The Autocar Article

This article under Market Place was published in the Autocar on the 16th August 2000. It has been reproduced with the permission of the Editor.

Britain's foremost Twingo specialist is based near the only place that makes the quirky city car look normal, Portmeirion.
By Julian Rendell.

The village of Portmeirion in Wales is best known for providing the pretty, not to mention surreal setting for the mindbending 60's TV show The Prisoner. And nowadays it is linked with another byword for the slightly odd; near Portmeirion is home to the UK's foremost Twingo dealer.

He's Dafydd Williams, a lifelong car trader who works under the entirely appropriate title The Enthusiastic Welshman.

Williams has always had a taste for motoring's quirkier side; he supplied the Mini Mokes used in The Prisoner. Now he is carving out a niche for the Twingo that Renault has never exploited.

"It all started when I first saw the car in July 1993 and decided I'd got to have one" he said "I was on the first Eurostar out of London to Brussels and I haven't looked back since".

He had already retired from full time trading a few years ago, but after catching the Twingo bug he started up his cottage industry.

Williams can supply any age or price of Twingo, including used models, which start at £2995 for a 60 thousand mile seven year old and range up to £8200 for a Twingo 3. All are left hookers because the Twingo isn't built in right hand drive, but Williams can supply a right hand drive conversion for a £1000. All prices new and used are subject to a charge of about £400 to comply UK type approval. That involves the digital km/h speedo being converted to mph, fitting Japan spec right hand drive headlights and moving the rear fog light to the centre of the bumper.

The Twingo has gone through a handful of updates since its launch. Williams says the best car is the Twingo 2 built after 1998, when build quality, trim, and carpets were improved. Early cars also have their appeal, notably the original Twingo with its peppermint green switchgear.

Williams keeps a small stock, referring to buy to order. Avoiding ex-rental his main source for new cars is an official Renault dealer in Brussels, although used cars tend to come from Holland or Germany.

"For some reason used Twingos are rarer than hen's teeth in Belgium", he says.
When he buys for stock, he always specifies three options - a sunroof, electric mirrors and windows, and remote central locking - and he also pays huge attention to colour. The Twingo was launched in a range of bright hues including a mustard yellow and blue and green. But he doesn't buy the darker coloured cars introduced to appeal to chic Parisians. "I simply can't sell black ones - they are a dead loss", he explains.

Being a development of the last Renault 5, the Twingo is mechanically unburstable. Early cars were powered by the 53bhp, 1239 cc four cylinder engine from the Five. That was replaced in 1996 with the smoother revving 55bhp 1149cc engine from the Clio.

Power steering isn't part of the Twingo package. It was introduced as an option, but Williams reckons it's not needed on anything but the luxury Initiale with its wider tyres.

Any standard Twingo offers a typically Gallic drive, with a ride orientated towards comfort and refinement yet enough grip in the corners to allow keen drivers to make speedy progress. Just two mechanical problems crop up regularly; suspension coils have a habit of breaking at high mileage and the seals in the rear brake cylinders can leak. Springs can go at either the front or rear, and at the back they're difficult to detect because the stance of the car doesn't alter.

Fuel consumption is good and group 4 insurance isn't too scary; one of Williams' clients is paying just £275 a year.

Parts are easy to get hold of. Williams says he can place an order on Monday with his local Renault dealer and take delivery by Thursday. Renault dealers are also happy to service the cars, as parts like oil filters are Clio items, but Williams keeps a small stock of certain high turnover items like wiper blades, which are unique to the Twingo.

Despite Renault's lack of faith, many Brits have woken up to the cheap and cheerful motoring in the spirit of the Citroen 2CV that the Twingo was designed to achieve. And we can thank an enthusiastic Welshman for that.

(End of report)

Please Note.
Valuations mentioned in the Autocar's report are now well out of date Indeed a tatty Twingo can now be bought for under £500 but would want a lot of TLC to bring it up to condition 1. The LHD conversion was carried out on one Twingo only and proved to be too expensive to go into production.