After purchasing a 1996 Renault Twingo sight unseen from Japan I had some angst about the condition it would arrive in. I had planned to drive it 1,200 kms or 745 miles through the mountains to get it home. It turns out I had reason to worry. What followed was a 1,200 km road trip home in a thirty year old untested French city car that was already making a poor first impression.
Before we could get to driving the Renault Twingo home we had to retrieve it. The pickup location was in Delta, in the port district of greater Vancouver, British Columbia. I had planned to fly in, pick it up, and drive home, but my wife suggested she come for support. She also had family out that way that we could visit at the same time. So, we made the drive out which was long but fairly smooth in her modern Volkswagen SUV. We had been given a pickup window of 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. which meant a 4:45am start (we had an overnight starting/stopping point 1/3 along the trip).
We chose the slightly longer but more scenic Highway 3 route. Most of the journey is through the mountains with a little prairie at the beginning and an urban city at the destination.
We did see this group of classic cars cruising through the mountains. Good on them.
In the mountains no longer, we had entered the city. Now onto the dock area.
We entered the yard close to 2 p.m., comfortably ahead of the deadline as I had no idea how long the pickup process would take. This was a Friday of a long weekend, so I really did not want to miss my window. A selection of JDM import treasures were on display. Zoom in and let me know your favorite in the comments? My wife certainly let me know what she would have preferred I had imported (spoiler alert – just about anything else).
As I understand it the cars get unloaded from the boat, clear customs and then are transported to this yard for customer pickup. Someone had even imported an Aston Martin.
They also had a Japanese firetruck.
On to the main event as I got the first glimpse of the Renault. From a distance it looked reasonable. Yes, that is it being dwarfed by a Subaru Kei truck and a Honda Fit Mugen. It is definitely smaller in person. The interior was rather dirty, and the plastics in the rear were badly scratched. The driver’s seatbelt receiver was broken, and the radio was unresponsive to any button presses. Quite often the battery is dead from the journey across the ocean but fortunately it started right up and idled well. A benefit of a simple car, I guess. I made sure it was in neutral and let the clutch out. And it stalled. I tried again and got the same result. It was stuck in first gear. Oh no. I was able to shift through the gears with the clutch in, then move back to neutral before tentatively trying again. That did it, but not a great omen. I signed the paperwork and got the impression they would like me to move on as soon as possible, so I did not get to check out the other vehicles unfortunately.
The fuel gauge read empty and the last display dot was flashing yellow. Adding fuel did not change the situation, so I could mark another item as non-functional. I could feel my wife rolling her eyes from across the parking lot. The poor paint is a little more visible from this direction. It appeared the car had been repainted and the clear coat, and some of the paint, was peeling off. The roof and passenger side were the worst spots. Oddly the bumpers were suffering as well.
I had “in transit” only registration, which is meant to get you home from buying it and to a mechanic for an inspection. This means no license plates, but this bit of paper attached to the front windshield. I wondered if this would cause me any grief from local law enforcement. The front single wiper is one of the Twingo’s party tricks. The blade was in extremely poor shape with rusted metal and electrical tape covering it to protect the windshield. The car had all the markers of sitting neglected for several years. Not a good sign. Fortunately, I had bought exactly one spare part and that was front wiper blade. I quickly fitted that and pronounced it “better”. Somewhere I heard some eyes rolling even further back. My wife’s confidence in the plan did not appear to increase.
My wife requested to take in the sights at Granville Island (a market on a former industrial manufacturing site now populated with artists and food markets). I could hardly say no, so we left the Renault at a nearby parking lot as Vancouver traffic is famously lousy and I did not want to risk discovering new issues in a traffic jam.
While Vancouver has a huge population of Teslas and other modern electric cars, there were a few neat cars to see like this Volkswagen Dune.
A two-door Volvo 240 parked at the curb.
Hello fellow import! These luxury Toyota vans have developed a following here and are a reasonably common sight.
After a good walk around Granville Island, we went to visit some family with the plan to leave first thing in the morning.
