Love these things. They’re literally everywhere in France lmao. I’m convinced if I had a bunch of money laying around I’d import one of these to the UK myself
I first saw a Twingo on holiday in Corfu in the early 90's and whilst looking at it the owner came back, it was the wife of the hotel owner, theyd just bought it and was collecting it from the tiny roadside garage, she gave us a lift back and the next day i went up to the family taverna in the mountains to drop off the days supplies, i drove it on the tarmac but chickened out on the gravel road and let him drive up and down that part! Far to many crosses and shrines on every corner for me! It was purple and an auto and surprisingly agile on the twisty roads of the island. Back then i had a Metro and the Twingo felt a far better car with more pep and space, but you just coukdnt buy them in the UK. I still kinda want one 30+ years later
@josiewallace7968 Renault UK told me at the time they believed the market wasn't really there in the UK (not enough for creating a right hand drive) and demand in Europe was high and they struggled to keep up with early demand, so I suppose it just wasn't a financially viable option for them? You could import them through Renault but at a premium cost.
Oh the memories. These are wonderful. Ideal for city life. The car to thrash around a French city, it had charm, and style. You never felt cramped in a city traffic jam. Great video, and you need a twingo.
Just for the fun of it, I test-drove one in '94. As modern as it was, then, this engine really let it down: asthmatic at best. The second generation 1.2 and 1.2 16V are sooo much better! And just as collectible. These are available in beautiful, metallic, color schemes with nicely appointed interiors. Here in Holland, you can still find perfect ones, low mileage for around 2K ... But, it's nice that this original Twingo survived!
I used to have one of these twingos. I bought it in a LHD place in the Midlands & it was the best car I ever had. I had the canvas top too & it was so useful for trips to ikea. I used to load it up with everything sticking out of the roof. It was fun to drive, highly practical & I often wish I still had it.
Actually I'd say the original Ford Ka belongs in that group, as that captures the Mini's go-cart like driving spirit despite being a recipe of plain ingredients. The Twingo is better in practicality stakes but the Ka is a better driver's car.
Impressive! I did 150k kms in 4 years in my 94 (from new) - foolishly upgraded (down?) to a Megane.. which had uncomfortable seats I hugely regretted as a purchase!
Lovely little car. I wish we got them here in the UK. I first saw one in Paris - early 90's - followed by another, and another. And so on. They were everywhere 😊
I was envious of everyone who was able to buy one when they first came out. Renault pulled out of the states in 87. I was still running my 83 R5 4 door and a 86 (R9) Alliance DL 2 door.
Patrick Le Quément Styling. I loved the Twingo When it was released. The early Twingos that green was my favourite colour. I eventually bought a fully loaded late old style Twingo with colour coded Metallic blue, alloys, AC I'm pretty sure it had a glass sunroof. Sadly the sunroof leaked, and I sold it as I've never had luck with sunroofs on modern cars. Was gorgeous as insane roomy, comfy. The most loaded car I ever owned and the only one with working AC lol. The wiper was gorgeous in action. The 1st car I owned with alloys. Still got my old 05 206 estate.
lovely lovely little cars. sold well in Spain and many of those sushine roofs got taken out and put into other cars , small estates etc when the Twingos were scrapped
What a cracking little car with so much character Ian, something that as you mention a lot of modern cars have lost. It's practical enough for the size, comfy enough and is simple to use. We have lost this in modern times. Many thanks for sharing. I still want a 2 CV though at some point.
