Missing Australian-delivered 172 phase 1's

[Dave 200]

Over on ozrenaultsport forum, there is an up-to-date and well kept list of all 85 of the Phase 1s delivered to Australia in 2001. These were limited edition 'Cup' 172s but had air con and all the other niceties that the phase 2 172 didn't get. They were available in various colours, Iceberg Silver - 35, Odyssey Blue - 16, Flame Red - 9, Pearl Black - 6 and Sunflower Yellow - 2 and possibly Titanium SIlver.

However numbers 70 thru 79 have never been seen in the wild. There is no record of them anywhere. There are rumours that they went missing after arriving in Australia and also rumours that they may have travelled on to New Zealand although no evidence of this.

Keen to know if anyone in UK knows anything about the missing phase 1s. With only 85 ever brought in and a fair few written off, it would be good to see if the missing ones are out there somewhere...

 

[MLB]

Imagine finding them stored somewhere with delivery miles due to import issues. Hell of a project to resurrect!

 

[R3k1355]

These were limited edition 'Cup' 172s but had air con and all the other niceties that the phase 2 172 didn't get.

Say what?

 

[Dave 200]

Say what?

The 172 Cup I was referring to

Air con etc

 

[R3k1355]

Yea it was an option on the Cup

 

[McGherkin]

Never heard of a 172 Cup in Ph1 form. Just the normal 172s and the Exclusive edition in Scarab Green.

 

[Dave 200]

Never heard of a 172 Cup in Ph1 form. Just the normal 172s and the Exclusive edition in Scarab Green.

 

[McGherkin]

Did they do anything else or did they literally stick a badge on a bunch of 172s then export them?

 

[Dave 200]

Did they do anything else or did they literally stick a badge on a bunch of 172s then export them?

Door sill scuff plate is numbered, riveted metal plaque with VIN and build number on the engine bay slam panel and I think thats about it. Everything else looks identical to a RHD car with dash in kmh

Edit: they appeared to be available with more colour choices than the UK so probably got the europe colour pallette to choose from

 

[dann2707]

Some say they all got delivered to @Ant1 's house

 

[ixell]

Nice read mate thank you 🙏

 

[Darren S]

Imagine finding them stored somewhere with delivery miles due to import issues. Hell of a project to resurrect!

Either that - or the likes of Mabel having ordered a Sunflower back in the day because she liked the colour and it was a small car - and it's still to this day, pottering around sun-bleached Darwin.

 

[Coops Mk1]

The colours and numbers for UK models are below, there never was an official phase 1 cup, looks to me like dealer glued on tat that does to drum up some trade on Aus maybe? Total production run for phase 1 and 2 also there.

All UK delivered phase 1's had ac. Phase 2 had climate if standard cars and the cup edition could have just ac as an option but no climate

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Plausible enough that the model designations were slightly different. Wasn't the Cup sold as the Ragnotti in France?

 

[Krarl]

It's all down to the countries market

I have a mate in Serbia and one in Switzerland and their Trophies both came with weird Recaros and my Serbian mates Monaco came with a cup plaque. Proper weird

 

[Dave 200]

The colours and numbers for UK models are below, there never was an official phase 1 cup, looks to me like dealer glued on tat that does to drum up some trade on Aus maybe? Total production run for phase 1 and 2 also there.

All UK delivered phase 1's had ac. Phase 2 had climate if standard cars and the cup edition could have just ac as an option but no climate

View attachment 1490993

Interesting info, thanks. Interesting that there were only 99 iceberg silvers in UK, out of the known 85 phase 1s in Australia, 35 are iceberg, by far the most common.