It was about a half hour drive away ,which meant mixing it up with other traffic and then a dash up the freeway. My homemade camera mount moved around more than I hoped, so the dashboard shots bobble around a little bit. The fuel gauge did some things, but the flashing light remained. I looked it up and it indicated a fuel issue of some kind. Great. The brakes were merely okay, and rear ones rumbled quite a bit. Otherwise, it drove ok. Once we got to our destination, I discovered how it had gotten stuck in first gear. When selecting reverse, one pulls up on a ring on the shifter unlocking reverse, then selects it to the left of first. Except it fought back and kept locking in first. I had some tense moments and a few close calls with someone’s shrubbery as it kept going forward instead of back. Eventually I figured it out and vowed to avoid reverse with selective parking for the rest of the trip. My wife swore and rolled her eyes.
The next morning, we did not leave as planned but instead went for breakfast, which turned into lunch. The Harley-Davidson dealership next to our lunch spot was hosting a huge bike show event including a burnout competition. I gently reminded that I would prefer not to drive after dark and had not even tested the lights yet. I flipped on what I thought was the light switch and was rewarded with nothing at all. With a motorbike burn out competition in full swing next to me, I checked the fuses, connections, then pulled the switch out. The noise and smoke added to the tension. No power was going to it. By this time, it was mid afternoon and we had a nine-hour drive ahead of us. There was no chance of making it before dark. The spousal-side commentary was brief but vivid. We visited some other family and planned to make another attempt the following day.
After setting off a little later than ideal again we had been cruising down the highway for a while when I had a realization that I was missing something. It suddenly dawned on me that I had no rear view mirror. This broken surround was presumably where an interior light once was. I tried the heater. Air blew but it was not warm. Not trusting the oscillating fuel gauge, I requested early and often fuel stops. This was met with frustration that I had involuntarily roped my wife into one of my Beater Challenge type trips with higher stakes and dim prospects of success. This did not improve the approval rating of the purchase. I had no real comeback.
I decided to limit my speed to 100km/h or 62 mph out of sympathy for the car, even if the limit was higher in places.
Before we entered a large area of no cell phone coverage, I fueled up again and came across this large group of Corvettes. There were maybe twenty in total.
Predictably a city car with a small 1.2L pushrod engine struggled uphill on the many mountain passes. But occasionally I was not the cause of the slowdown and traffic lineup. This might be the only time I appreciate a tourist in a rental RV.
I spotted a couple of other fine European two-doors enjoying the mountain road. They most definitely had more power in a single cylinder than I had total.
My wife was convinced we would be making a deposit at one of these informal mountain junkyards, but I was getting more confident. Apart from the air of neglect and assorted electrical problems, the Renault seemed to run quite well.
I do like a firetruck. This Ford C-series appeared in good shape.
These mountain passes are no joke and, a month later, I would have needed winter tires. Luckily the bald 13″ all seasons were legal for now.
A couple field classics guard a pub sign. One day I will check it out, but it was closed on Sundays.
I even managed to pass someone!
Another selection of road treasures. With some luck, the Twingo would not join them.
The middle portion, despite being in the mountains, has a mild climate that means a lot of agriculture. Fruit in particular.
I had no idea apples could be grown on vines like this. Likely more efficient than trees.
A pair of big trucks retired from the fruit industry.
A quick stop at the famous Spotted Lake. It gets its colorful spots from being mineral-rich with magnesium sulphate, calcium, and sodium sulphates. It can only be viewed from the road these days due to careless people.
This angle almost makes the paint look passable. A typical 50/50 car. Best viewed from 50 feet or 50 mph.
We stopped for a long sit-down lunch at a winery in Osoyoos which was nice, but I was worried about our timing as I had no headlights and dark comes sooner in the mountains.
But otherwise things were looking okay. I had avoided the tow truck fate.
I spotted this lovely 1951 Austin firetruck at a museum on the way out and took a moment to stop in for a look. It had been restored by high school students back in 1996.
