Christopher Litchfield contacted me in the autumn of 2008 with some much needed new contributions for the Pets page in the playroom (see number PE19). He then followed up with some more photos of his Renault 4, alongside another classic:

'I have attached a few more pics which are of Reg (my trusty 4) and Barbara (my lovely 2CV). The two colours are beautiful together.'

'Barbara has been completely restored and is only used on nice days. Reg is my trusty work horse and is used all year round and in all weathers. I am starting to wonder whether I should be treating him more as a classic car, only using him in good weather.'

Chris had commented originally that 'There doesn't seem to be many UK car pics on the site, which is a shame really.' I replied, suggesting that interest from UK owners was very strong back in 2000 when the site began, and things continued that way until around 2005. Since then, however, ownership had really declined and there were very few around in Britain anymore. If one searches around the earlier galleries there are plenty to be found from the UK, but not so much recently. And as to how many of those are still alive and well, alas I suspect very few. Chris adds:

'I suspect that the reason there are so few 4's left in the UK is that they are just so practical and their owners loved using them. This is great until the rust monster ends up eating its way into the car to a point where the repairs become too expensive for most people. Very sad :-( '

One interesting fact I unearthed shortly after this exchange was from a newspaper cutting on the wall of Derek's Renospeed garage in London, from early 2007 if I recall correctly. It stated that according to official statistics, around 400 Renault 4s were still registered in Britain. How many of those are actually on the road and not locked up in a shed gathering dust, or sat in a garden acting as a greenhouse, is another matter.