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Dominique found these two old R16s in a field near a friends house. |
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The white R16 has a registration plate from 1966 (not seen in this angle), which means it is either a 66 or even a 65. Unfortunately the field is closed and Dominique has not been in contact with the owner, so he hasn't been able to take a closer look. |
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At least it has the first type of hubcaps, so it must be 67 or earlier. To bad the windows are so dirty, otherwise a quick look at the dashboard would have solved the mystery. |
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The green is later, probably a 69. The front right door is missing, and the rear bumper has some strange
rust. The corners are totally rotten, but the middle piece is rather good. But cars standing on grass of rots badly from under, due to the damp conditions, so both these "beauties" are probably destined to the scrapyard. |
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Dominique's friend has now been in contact with the owner for the field, but it wasn't his cars, they belonged to his son. At a later date when the son visited his father, Dominique's friend was able to get some details and some photos. |
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The white is actually a -67, with fabrication number 154 061. From this photo you can clearly see the early type of hubcaps (65-67). The owner planned to restore it, but has not had enough time, and now it probably is to late. |
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Here are some pictures of it when it was parked on the field in 1996. It was taken out of trafic because of a broken gearbox (some say the early gearboxes 65-67 have a few weak points, I have wrecked two my self). |
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This is absolutely an impressive combination. A white early TS -69 pulling a trailer with another early white R16! |
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The green -69 look pretty good from this angle. |
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But from this point of view it looks like a completely different car. The door has been transplanted onto another R16, but the front wing looks like a disaster area! It has probably been changed, and not painted and protected from rust correctly. Lesson #1: Always protect new pieces, or they will be worse than the original part in just a few years... |
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When a car is not used regulary the engine compartment is one of the first things that becomes really bad. Often the paint is
no good from factory, and is often neglegcted by the owner. How many polishes the engine compartment? As long the car is in trafic the heat from the engine keeps everything dry, but when the car is not used, and parked on a field, the damp conditions makes it rust, FAST! |
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The owner of the cars also has this grey R16 TS, from 1969 like the white TS, which he still owns. |
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But the grey TS is his favorite, and kept in a beautiful original condition. |
Last revision 2002-04-21