In Greenwood sat an old power distribution building. Formerly a key place for the smelting and mining industry Greenwood retains the title of city despite a population that has reduced to 702 in 2021.
Classics come in many sizes. Small like my Twingo and large like this classic semi truck. There was a small group of them all minus trailers out for a Sunday drive.
Another Japanese import. This time a Suzuki Swift.
Another hour, another breathtaking mountain pass. This one heading up to Bombi Summit which sits at 1215m or 3986 ft. The poor little Twingo gets a little breathless at these heights.
This 1957 Chevrolet was an unexpected sight.
Another victory, another junkyard passed.
Next up was the dreaded but beautiful Salmo–Creston Pass (also more formally called the Kootenay Pass), which is known to tax any substandard cooling system. It is the highest Canadian pass that is (mostly) open year-round at 1,775 m or 5,823 ft. Fun fact: avalanche technicians remotely trigger preventative avalanches with artillery. This pass is the one that almost killed that terrible K-car I had in the first Great Beater Challenge. Slow and steady we climbed. I would have liked to watch a coolant gauge closely, but the Twingo lacks one, so I just assumed it was fine and kept going.
One of these things is a little different. We stopped for a few minutes at the summit and Bridal Lake.
As we approached Creston, BC dusk started to fall. This was not our planned destination, but we evaluated the remaining light versus having no headlights and looked for a place to stop. We were staying a further 60kms down the road, so we arranged to store the Renault at a local business for the night and retrieve it in the morning.
This turned out to be the right call, as shortly afterward it got very dark, the wind picked up and the sky opened with rain. The next morning started out foggy and wet. It, unfortunately, stayed that way pretty much all day for the remaining 400 kilometers or 250 miles to home. We seemingly received more rain than we had in years.
The only slowdown from the rain came while we were not driving but eating a warm lunch. This next door automotive shop has had this vintage car on their roof for years but recently painted it this lurid green color. It is eye-catching if nothing else.
The good news was rain made the poor paint look pretty good. Additionally, the fuel gauge seemed to be settling into something resembling accuracy. The bad news was the car randomly aquaplaned on its lousy tires, and my new windshield wiper was oddly poor. I soon discovered why as I drove on. There was a protective cover that I had failed to notice and left on the wiper.
I removed the protective shipping cover (nicely color coded to the car!) at the next gas spot and the wiper worked as it should. There I met a friendly classic Toyota pickup driver who recognized the Renault as something unusual. He had owned a Renault Clio in the UK and was gobsmacked to see another Renault in rural British Columbia. My wife was equally gobsmacked to see someone else who thought the Twingo was interesting. Someone else could, at least, witness another eyeroll.
The rest of the drive featured a few white-knuckle moments on very wet, curvy mountain roads, but things improved once we reached the flatter, straighter prairie closer to home. Despite its disappointingly poor condition and a likely long slumber in Japan, the Twingo had completed a challenging 1,200 km, or 745-mile, journey through mountain passes and torrential rain. That is impressive for a small city car that was never designed for this sort of trip, even when new. Next come the maintenance and repairs needed to pass the strict out-of-province inspection before it can become a regular driver. Against all reasonable expectations, the little Renault had made it home. Now it just had to prove it deserved to stay.
In the Twingo Series:
Part 1 – In Search of A Practical Winter Car … And Ending With Something French?
Part 2 – Small, French and Quirky – What Is A Renault Twingo And Why Would You Want One
Yeah but, yeah but? Why?
This may not convince you but I like oddball cars and have never owned something French before.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/auto-biography/small-french-and-quirky-what-is-a-renault-twingo-and-why-would-you-want-one/
oh my.
I’m usually of the mind to say that any road trip is a good road trip, but I think that this one would severely test my patience and/or nerves. I was thinking though that the guy who regularly participates in the Beater Challenge through the Canadian wilderness should be able to accomplish this with his eyes closed (and a duct-taped windshield wiper and no rear view mirror)…until you pointed out the fact that your wife doesn’t accompany you on those expeditions. Makes perfect sense.