'The 172 Cup phase 1 definitely wasn't a dealer-fit sticker pack. It would have been a head-office or factory fit special. Here is that plate I was talking about:

 

[Coops Mk1]

that still looks dealer affixed to me, I could well be wrong but we got some odd stuff here like 'Factory Fit Sunroof' in the series 1 Williams' which was a Renault part etc but transpired was dealer fitted at that end, so the car left the factory without it in.

the cup bits stuck on the Aussie phase 1's smack of exactly that to me, may be Renault delivered bits, but look added later not as they rolled off the line at Dieppe to me.

again this is just mulling over the possibility, and from experience with the mk1's where odd stuff was almost always dealer added

 

[Coops Mk1]

oh and Titanium was the colour of the cars in the advertising and dealer brochures for the UK market at the time, hence was most popular colour for the UK market, good old imaginative Brits....'points at brochure, grunts, "I wunt dat one"'

 

[R3k1355]

that still looks dealer affixed to me

Yea to be fair it it was 'genuine' factory it'd probably be stamped on or something.

but it's genuine Renault (Australia), just it doesn't translate into anything thats special Vs it's European contemporaries.

 

[Steven103]

As said above it’s probably not what we think of as a “172 cup” in Europe as it doesn’t (?) have any of the features that Cups get (lightweight, new wheels, lower & stiffer suspension etc) it’s just a region-specific mix of existing parts plus a plaque.

Really common to have different names or plaques for essentially the same thing in different markets. It could be for the most obscure reasoning too, for example if you promise to not sell more than X then certain emissions or crash regulations won’t apply. A plaque could have been part of Renault’s way of reassuring the Aussie Gov that they’re not planning to sell millions. Or marketing might have just thought that the Aussie’s are suckers for numbered plaques Doesn’t Clio mean something a bit dumb in Japanese as well hence the Lutetia name?

Same as the 182 cup being sold as a 182 Trophy in South America IIRC and yet the spec is absolutely that of a UK cup and doesn’t have any of the UK/Swiss Trophy bits.

Bit like all these “launch editions” or “first editions” you get these days. It’s always just a sticker or one colour and then mechanical bits that become available as an option immediately afterwards.

 

[Dave 200]

As said above it’s probably not what we think of as a “172 cup” in Europe as it doesn’t (?) have any of the features that Cups get (lightweight, new wheels, lower & stiffer suspension etc) it’s just a region-specific mix of existing parts plus a plaque.

Really common to have different names or plaques for essentially the same thing in different markets. It could be for the most obscure reasoning too, for example if you promise to not sell more than X then certain emissions or crash regulations won’t apply. A plaque could have been part of Renault’s way of reassuring the Aussie Gov that they’re not planning to sell millions. Or marketing might have just thought that the Aussie’s are suckers for numbered plaques Doesn’t Clio mean something a bit dumb in Japanese as well hence the Lutetia name?

Same as the 182 cup being sold as a 182 Trophy in South America IIRC and yet the spec is absolutely that of a UK cup and doesn’t have any of the UK/Swiss Trophy bits.

Bit like all these “launch editions” or “first editions” you get these days. It’s always just a sticker or one colour and then mechanical bits that become available as an option immediately afterwards.

Some good points there. The 172 "Cup" was the only phase 1 to be sold here.

 

[Steven103]

Does it have anything interesting that doesn’t seem to match UK spec phase 1s?

Pretty sure our ph1 had AC. On our “genuine” ph2 172 cups it was removed as part of the weight saving, but available as an option.

 

[Martin_172]

Why do people find it so hard to accept that different specs go to different countries.

They will have been imported over then Renault AUS will have fitted the extra bits at import centre like all the UK cars got here with the alarm, window etching and locking wheel nuts.

There was the akrapovic editions in Europe that we never got for the 200

172 ragnotti

Aus delivered ph2 172 had 15" wheels

Liquid yellow ph2 172 in France etc

 

[Dave 200]

Does it have anything interesting that doesn’t seem to match UK spec phase 1s?

Pretty sure our ph1 had AC. On our “genuine” ph2 172 cups it was removed as part of the weight saving, but available as an option.

I don't believe so, unless of course UK-delivered phase 1's don't have a permanently leaking gearbox selector seal

 

[Adey.]