Ohhhhhhhhhhh.....that wiper! Not even the Stag can compete with that vision of loveliness sweeping across the screen! I like the simplistic yet functional dashboard, the removal of electric everything in place of the more robust handle arrangement and the back seats that can move back and forth depending on the leg requirements of the rear seat passengers. Even when the rear seat was fully back, there was still plenty of boot space too. Nice bright colour - obviously before the modern fascination with variants on the theme of black, white and everything in between. What's not to like? I think the only thing for me would be the lack of rear passenger window opening would be about all. Love the sunroof - very Webasto-esque - and even with a bit of buffeting, it would still bring joy on a sunny day when open. The engine sounds energetic and purposeful, there's a nice whine in the gearbox, and I'd wonder how much drumming / road noise rumble you'd get when the roof was shut that is so typical of the low-cost small car offerings, but she's peppy and plenty good enough for city pottering at least. I can definitely agree that this little car is a perfect example of cheap and cheerful! My wife and I bought a 3-door Daewoo Cielo back in 1997. She was the poverty-spec GL model, not the GLX, so only had the 1.5 litre 4-pot instead of the 1.6 litre twin cam. Pared back, this is the same car that was known as the Vauxhall Astra Mark II / Pontiac Le Mans of around 1986-92, but now distributed under the maker's moniker. It was cheap, I'll give it that. She was quite good to drive and sat on the road and handled very well once I threw away the original 13x4.5 wheels in favour of some 15x6 alloy ones (note: the factory tyres it was supplied with were only rated to 60mph!). Despite regular servicing and maintenance, there was a recurring theme of warped rotors each and every service. The baffles in the fuel tank dislodged and clanged about and just after the 3-year warranty period expired, she blew a head gasket between a water jacket and number 3 cylinder while parked overnight and she hydro-locked....at 62,000km - less than 40k miles. At 6 years old and 80k, the front brake hoses - that still looked perfect - had perished inside and they locked on at a set of traffic lights. The head liner had also started falling down at this point and she'd developed an electrical fault where she would show the light on the dash for a door being open, yet the cabin lights were out and all doors and tailgate were shut. At this point she started draining the battery if left sitting for two days, so I fitted a master kill switch. At 102,000km (63k miles) other parts of her interior had started to come adrift (or just fall off) in places, the dash had warped, the driver's window was off the runners unless you guided it up and she blew another head gasket. At 127,000km - just shy of 80k miles - the engine rolled a bearing and seized while idling at yet another red light. She was 9 years old and by this stage I'd had enough. Cheap? Yes. Cheerful? Well, we did have a few memorable trips in it up and down the North Island, but there was always a bug in the ear from something that wasn't quite as it should be. I included that little story as a comparison to the Twingo - which shows no signs of being so disposable and in fact looks like it will go on being as smart and cheerful as it is for many years to come. What a neat little car! All the best
Had a 1986 Renault Alliance (Americanized R9), had the Cleon 1.4 with throttle body injection for not quite 60 hp. Certainly had a unique sound, a slight whine. Pleasant car to drive... amazing visibility in all directions, light and quick manual steering, good ride given the small size, comfortable front chairs, ability to seat four adults. Conservative styling, I liked the styling, don't need to be flashy.
I recently bought a 1993 Rouge Corail (one of the 4 introduction colours) and I have decided it's the only car I really need. The inner space is insanely big (mind you, for two six-foot persons), you can fit 12 moving boxes in there, it's peppy enough for the motorway. The design in brilliant, it's economical enough (1 liter for 17 km). And it's hilarious to negotiate the roundabouts. Get one, man!