Still, since it apparently didn’t blow up on its 1100km journey through the mountains, it’s going to make a fun city car at home.
Great pictures! And yeah, I had no idea either that anyone grew apples like that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that method before.
That’s how all modern apple orchards are, using dwarf trees trained on wire trellises this way. It’s much more efficient all-round, especially for picking. Apple trees have been getting smaller for quite a few decades; this is the end result.
Its called Espallier growing apples like that, common in NZ and cold is needed to regenerate the trees for spring, they grow apples in Aussie in the mountain regions, Cool little car its surprising how many French cars sell in Japan, Citroens wash up in NZ ex JDM.
I applaud every aspect of this adventure, especially the eye-rolling and your requisite endurance. Your wife is a sport.
I would say, get it in good mechanical shape and embrace the patina.
PS: my wife is French, and a Twingo is near to the top of my list of foolish cars I’d like to own one day.
Yes. Embrace the patina is the plan. I have made the paint a bit better but it will never be perfect or even good. I certainly have no plans or budget for a professional respray.
I was wondering how you made out, was considering DM’ing you yesterday but to my delight here is the full report.
When daughter was living in Trail BC area two years ago I was a little concerned about her making multiple trips to both Vancouver and Calgary (in winter!!) along highway 3. Turns out she was just fine, 2016 Focus had good winter tires, was trouble free and she’s a capable kid. Her mother was rather alarmed that instead of sensibly getting a hotel at night she would just sleep in the back of the car in a hotel parking lot, but wisely she didn’t tell us about that until she returned to Ontario.
That was a lot of spousal eye rolling +. I must admit I would have picked the Twingo up with a trailer rather than go the way you did, if we had attempted that there would have been some significant marriage moments and possible litigation afterwards. Maybe next time make it a CC event and some of us other Canadians will come down to support you.
I’m happy that the Twingo came through for the most part, broken and missing pieces aren’t really the car’s fault. Once you get it cleaned up and fully functional take your wife out in the Twingo for a nice dinner.
Given that I have had the Miata for over a year and she still has not been a passenger in it yet I would not hold my breath for her to travel in the Twingo. We did a fancy lunch and I got her some wine at the winery so that is probably a start.
Thanks for that very interesting and entertaining story! It was like we were driving along with you! The commentary, the humour, noticing this and that along the way, it was great! I recognized many spots, as we’ve driven that quite a bit. You had fun, and I bet your wife “sort of” did too. Waiting for the next chapter!
Great story!
I am intimately familiar with Highway 3 across BC, I’ve probably driven it 100 times over the last 40 years including in some pretty dodgy iron back when. Not sure what would be more challenging, driving that pass in a 1.2 litre car or dealing with Granville Island on the Friday of a long weekend. I am also amazed that things went so smoothly at DeltaPort, customer service is not their forte.
I really enjoyed the pics, I think I can pick out where most of them were taken.
BTW, avalanche control is no longer done with artillery, The unpredictable changes to the avalanche path and the risks of dealing with 75 year old ammunition ended that a few years ago. These days it’s done with remotely triggered propane powered bangers that create a shock wave or else small explosive charges dropped from a helicopter. A very exciting ride…
Good luck with the Twingo, I like off beat old cars too!
There was a company in the middle that retrieved it from the dock, then I retrieved it from their lot. They gave me a tiny schedule window to pickup which added to the stress.
Thank you for the update on the avalanche control. That makes sense that it has changed.
Very nice story! Quite an oddity, a French car for the Japanese market imported in North America! There are still some first series Twingo going around here in Europe, but I haven’t seen a green one in a long time; purple seems to be the most common color.
In the 90s, these were literally everywhere
A David Saunders classic! It has all the elements: suspense, a dodgy car with various issues, late starts, an unhappy wife, fantastic scenery, old cars on the go (or not), iffy weather, mountain passes, and of course, a happy ending.
I’m really glad for you (and your marriage) that the Twingo came through. I’m sure it will serve you well having passed its first big test.
I was relieved to have made. I could have done with a little stress this time around. I don’t think my wife is well suited to automotive adversity.
