Stories & Photos: Oh,Oh,Renault, Holland 2002

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"Oh Oh Renault", Renault meeting in Holland, 25th May 2002

After work I leave Sweden to go to Erik Steen, who lives in the south part of Denmark, a trip of about 160 kms. After one hour's drive I come to a massive queue (Stau for germans) on the motorway. Evidently there has been some kind of accident, since both police cars and salvage trucks pass by on the hard shoulder. After half an hour I realise that I'm going to be late so I try to call Erik, but there is no response.
Sitting in the queue for over an hour I come to think of the fact I have forgotten my passport, #@%*&! Often there is no need for it, but sometimes... When I at last get out of the queue I turn my faithful R12 back home to collect the passport. About 3 hours late I finally arrive to Erik's home.
Since we were pretty late, we decided to sleep a few hours at Erik's, and then get up at 2 in morning and go to the ferry.
This picture was take as we got on the ferry at about 3 o'clock.
The first thing we see as we arrive at the meeting is this Renault 16, built like a Plein Air (R4 with no roof)
According to Geert the car was converted by the design department at Renault when it was new.
The wheels are Delta-Mics, and I have certainly not seen this model before.
By the dashboard design the car must be a 1966, it has the first instrument panel in chrome, but the badge on the right was not there on the 65s
The Renault 16 is known as the first hatchback, but on this car it has been cut down a little.
Inside the warehouse we found the Renault 16 Club of Tilburg.
Behind the counter, from left, you can see Jan, Geert and Piet, buzy selling.
Outside more and more Renault arrived.
All day different Renaults came and went, many of them where R16. A very popular car in Holland.
But there where other nationalities also, French and German, and of course Erik and me from Scandinavia.
Here is one of the German R16's, an TX with the an interesting number plate...
Another German R16. This -66 was for sale, for some domestic reasons.
It was in a really perfect condition, with a new paint and many new pieces, but it had not been in a bad shape. Only a cosmetic restoration had been done.
As a -66 this car has the old dashboard which I think look so 60's.
Here is the new, proud owner, a gentleman from the Dutch club, showing an equally perfect engine compartment.
Here the previous owner starts his last ride in the car, going to the new owner to leave the car.
And some more Germans. What a color!
If I remember correctly, these were the only cars with the new standard plastic grille. For some reason the old cars before -71 and TX's are most popular. I have seen the same trend at other Dutch meetings before.
And here is a Dutch R16 TX.
Many of the Dutch cars has, like this one, a towing hook. The Dutch are famous for their small trailers.
It also has the optional wind deflectors on the front side windows.
And here is my absolute favorite, a 1967 R16.
I just love an oldie in metallic paint, the metallic bring out the shapes so good.
And this car is in a really great condition. Note the other oldie which reflects on side of the car.
The extra headlights are not original for this car, but brings some color, along with yellow headlight bulbs, which gives a nice contrast to the grey color.
Here is a TS in a solid mint color to compare with. I think it doesn't have the same glow as the metallic grey have, even if it's in the same excellent shape.
I learnt a trick from some Dutch guy some time ago. You can see on the license plate if a car has been imported to Holland recently. If it has, the number starts with letters, an orignal Dutch car should begin with numbers.
When you know this, you suddenly realise that most of the beautiful cars in Holland has been imported from France or other countries...
This is the oldest known R16 in Holland, possibly the whole world. It is believed to be the 12th car of the production line!
Read more about it here!
The fan shroud was made of sheet steel on very early cars like this one. It was soon replaced by a aluminium casting, and later cars have a plastic shroud.
The fresh air vents changed a few times in 1965, this is the first version.
And here I found a white -66, just like my own.
I wonder if the new Minichamps model has this car as the original? It looks like it has the same wheel covers.
Another rare R16 model, the TA. The first Renault 16's with automatic had their own model name, and engine. Later automatic gearbox became just an option on TS and TL.
The TA was in production for less than 2 years, as model -69 and -70.
And last but not least, a white TX.

Magnus Bjelk (magnus@r16site.com)

Last revision 2002-06-11