This is my most anticipated video, but I'm biased. As a Twingo driver myself, I am in love with the car. I have the 2006 model (one of the last of the MK1's) with the 1158 cc 1.2, 8 valve with air conditioning. They are a joy to drive. 5th goes from 30 kp/h to 150 kp/h, which is it's maximum speed. You should definately persue a Twingo in Wales. From experience I can say they are quite rustproof, but make sure to take a later model for that. Later models are a bit more boring on the inside though.. And I can say they are supremely reliable. Hands down the most reliable cars I ever had (but I have only had cheap cars), and I had some Japanese ones (Honda Fit/Jazz, Daihatsu Cuore, 2x Suzuki Alto). The happy frog face never lets you down! And it is such a contrast to all the big, mean new cars with air intakes from the ground to the moon. Oh and motorway driving is no strain. It is very happy at 100/110 kp/h. Our new government wants to bring 130 kp/h back, but that is no fun at all with the 8 valve. The other engine choice, also a 1.2 but with 1199 cc and 16 valve, will happily do 130 kp/h though.. Another important charactaristic is it's loading space. I transported all maners of furniture with it: full size refridgerators with room to spare for a small closet, a big bathroom thing with sink in it, a couch for in the garden, dozens of plants together, pieces of wood of 280 cm. It will fit everything 😄
I produced parts for the F1 Benetton sponsored cars in the mid 80's the beginnings of cnc production . Very exiting watching the races waiting for a crash and then get a repeat order for the following race. Also made parts for Ferrari , and March F1 cars and Nissan LeMan car in 86,87
Back in Portugal, I live in Taiwan now, I have a year 2000 Clio 1.2 60 hp 5 doors. The car is so light that keeps standing in the traffic and following it effortlessly.
french car manufacturers of the 90s knew how to do a bright cheery interior! if only today's manufacturers had a bit of design fun instead of all the grey and black interiors. The nearest i can compare this to in terms of cheery & bright is skoda's monte carlo trim on the citigo and fabia models
Brilliant video Ian, share the enthusiasm, I was lucky enough to have one as my 1st brand new car in 94, it transported me all over Europe comfortably on autoroute and in town.. racked up 150k kms in that time imported to uk when I came back.. never failed to raise a smile or get a question.. foolishly in hindsight sold for an air conditioned megane with airbag… dull boring and uncomfortable….. it made it to 250k kms before the rot monster must have got to it.. they suffer terribly in British climate… get one in France there are still loads… battered and abused but like a 2cv carry on…. Another car for the people
My first car! Took it to 24 hours of Le Mans twice and used the unique "folding seats bed function" to sleep in it. Loved it but was broken into on a weekly basis, due to the shockingly useless doorlocks that can be opened with any screwdriver and always ended in additional paint and bodywork damage.
We need cars like this NOW Ian.....they really were the good old days! Hard to believe my dad's Renault 12 Estate of 1973 vintage had almost the same engine as this Twingo!
I had a 1999 Initiale, with the 1149cc engine, leather seats, air-con, alloys. That model was available only in two colours, black and "amande métalisée", which was a beautiful pale green metallic (it actually translates as almond metallic), but a clear majority went for the green. I did a lot of driving around Europe in that car, including the south of France and Germany, and a group of owners from the UK as Germany even did a tour of the mid-Wales, running north to south.
I had one of these bash into the front wing of my bread bin VW Polo when I was younger living in France. Big shrugs all around, just another dent to add to the collection. A few years later I had one as a rental car to get me 240km across France into the Pyrenees, it was a business adventure and the colleague I was with was applauded that I chose the Twingo instead of whatever 4 door hatch they had. It was a bit noisy on the autoroute but once we got rid of our luggage and went exploring the mountains it was a lot of fun. I certainly drove it like a rental, my colleague was terrified . We both ended up working for another company many many years later in Ontario and he always told anyone who would listen about his Twingo rallying . Aerospace is a small world!
It's peak 90's that. Cars with lot's of exposed interior metal and pantogram wipers are automatically great. And very few cars look good in yellow, it just works on the Twingo.
I had a 95 model, which I kept for eleven years. Cleon engine, simplicity, and multiple use (including moving!), from the city and the countryside. We fit everything into this little car which effectively followed the philosophy of the Renault 4. And a timeless design, in the end...Here, in France, we still find many of them almost everywhere. It is an emblem of our streets (like the 2cv was)!
Lovely car and colour :) Thanks for the test, and glad you like it! In France, the earliest ones (30 years old at least) are now eligible as classic cars, which means they can now drive in low emission areas, yay!