Quite the opportunity to test your motoring ability & maintenance skills on an unfamiliar ride. dont think i would have dared. however, the trip looks fascinating from your plentiful photos.
My biggest question is not about the car.
Greenwood’s former power transmission bldg… what is the deal with all those odd dormer style roofs double stacked on the facade?
Interesting, if nothing else.
Someone needed a fair bit of kit to get them installed up there.
Must be some reason.
Ideas?
Each of those dormers covers a hole that a transmission line passed through. The dormers protect the insulators.
West Kootenay Power and Light used the building as an office well into the ’90s.
What an interesting read! It’s my stomping ground. I live a short walk from Granville Island and often go there. The traffic/parking are so bad that I would never take a car there, but I have option of walking.
Also interesting that you took highway 3 for your trip. It is the hilliest route of the three. I have only done it a couple of times, as I usually take highway 5 up to Jasper, which is the easiest route as it not as hilly and has less traffic than the Trans-Canada route 1.
I hope the Twingo works out for you. My Danish friend drives Renault cars and swears by them.
Great idea, great tour. But for a Twingo? – No way. Absolutely not. Never.
Oh là là! Quelle voiture magnifique! 🙂
Highway 3 is a challenging route, but makes a great road trip. I’ve driven it multiple times to visit friends in Nelson BC, and even done it once on a bicycle. The different climate zones from coastal rain forest to almost-desert are aways an eye opener.
I’ll keep my comment simple. The paint is as bad as a Nissan.
I believe it was re-painted at some point. The clear coat must have been done poorly. So, perhaps, the factory was not totally to blame.
“The clear coat must have been done poorly.”
Yep, that describes a Nissan.
Well that was fun from a distance. A small distance, me being a highway 3 resident. And you got all the photos I should have stopped and taken. If the Renault has a trip over Kootenay Pass in it it must be healthy enough. Must not have been Shambala weekend as that is a great time to see vehicles overheated on the road.
Good luck with the OOP. I have got through the BC a few times and I suspect its harder than the Alberta one
A very entertaining read! The little Twingo appears to be a bit worse than I expected it would be and it looks like it has had a less than sympathetic owner at some point, but at the same time I’m not even remotely amazed that it completed the trip. They’re fundamentally tough little buggers, these. Once mechanically sorted, it should serve you well.
You have a lot more courage than I do to take a car you have never met on a 1000+ km trip, even with a follow car.
And the transit pass shows you researched your provincial auto authority to some extent.
Next comes a potentially frustrating challenge of their titling requirements to get it registered.
A friend of mine bought a Canadian Meteor in Montreal and had to register it in Pennsylvania.
Though its provincial registration papers were in French, there was nothing you needed to understand French to understand on them. Year of car, VIN, address of previous owner, car model and marque. It was obvious what the title said. Still, Pennsylvania required an official translator (not just anyone who spoke French) to certify that the line that said 1960 meant year.
Cost time, money, and angst to get that done.
In California I doubt I could buy a car not marketed in CA and get it registered from any country unless it was already an antique.
Good luck. Hope all those non working things don’t require importing parts from France or Japan. You could have a whole book from that car.
Well done, David.
I’m a huge Twingo fan and I live in Australia. It’s my dream to have one of these for a day and drive it around rural France or Germany, just taking in how simple and fun it is.
Sorry you ended up with a neglected one. I hope you can get it sorted out
One can say alot about french reliabilty, but speaking out of experience they seem to build solid engines that last long without major weaknesses unlike many other manufacturers.
That depends. I’ve heard bad stories about Peugeot HDi engines and almost every French automatic.
But Twingos of the 90s? Never. They are just too simple and well engineered to have serious reliability issues.
I’ve been waiting for the next installment of Projet Twingo! You certainly got the Canadians out in force in the comments.
On the surface the car has a lot going for it. I mean, how can you not love a car with such cute looks? And I’m sure it managed the trip better than your former Subaru would have. From the way you described it previously, I half expected it to break down and arrive home on the back of a flatbed.