That Oz clio is a very early one, chassis build number is number 000067. Also has a different special technical feature level to a UK ph1. Also this is listed which it isnt on the UK one "RANGE SHEET MODEL X651BI" both have the listing of X65 (normal clio) Family.

 

[Dave 200]

That Oz clio is a very early one, chassis build number is number 000067. Also has a different special technical feature level to a UK ph1. Also this is listed which it isnt on the UK one "RANGE SHEET MODEL X651BI" both have the listing of X65 (normal clio) Family.

So given mine is #60, whoever in Australia has #1 of 85 likely has one of the very first builds

 

[Adey.]

So given mine is #60, whoever in Australia has #1 of 85 likely has one of the very first builds

If they were kept/done in order as they came off the production line then yes, would also look like Australia got the first off the line Clio Sports. Have you got the pic of a plaque from any other ones? What production year is your car, do you know? there was something in there about 1998. If that plaque #60 is from your car pm me your email address and ill fire over some info for it

 

[Dave 200]

If they were kept/done in order as they came off the production line then yes, would also look like Australia got the first off the line Clio Sports. Have you got the pic of a plaque from any other ones? What production year is your car, do you know? there was something in there about 1998. If that plaque #60 is from your car pm me your email address and ill fire over some info for it

built March 2001, complianced in Australia June 2001

 

[Dave 200]

If they were kept/done in order as they came off the production line then yes, would also look like Australia got the first off the line Clio Sports. Have you got the pic of a plaque from any other ones? What production year is your car, do you know? there was something in there about 1998. If that plaque #60 is from your car pm me your email address and ill fire over some info for it

#44

 

[Dave 200]

Thanks to @Adeyspec ’s information the australian phase 1 appears to be a factory special. The documentation has the note “SPECIAL FEATURES FOR AUSTRALIA”

 

[MarcB]

Interesting info, thanks. Interesting that there were only 99 iceberg silvers in UK, out of the known 85 phase 1s in Australia, 35 are iceberg, by far the most common.

'The 172 Cup phase 1 definitely wasn't a dealer-fit sticker pack. It would have been a head-office or factory fit special. Here is that plate I was talking about:
View attachment 1491085

Here is the Info on that car via chassis number

 

[SiC]

Here is the Info on that car via chassis number

View attachment 1491550View attachment 1491551

Is that information publically accessible thing on the Renault site? Or is it a dealer only thing?

 

[Firey]

If they were kept/done in order as they came off the production line then yes, would also look like Australia got the first off the line Clio Sports. Have you got the pic of a plaque from any other ones? What production year is your car, do you know? there was something in there about 1998. If that plaque #60 is from your car pm me your email address and ill fire over some info for it

Hi Adeyspec and MarcB
I have number 10 of 85 imported into Australia. Can you find out anymore information on my phase 1.
Thanks

 

[Firey]

 

[Krarl]

No but we can almost guarantee it needs a wash judging by that 2nd pic @Firey

 

[Firey]

No but we can almost guarantee it needs a wash judging by that 2nd pic @Firey

Yes it does, I have only recently bought the phase 1. The rest of the car is in a similar condition.
It has sat for 4 years, but hopefully soon will be a runner again.

 

[RustyMojo]

So we get similar ‘fitments’ here in the U.K. to make vehicle ‘market’ specific. As an example the Alarms were fitted here in the U.K. after arriving at the import centre. Many car manufacturers do this as it streamlines the factory process. I should imagine that Renault Aus, built the P1 Cup spec and part of the ‘first point of rest’ preparation process would be the fitment of market specific items. It will be nothing to do with a dealer specifically. This happens here in the U.K. today with many manufacturers, all the fitment taking place port side. Generally it’s things like alarm features, reversing sensors or legislative enhancements (having to display VIN in certain places) but can be complete trim level enhancements.

 

[MarcB]

Is that information publically accessible thing on the Renault site? Or is it a dealer only thing?

Dealer Only

 

[Krarl]

Dealer Only

Drug dealer in your case