In 1997 I bought my only car from new. I didn't take a Twingo but a Fiat Punto. What a mistake; this italian disaster was about to ruin me. I always loved the Twingo special edition «Kenzo» with those huge roses on the seats. Lovely. I like the Twingo; there are still a lot of them running here in Southern Germany. Take care, bonne route, see you soon Martin
Bring back the super basic car!!!!! Amazing that we survived roll up windows, manual door locks, and no cup holders!!!! Great car Ian , great review👍🤠👍
These are nice cars. I drove it in Taiwan when my brother and sister-in-law lived and worked there, and they had the Easy version, so you didn't have to use the clutch when shifting. Wonderful in the countryside over the winding roads.
I’ve loved these since the days when we used to hire them in France in holiday. I think we had three on separate occasions and they were all a joy. They reminded us of what a modern Mini should be; simple, cheap and fun. We did fairly big miles in all of them, typically the equivalent of a couple of thousand miles or more each time I would guess. Like you say Ian, they are perfectly fine on motorways, though we often used the N and D roads in France to avoid the tolls and see much more of France itself. Like you I hanker after picking one up in Europe and bringing it back here. I saw a very nice one in Germany recently, more expensive than some, but looked in remarkable condition, so probably worth it. Many are in fairly tatty condition sadly. I saw one in Porto a couple of years ago and was just taking a photo when its young lady owner turned up. What I thought was going to be an awkward explanation of why I was so interested in her car turned into a lovely conversation about it and she was absolutely delighted that someone loved her little car so much.
Great video of the best car in the whole world. Had one back in 1994 (black with green buttons) made a big mistake selling it after 5 yrs with 170k kms, only change a battery once, nothing more than routine servicing. 20 yrs later had to buy a new one from June 1993 in the best colour - jaune indiane…
Thanks for this most enjoyable video, I visited France a lot in the 1990s and always loved the original Twingo, especially in the somewhat agricultural shade of light green. I have got one, but it's a 1/87 scale model for my model railway 😊
My old Renault 11 had the 1.4 cleon font, carb fed but with electronic ignition, indestructible engine even after frying it after a stone went through the radiator!!! A 2 week old Beemer wrote it off in 1999, I loved that car!
My family and I came for a holiday in France from South Africa in 1993, when I was 10. I vividly remember seeing an advert for a Twingo on French TV in our hotel room and being captivated by it. I'd never seen a small European car like that before. I also had a toy model of a Renault Clio, another car we didn't get in South Africa, and was amazed to see them in real life in France.
Loved my Renault 4 and had a good trip in a hired Twingo in Soain, it went into the Andelusian (spelling?) Mountains and did things and went places it should not have. Quite impressive.
What an absolutely brilliant little car! I've never really rated the Twingo, my mind has well and truly been changed! Love the foot pedal release on the front seat. Great video Ian 👍
I share your enthusiasm for this delightful small basic car. I love the rear seats being adjustable, the mirror adjustment mechanism is a joy, and the front wiper. I would think the 999/1242cc Fiat Fire engine would come close in production numbers, bullet proof, it was used in so many models.
Love at first sight for me when I first laid eyes on the MK1 Twingo. I was gutted it never came to the UK and with right hand drive. One day, I'll get a shot of one and satisfy 10 year old me's curiosity. This one would be perfect for Mini Hubnut as it would match his wellies
Lovely review, thank you! Reminds first of my brother's first, a 204 which was indeed a roomy little saloon, and then a rental R5L around and above Nice, likewise simplistic as your Twingo there. Moderate engine, minimal exterior measurements to sneak a parking spot where you want, and a road handling for swallowing hours of villages and departemental roads across France, always ready for a pic-nic! Cheers from Sweden!
Original and best. Wiper, as joyous as it is still has some way to go to beat my old 190d. The engines were very robust little units. Overall a very fun, quirky little motor. Most pleasant.
When this car was first produced, I did not like the design at all. But then, one holyday on Crete in 2002, I ordered a small rental car at the hotel reception without telling any special wishes. Next morning a pink (!) Twingo stood in front of the hotel. First thought: Omg! But after first day of driving I fell in love with that car, simply because it drove so well. It had a tight suspension, a good acceleration and a very good maneuverabillity in towns. In addition, much space for such a small car, also for the driver. I drove that car for about a week there and when I came home, I bought myself a blue one, also with the flexible roof and owned it for several years. Still love it.
