Unparallel Renault 16 Happenings

[Junkman]

Right, I learned a couple more things about R16s boring enough to share with you.

- Apart from being a clean sheet design to be built in a brand new factory erected just for that purpose, the R16 was also the very first car in automotive history with a fully computerised spare parts supply. Dealers would only stock service items and order whatever else was required through a fully digitalised system. It is this what makes it unlikely to stumble across a pile of NOS stuff still lingering in some forgotten warehouse. The notable exception is East Africa, where Renault maintained parts depots. The R16 group in Madagascar for example polls its supply from there.

- I wrongly accused ze Germans for doing sill repairs with expanding foam. In reality, that shit was injected by some red wine fuelled liberated equalised fraternising citizens at the assembly line in a quest to reduce road noise. They injected it into the A pillars and sills. I bet they thought it is a good idea. Well, it is not, I have you know.

[LynehamHerc]

I don't understand how the parts supply worked.

Surely you'd still need warehouses to act as distribution points to the dealers, the non-service item parts just effectively moving one step back, along the distribution chain, nearer to the factory and OEMs.

[8BAK465]

I think anybody who does car repairs to anything thats remotely metal for strength puposes or water traps should be sterilised to stop the chain of stupidity travelling down the generations

[Eddie Honda]

In reality, that shit was injected by some red wine fuelled liberated equalised fraternising citizens at the assembly line in a quest to reduce road noise. They injected it into the A pillars and sills. I bet they thought it is a good idea. Well, it is not, I have you know.

It's a excel-fucking-lent idea.

They reduce the noise, sell another car 3 years later when it's hanging and the rest of us don't have to see the survivors on every street corner. Trebles all round!

[panhard65]

I do love a good 16 but the parts supply thing isn't ringing any bells. I was parts manager in a Renault / Vauxhall dealers in the mid 80's and you just went through the PR900 and stocked what you thought you could shift. Ordering parts from Vauxhall was computerised for VOR stuff where you called a number from a special phone and tapped in the part numbers to process the order every afternoon. Stock orders were done on paper and sent in as it would take too long to tap it in manually. I didn't have so much to do with Renault as we used another branch for orders. There again all the labels for both Vauxhall and Renault were computer printed. Vauxhall parts were much easier to look up on Microfiche but Renault had the bible in the form of the PR900 if you ever get a chance to buy one they are an excellent book to have. I have got one of the last editions which has most models from 1980 to about 1988.

[fried onions]

Still better than Rootes, those parts are extremely scarce and you won't see anything in Rootes packaging, because Chrysler didn't want anything to do with the spares arm of the business and buried the bloody lot.

[HMC]

What would your ultimate spec 16 be (model year and variant)? Might well be the one you have!

[christine]

Lotus Europa

[HMC]

I looked at one of those about a year ago and pre divorce - on the button but was difficult to be sure the chassis wasn’t fucked. Engine was lovely and sweet, mind.

[christine]

Them renaught engines.. I had a 17 on an old L , were quite a design for the time ?.Inclined valves, hemi head ..