A long leap forward in time to August 3rd 2004, conveniently and symbolically the 43rd anniversary of the Renault 4. Witness the birth of Reflexia, my third Renault 4! Her name is perhaps rather tediously devised in that same tradition of making something out of the latter three letters on the number plate which, as can be seen below, are RFX. I really struggled with this one, and eventually decided that the reflective element of her name is fitting since the car reflects light more due to its white colour. I'd never been a fan of white cars, but I had started to acquire a certain fondness for white R4s, since the colour does seem to suit the car in ways which it doesn't many others. After my red and blue models of times past, it seemed that I was now rather unintentionally completing the flag of Great Britain with this possession. However, I could just as easily be representing the colours of the Netherlands or Czech Republic, or countless other countries around the globe.
So anyway, what brought about this sudden and slightly impulsive acquisition? Despite being at home seldomly due to the continuation of my travel-heavy job, I just couldn't bear being without an R4 for so long. It was nearly a year since Nicole departed, and I needed some escape route during my occasional reality dips back into suburban Hove. With work drying up a little over the summer, I wanted to get out and about to explore Sussex; to take the household dog out to the countryside; to thrill transport-deprived friends on jaunty day-trips and to find a hundred-and-one other uses for the vehicle. The car might well be idle for days, possibly weeks at a time whilst I worked away, but on those occasions when I was at home then anything to get me out the confines of my stiflingly hot, stuffy room would be a blessing.
I purchased the car for a very fair sum from Liam Jones in Oxfordshire, also the R4 registrar of the time for the Renault Classic Car Club in the UK. Both he and his partner had owned the vehicle for a while and he'd carried out various repairs, including some welding work, many mechanical jobs and the replacement of several parts. It is a 1984 right-hand drive GTL (the same as my first car, Angelica), in a decent state and with a below-average 76000 miles on the clock. Records of previous ownership point to associations in the Bournemouth and Poole areas, and Liam had been offering me the car for a while in knowing that I was keen to acquire another when time permitted.
Unfortunately, just days before I went to view it, Liam had a slight accident with a tractor implement, resulting in a rather ugly scrape in the centre of the bonnet. It missed all the car's vital inner organs, thankfully, but somewhat detracted from its image. This scar can be seen caught by the light of the camera flash in the second image from top. A new replacement bonnet was offered to me, but I could stick with the existing one for a cut-down price. The damage wasn't too major, and might just inspire me to get out with some filler and attend to both that and some other odd problem spots in future.
When inspected from closer range, the car is a bit tatty body-wise, although the white colour seems to show up the dirt and rust more than other shades. The interior is good, however, and the engine is sound. Liam spent some time seeing to all the important areas and helping to safeguard against any major difficulties in the near future. With a full MOT and tax included in the deal, I was happy to have a solid, honest Renault 4 to travel around in again. I drove the car back to Hove, stopping briefly at Twyford rail station (top two pictures) for a bite to eat. Pigging out on the back seat of an R4 was a novelty I had missed for some while. The remaining photos were taken back in Hove over the following days.
These pictures flatter the car just a little, since there are the usual array of small dents and imperfections around the bodywork, as found on most models of this age. One or two spots require attention, such as a slightly ugly rust patch around the rear off-side quarter window, and a couple more patches of welding behind the front of the sills. The car has the brown/cream check interior which is a change from the red/blue of my previous two models. Proper rear seatbelts, virtually brand new and salvaged from my sister's last R4 before it was towed away, have now been fitted, and other small features include some trims to cover the indomitably rusty wheels.
The photo above was a necessity to complete the parade of all my previous Renault 4s - and those of my sister - in the same location, as seen earlier in this section. I don't yet know to what lengths I might go in touching up the car, if any. It will serve me well for the meantime without much in the way of attention, aside from servicing and occasional tweaking. It would be a major job to try and attend to the bodywork in full, in preparation for any kind of respray like that of Nicolexia. I'm happy enough with the slightly tatty white image for the time being, and am more interested in just owning and driving an R4 again than doing anything glorious with its exterior.
With the recent purchase also of a semi-pro digital camera, with which these photos were taken, visitors can expect plenty more images to spill out in coming weeks and months. As yet I've only explored the automatic mode of the device so these pictures aren't intended to be anything remarkable, but I hope to learn a little about photography and aim to match some of the great pictures sent in by other visitors on this site. I may even post the odd movie once I have become familiar with the function. This car has been suddenly thrust into the spotlight of this website, so I will try to do it justice. Here's to the future; let's hope it reflects well!