I hired one in Nice… had very similar qualities to the original Metro I had driven around the Isle of Man. Great design, interior space, simplicity, utility, peppy engine, and lovely handling - a delight to drive around the city or countryside. Often thought about having one .
Way, way back, when I was looking for my first car I wanted something funky and different. It was when you could easily import new cars from Europe, so among the choices were early LHD Smart City Coupés and the Mk1 Twingo. In the end, I decided that the then-new Mk1 Yaris had cool digital instruments, a sliding rear seat and lower insurance because it was right-hand drive. 6 Yaris (🙄) and many other vehicles later and I’d still love a Twingo or a Smart.
My mum bought a yellow one like this in 1996. It was a "Grease" special edition and it came with heart-shaped Grease logos above the side indicators and on the floor mats. The highlight were two tickets to the Grease musical that came also with the car ❤ It was such a cool car back then and even today. I loved the yellow and sometimes I see myself looking for one like that on the car sales websites here in Germany.
I was just looking for Twingo-videos … and I was so happy to see that Hubnut just uploaded a video 😮 I find the first generation so cute, especially the early ones My mother drives her dads first generation Clio - I am wondering how different they are driving
I'm in South of France right now, Argeles Ser Mur. Ive seen 5 of them this last 10 days. They're such a lovely quirky and unique car. They're not cheap nowadays in the UK. 1 for sale for £3,500 on FB.
For city-driving, this and the later 1.2 8V were better suited: Low end Torque. But these 16V's did surprisingly well on long distances and high speeds.
I have a 20-year-old 1.2 version and while it's perfectly happy to run at motorway speeds, the noise inside is pretty dreadful and ear plugs are required for longer journeys. Despite that, I think it's the best thing Renault ever produced. You should definitely get one.
I remember seeing these on my first holiday in Ibiza, 1996, this exact edition! The hire car places had a fleet of them and we wanted one but unfortunately they were all rented out so we had to make do with a red mk3 Fiesta.
Man CAN make something good every once in a while, never had a Twingo myself but they are brilliant little cars. I had that engine in my B-body DAFs and V66, super versatile and strong engines they are. Back then in 2007 to 2010 I never got round to do a 1.4 swap, but I did manage to put a Weber carburetor on the 1.1 in my orange Volvo 66, stuck a flowed twin-port Marathonheader and a homemade 2 inch exhaust with two cherrybombs to it and fitted Volvo 340 balljoints for some pretty extreme negative camber on the front wheels. Went like the clappers and could corner pretty decent, surprisingly, but it was kind of inappropriate to drive around in even at low speeds, which was all the more hilarious every single drive. Some years later I guessed I must have created a cute hooligan. These were definitely my best car years now I come to think of it
You got me wanting one now… that adjustable rear bench placement is something you don’t often see today. The simplicity of that dashboard is appealing. I love how they’re all just simple shapes. And being a 3-door is quite appealing to me because of giving a wider opening to bring my wheelchair onto the passenger seat next to me! On the one hand LHD would be nice, on the other those French conversions always had compromises so maybe I’d rather learn to drive while “sat on the wrong side”…
Actually I always get LHD and RHD mixed up name wise, forgetting if it refers to the side of the road or the side of the seat… I first wrote RHD but then went “but we drive on the left”. So. Ah, anyway, I’m sure it’s contextually clear haha
The original nugget. I have dibs on my brother's when he wants to get rid of it, but of course, he doesn't want to. It's a great runabout, even after 30 years. We had one a long time ago too, I don't know why we got rid of it. It's like driving an old school 1980's shitbox internals (Metro, R5, 205, Uno), but with super funky late 1990 design. Early models were ahead of their time, with their visibility, room, and practicality.
