Hello all,
Coming from a long-standing history of cars — most recently diving deep into JDM restoration projects — every time I visited my local track at Castle Combe I’d spot a few of these little Clios buzzing around. Without fail, they always looked like they were having the most fun on track, no matter what else was out there.
Fast-forward to now: I’ve just wrapped up my WRX restoration and ticked off a bucket-list trip to the Nürburgring. With the project itch starting again, I found myself wondering what to tackle next. A Clio kept popping into my mind… I needed to find out what all the fuss was about. Yes, I know these things are over 20 years old now, so I may be a little late to the party — but having done my apprenticeship two decades ago, I’ve always kept my distance from French cars. It hasn’t been quite long enough for me to forget how awkward they can be to work on!
After spending some time researching the common issues and what to look out for, I stumbled across one just five miles from home. A bit of digging later, I realised this particular car actually has quite a well-documented history on this very forum:
https://cliosport.net/threads/rusty’s-titanium-182-take-2.834222/
After meticulously reading through the thread and speaking with the previous owner, I felt confident that this 182 had been genuinely well cared for over the years. That was enough for me — decision made, trigger pulled.
The thread might be old now and time has definitely taken its toll on the car, but I’m convinced this one has good bones to build from. So here she is:
She’s been standing a while, so job number one will be a proper clean, polish and full interior/exterior detail — then we’ll see where the project takes us from there
Coming from a long-standing history of cars — most recently diving deep into JDM restoration projects — every time I visited my local track at Castle Combe I’d spot a few of these little Clios buzzing around. Without fail, they always looked like they were having the most fun on track, no matter what else was out there.
Fast-forward to now: I’ve just wrapped up my WRX restoration and ticked off a bucket-list trip to the Nürburgring. With the project itch starting again, I found myself wondering what to tackle next. A Clio kept popping into my mind… I needed to find out what all the fuss was about. Yes, I know these things are over 20 years old now, so I may be a little late to the party — but having done my apprenticeship two decades ago, I’ve always kept my distance from French cars. It hasn’t been quite long enough for me to forget how awkward they can be to work on!
After spending some time researching the common issues and what to look out for, I stumbled across one just five miles from home. A bit of digging later, I realised this particular car actually has quite a well-documented history on this very forum:
https://cliosport.net/threads/rusty’s-titanium-182-take-2.834222/
After meticulously reading through the thread and speaking with the previous owner, I felt confident that this 182 had been genuinely well cared for over the years. That was enough for me — decision made, trigger pulled.
The thread might be old now and time has definitely taken its toll on the car, but I’m convinced this one has good bones to build from. So here she is:
She’s been standing a while, so job number one will be a proper clean, polish and full interior/exterior detail — then we’ll see where the project takes us from there
