Real Road Test: Renault 21 GTS Symphony!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2019
- Happy times for me, as I drive a 1988 Renault 21 GTS Symphony, with Giugiaro styling (Not Bertone, my error) and a transverse 1.7-litre engine. The 2-litre petrol and 2.1-litre diesel were longitudinal, with a SHORTER wheelbase...
The GTS Symphony has lovely wheel trims (not alloys as I thought at first glance) and a fancy stereo/cassette player with autoreverse and column-mounted controls! It's a bit posh. Marvel at the electric-window blanking plugs, rejoice at the rear legroom and electric sunroof and cover your ears as it demonstrates a key trick of these cars - a cooling fan that runs for AGES after you turn off.
Car borrowed from Kelsey Media, who publish such titles as Classic Car Buyer, Classics Monthly, Retro Cars, Practical Pigs and Park Homes! www.shop.kelsey.co.uk
HubNut goodies can be purchased via hubnut.org where you can also find support options. Cheers!
#HubNut #Renault #Oldcarsarethebest
![Renault 21 GTS - The Forgotten Family Classic [Eagle Medallion] (1987 1.7 Symphony Road Test)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0Hy3x-RAimo/mqdefault.jpg)
Christ on a bike! I went to my wedding in a Renault 21! The car lasted longer than my marriage ;-)
“Rare case of more luxury gets you more blanking plugs” like that comment.
My dad sold Renaults new for many years, one of his last demonstrators was a 21 saloon on a F plate. Lovely car in its day. Good memories of these!
Brings back memories for me. I had the Renault 25 V6 Turbo of the same year, same colour.. It was THE best car I have ever driven and owned.
The interior epitomises the '80's angularity doesn't it, and it looks so scientific. It is nice to see all the plastics and fittings in almost new condition, lovely. Such neat styling and all that delicious velour. Cheers.
This brought back some memories. I had a 21 GTS as a company car when working as a European sales rep. I covered 62,000 miles in 2 years, taking it to 15 different countries! Not very glamorous, but superbly comfortable on long motorway trips and economical (35/36 mpg), with plenty of space inside and in the boot. Definitely needed a long journey to be appreciated; colleagues who borrowed it for short trips found the steering heavy in town and it was a pig to drive with the choke until warmed up. I had a phase 2 21 GTX to replace it, covering another 48,000 miles in two years. Fuel-injected engine was much quicker (120 bhp) and smoother, albeit less economical (32/33 mpg), power steering a plus. But it also had several electrical problems, from the sunroof to the instrument panel, which packed up completely on a trip to Ireland.
The car had a love/hate relationship with. I had a 21 GTX Monaco 2.2i. I loved the handling, comfort, room, fuel-consumption and (despite the good fuel-milage) quick acceleration.
Oh, how I would love to see a test with a Renault 25, though there are hardly any left, it would seem. I had one through a fair bit of the 90s before it died after 200,000m. Always enjoy your films, Mr Hubnut. Always a pleasure.
That’s my grandads old car!! I remember the day he got it!!! That was his pride and joy! He sold it to Renault with 8,000 miles on the clock and the original tyres he’d bought it with! I know how it got the dent! 😂
My Dad had 2 Renault 21 GTS'S Ian, an 87 and an 88 I think . Wonderfully comfortable and rare enough to be individual in Ireland compared to Citroëns and Peugeots. The 1.7 had a twin venturi carb, so economical at low revs and nice and lively higher up when the second venturi kicks in , you can feel it too. She had plenty of poke for a 1.7. Incidentally my Dad also owned a 1973 or 1974 Renault 16 TL, an amazing thing, like floating on air. In those days over here we had a lot of security checkpoints with ramps. We usually climbed over these carefully in first but Dad reckoned the 16 could take them at 60 mph. Ay right Da. I believed him at the time though cos I was 6. She was our first wagon with a radio as well and the aerial was on the roof. Thanks for the R21 video. Excellent Lad. 👍
Back in 89 I was working in Weymouth and every fortnight would hire a car to take 4 of us back to Glasgow and another to get back down on the Sunday night so I got to drive all the "repmobiles" of the time. The 21 was good but the best of the bunch was undoubtably the Cavalier and strangely I also liked the Montego. Keep the reviews coming
Always had a lot of love for the 21. Would love to see a Safrane test drive too, for peak Renault-slushiness.
Between this and The Peugeot 205 Story on Big Car, I'm in French classic car bliss today.
Brings back some memories of the ‘87 model my Dad had as a company car for a couple of years. His boss imported it to Belfast from the Republic of Ireland, as the pre-tax price was lower for new cars (due to the crippling “vehicle registration tax” Irish drivers still have to pay...) As rear seatbelts weren’t a legal requirement in Ireland until 1992, our one had to have them retro fitted! Can’t remember the spec, but it was the 1.7. Lovely looking car & so comfortable, from the little I remember of it as a small child.
This takes me back my school teacher had a Monaco version very well appointed car
What a fantastic car!
Love it! My dad once had a 1994 (one of the very last) R21 GTL Symphonie (so not a limited edition and spelled that way in The Netherlands). I used to drive it myself every once in a while and I found it very smooth and comfortable indeed. Unfortunately after only 7 years on the road it failed the apk (Dutch MOT) with a rotten front crossmember and my dad traded it in for a 1996 Honda Civic saloon, of which I don't even remember how it drove...
My grandad's last car before he gave up driving was a 2nd-generation Renault 5, and the angular interior trim in this is like an upscaled version of the one in that. Happy memories.
Love the R21! I'm from Germany. Here, the R21 was always unterrated. I had three of these. Loved the comfort and the styling. Thanks for this vid! :)
I have one of the few surviving little brothers of the R21: a 1.7 SPI F3N R19. Really a very good car with nearly no rust (unusual in Sweden). A bit sluggish with 73 bhp but very comfortable ride and very economical.