t double de-clutching, not just heel&toe, when one puts car into neutral, release clutch then depress clutch again and select gear, for old cars pre- synchro. 😉
Thanks Ian, Double de- clutching is possibly over precautionary on a gearbox with good synchro, yes. But it was mandatory on police high- speed chase training for example up until fairly recently. Things have moved on with transmissions hugely over the past few years. But it’s also very satisfying as well!
Awesome cars.. I had a clio William's number 008 in 1995... fast fun and fantastic.. If you want a future classic, from the same family, I have a clio 172 cup for sale on Ebay, only done 26k miles.. no reserve auction ends in 6 days
Good job my dear old dad taught me how to double declutch when I was learning how to drive back around 1964. I'll be out in the N line next week brushing up on it.
Possibly one of the most informative *and* entertaining pics I've watched in a while, regarding a car I'd never known of at all. Great bit of driving technique too.
That was a great video. After spending 2 months in Trinidad and Guyana I only had a few minutes of fun driving a friends Suzuki Swift GR. 2 days and I will be back home and be able to 'attempt' ballerina footsports in one of our silly cars. Also wash them, how sad is it when you miss washing your cars.
This was excellent, I’d love to see more of these modern classics on the channel, the market is red hot! Nice to see you really give it some stick too. Great work sir.
Thanks lain . Small but sweet ! Have to say l've left foot braked on both front and rear drive ....perhaps that's why l never made it as a race car driver !!
Great car. My brother owned the original Clio 1.8 16v. Lovely thing it was so much more refined than my 205GTI. Try finding one now. Lift off oversteer - love it!
Not dismissing the specialness or number / extent of changes but the Williams is essentially a special edition of the 1.8 16V, the standard model in the range that is equivalent to all the competitor cars you listed, Golf GTI etc. Any car with flared steel rear arches / bulged bonnet in the range is a good starting point !
Citation of the month: ''' The frame bent after hitting a large pothole, but overall a great car '' !!! I can't stop laughing ! Made my day ! Great video as always Mr Tyrrell !
well it depends how he really did it, mybe the pot hole was so deep that the car actually bounced and touched the road with a subfrme, which i think what actully happened.
The fact is that here in Montreal, Canada , we DO have large craters that actually destroy a suspension and blow a tire in 2 seconds....in winter and spring every year...
Wow! Awesome driving, and what a beautiful sound this car makes. My respect for Renault just grew because of this video. It´s gotta be the coolest hot hatch ever.
Well done Mr Tyrrell, Mr Iain Tyrrell 006.9, great interesting video one of the pass little gems, never had one, but they looked like a fun drive, 👍👍👍👍.
I remember the classic Minis I grew up with handled like the 205 you described - with just a dash of oversteer. As best I've been able to work out, it seems to work best when the rear is light and the car has a really short wheelbase so you can provoke the rear into a bit of a slide - especially if you lift off the throttle or tap the brakes mid-corner. I've also been told the old Alfasud handled in roughly the same way, and for the same reason. Cheers, Ian. :-)
I have never driven an original Mini, but very much wish I had. I do however own an extremely original Alfasud. I think what happened with the Alfasud was, they got hold of a Mini, and took the brilliance of that, and added a tiny bit of passive rear steer. Multi link suspension at the back. The low centre of gravity, of a flat four engine, unsprung weight advantage of inboard discs, and I have forgotten what upside down front springs are called, technically. Basically it neutralises front end dip, and equalises front and rear cornering loads. I haven’t driven a Clio Williams either, but for me the Sud’s spiritual successor, was the Peugeot 306. It matched the Sud. 20 years later, but with quite conventional stuff. Ford hired all of the top Peugeot, Citroen, Renault suspension guys for the Focus and Mondeo, because the French are the masters of car dynamics. 😀
Being American, I was introduced to Renault Clio in Gran Turismo, but it was the mid-engine V6 one. I couldn't stop loving the idea of a mid engine hatchback and it was quick. I'd love to see one of those on this channel. The thing was a beast and so impractical for a hatchback. lol
Lovely video of a great car. I enjoyed it. Regarding the debate if EVs will ever be as entertaining... well EVs have only just started and Williams 3 is a special edition, precision tool, technology that was evolving for almost 100 years when this car was introduced. It's a sure uncertainty ;) what we'll have to play with in some 60-70 years. Although I have an electric car of the supercharging kind, what it offers me is more SPEED in every situation and I use that potential to 7/10. But what I really enjoy is an older, slower car, on skinnier tires, where I can feel the engine temperature rising, slight changes in vibrations and sounds it makes, that rolls, shifts balance when I drive it through a corner at 50-60km/h, rather than 120. Being at an age where I can consider one, I already had some test drives, so if we can, we should enjoy the best of what both worlds have to offer.
Had most of these hot hatches in the day. I didnt rate my 205 GTI which I had new for 3 months and p/x for an RS2000 custom. Best one by far was a mK2 golf 16v with GTI Engineering RE1900 conversion followed someway behind by a Delta HFturbo with beta 2000 cams. The renault 5 turbo still had a carb.
Awesome car, had a standard 1.4 but put the Williams bonnet on it 😂😂😂 even the 1.4 handled so well and picked up so well. Great video especially the pedal shots :-)