A break down would have been a huge problem. It looked pretty dire at the beginning when the transmission was acting up. A flatbed would have been maybe thousands of dollars depending on how far from home. I might have had to rent a trailer and borrow a tow vehicle. The other option would be to walk away from the car. None of those are good!
A Subaru is brand I have not yet owned. I did try and buy a Brat about 15 years ago. I had an Elantra that ran great but did not go up hills due to the clutch. It would not have made it.
Whoops, I must have got you confused with somebody else!
That transmission problem at the start would have made my heart sink. I can relate to the distance you needed to travel; that’s not something to be attempted lightly in an unfamiliar vehicle in unknown condition even without Canadian hills.
Lots of the little beauties on French auction sites – 4000 Euros for a minter but some are pretty cheap.
I want one so bad but the thought of driving from France to Scotland in an old banger that had been driven by French persons is daunting.
Very cool David, what a great adventure. You were a little south of me passing across the bottom of the Province. Quite an adventure going up the Salmo Creston in a little car like that. My Daughter is working there right now on a paving crew.
I recognized the beautiful needle-nose Kenworth (a 66-ish I think) from the Lower Mainland on the highway. Many years ago I saw it being restored and have seen it in a couple of truck shows. Nice to see it out on the road; I know he does drive it. It’s very well known around BC among the trucking crowd.
I’ve been waiting for this, and it didn’t disappoint – I can feel those eyerolls from 2,000 mi. away!
While reading this, I was hoping that you actually made it home with the Twingo, so I’m awfully glad that you did. I guess the next few weeks will be full of making improvements so it can pass the Inspection. But I’ll be optimistic here and assume that the worst is behind you.
The driving-through-the-rain-on-bald-tires part sounded awful, but other than that, it seems you were able to make the trip somewhat enjoyable. Can’t wait to read more about the Twingo.
This was a fun read; glad you and the car made it home!
Love the “half moon” headlights on the Twingo — they give it a happy face, plus remind me of the taillights of a 1960 full-size Ford.
Another great write up. If I had not been following along on these adventures both here and CTC, and had not been to many of the places shown, I would say Mr Saunders has a very active imagination. These just go to show truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
Also, I much prefer to read about these adventures and live through the words than I would actually be able to do them. Keep ’em coming!
Catching up late. A wonderful adventure and very well told and illustrated. My wife has ridden in a tow truck twice. Once with our Vanagon and once with our BMW 528i. After the BMW episode, she had a simple demand: we’re getting a new car (as in brand new) and it’s going to be Japanese. We did, but that was 33 years ago and her daily drivers for the past 25 years have been Volkswagens. I think if the Twingo were easily available and register-able here in California, she would really like it.
I don’t grasp why the wife would roll here eyes after asking to go .
My Sweet knows / cares not a whit about classics (apart from her pristine 1984 Mercedes graymarket 300TD) but she’s game to travel and never complains .
It sounds like the seller wasn’t very honest, luckily most lighting issues are simple to diagnose and set right .
Those are beautiful pictures, what a great trip you had, lots and lots of vintage tin to look at too .
I hope this car sorts out easily and you like it .
-Nate
Am I the only CCer who has actually owned a Twingo?
Mine was These are wonderful little cars Mine was thoroughly reliable over the many years I had it, other than a broken front spring (atypical fault you should check yours for, btw).
Ironically, the Toyota that replaced it was one of the least relaible new cars I’ve ever had with lots of rear brake problems and an ac compressor that broke after 30,000km.
Bit of a shame about the overall condition of yours – that paint is a bit more “patinated” than I had hoped. Could a wrap in a crazy color be the cheap solution? But the little guy proved capable of a long, hilly journey – he’s a pleaser!
These are wonderful little cars – you are going to really love it when it’s sorted!
I can understand buying something quirky, perhaps you should complement the Twingo with an original Fiat Panda. This assumes the Twingo survives the eye rolling.
My wife has fallen in love with the modern Fiat 500 so my driveway will be turning Italian despite my interest in French cars