When I started to think about a new car in the summer of 2005, I had short listed three cars. A Hyundai Coupe 2.0 SE; I loved the shape of these and thought that you got an awful lot for your money. The new-at-the-time Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch 1.8 SRI; I absolutely loved the looks of these things as they look very futuristic. Finally, the Clio Sport, the ultimate hot hatch that I was unsure about due to insurance costs.

Test drives of both the Hyundai and the Vauxhall revealed that they weren’t for me. Let’s just say they lacked Va Va Voom…

This left me with the little Clio Sport. I had test driven one a year previously, just out of curiosity, and absolutely loved it, but with the memory distant in my mind I needed a refresher drive. The first two test drives I had were pathetic, involving a little more than a drive around the block, giving nothing about the car away besides the fact it can do 30mph in 5th nicely. However, I was smitten by the car and decided that it was for me.

I originally wanted a red car, as I prefer them to all the black, blue and silver cars out there. Knowing that the closest colour to red the Clio came in was ‘Inferno’ I started looking for one. I was then devastated to find that they had stopped producing the Clio 182 in Inferno; as production was nearing its end you could only get them in Arctic Blue, Black Gold, or Titanium Silver – go figure!

Another option I decided I must have, despite its relative scarcity was the Recaro Seat Pack. Introduced late on in the production run of the Clio 182, it added Recaro Trendline front sports seats, which apparently were a great improvement from the standard seats. I knew I had to have them as the seating position was the only minor irritation of the car, you felt as if you were sitting on them rather than in them.

I started ringing garages left right and centre looking for that elusive spec, until I finally tracked one down to a garage in Chelmsford. It was a demonstrator with 3500 miles on the clock up for £12,250. While pondering this, I heard of another Clio exactly the same but a lot nearer to me in Leicester. Brand new in the showroom priced at £13,000. I drove out there the same day to have a look.

The colour looked a little dull in the showroom, but I knew this was the right car for me. The seats were fantastic, and the level of standard kit was extremely generous for such a car. Xenon lights, leather interior, climate control, trip computer, auto lights, auto wipers, the list goes on. Everything you could possibly want.

On 14th July 2005 I put down a £200 deposit for the car. Unfortunately, due to personal circumstances, I had an agonising 3 month wait till I could get the car, but on Wednesday 19th October I was off to get it. Renault Leicester were extremely good with the sale and besides a few niggles everything went smoothly. The drive back was memorable, it was dark and raining, and I took it easy as the car only had 9 miles on it.

The next day the sun was shining and I got the first glimpse of the paint in the sun, it looked terrific. I was overjoyed that I had held out for the colour, and managed to find one with those special seats. I have only just found out that it is one of only eight cars ever produced in that colour with them in. The first big trip in the Clio involved driving down from Nottingham, to Norfolk, for Christmas with family. It was very entertaining driving around in the snow and the ESP managed to save me when I got slightly out of shape.

I am an active member of Pistonheads, the motoring forum, and decided to go to a large car meet near London on 5th February 2006. As I left on that early Sunday morning, I went to pick my friend up for the journey. Waiting in a side road to pull out, disaster struck. An idiotic woman decided that she could get into my road before another car coming the other way reached her, then when she decided she couldn’t do it in time, stopped, in the middle of his path. This caused him to slam his brakes on and swerve, avoiding her £600 escort and slamming into the front of my pride and joy. I couldn’t believe it, the damage was only cosmetic, but it was un-driveable due to the radiator leaking. I managed to get all of the insurance details required, and phoned my insurance company to deal with it. Having paid over two thousand pounds for ten months of cover, I was anxious (to say the least) that it would sky rocket as a result of this claim.

“Luckily” (copyright Simon Rockman) I managed to find an accident consultant that didn’t involve my insurance co. and simply went through the third party’s. Eventually, in what seemed like poetic justice, both I and the person who hit me claimed from the woman’s policy. I was without my car for 3 weeks, and I was dreading it coming back to me in a condition that was sub-par. Thankfully it was cracking; I couldn’t believe that the repair was that good.

For those of you with knowledge of the car may have noticed that I said I originally wanted a red car. Why not the fabled Clio Trophy? It came out just as I was looking for a car and was available in red, so why didn’t I go for one? (e.g. see Bunta’s one here) It also came with the seats I was after, but I looked at one, and realised they were based on the Cup model, which deleted the options such as climate control, xenon lights, and auto wipers. This coupled to the fact that the orange colour had grown on me, and I preferred the wheels on the standard 182 meant that it wasn’t for me. I also didn’t find that much of a benefit of the Sachs dampers on the Trophy.

Future updates will include my forever memorable trip to Le Mans and going on a London Tunnel Run, but for now, that’s how I came to own my Clio Sport.

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