“When other manufacturers do daft things with hatchbacks, they call them concept cars and mothball them after a couple of motor shows and press releases. When Renault caricatures a Clio's bodywork and puts a V6 where the rear seats should be, it goes into production.” – Evo magazine.
Renault have a habit of building some of the best performance cars money can buy. Penned as the successor to the wild WRC legend Renault 5 Turbo and launched at the 1998 Paris Motor Show, the monstrous Renault Sport Clio V6 was one of the most desirable cars on the planet for the new millennium.
It’s been 26 years since the Clio V6 entered production- almost three decades in which nothing has come close to matching its audacity.
A product of Renault’s competition division, Renault Sport responsible for the Sport Spider and Formula One engines that won no less than 6 manufacturers championships, the Clio V6 features a 3.0L V6 shoehorned into the middle of it that sends power to the rear wheels via a purpose built 6-speed manual gearbox and limited-slip-differential, hand-made composite ultra-wide guards that house a wider track and light-weight O.Z. alloys, huge rear-quarter air intakes, bespoke interior equipment like an aluminium shifter with perforated Alcantara and leather bucket seats plus twin stainless exhausts, bespoke sports suspension and more.
For the period, Ferrari had the Enzo and Porsche the Carrera GT. Just as exotic, rare and mesmerisingly good to drive, the Renault Sport Clio V6 became a cover story hero.
Available here is the best Renault Clio V6 Phase 2 in the country, car number 233. Travelled just 74,000 kilometres, ordered in Titanium Silver, accompanied by a large and meticulously kept history file and in out-of-the-box, totally original condition, this is the one you hope to find.
One of only 354 cars ever made in right hand drive and with just a handful arriving on our shores, released from a private collection this Phase 2 is the rarest and most desirable of the two series Renault built.
Receiving an additional 25hp over its predecessor and closer gear ratios means the 0-100km/h sprint is dispatched in just 5.2 seconds for the Phase 2 compared to 6.4 seconds in the Phase 1. A longer wheelbase, wider front-track, firmer suspension, extra 6th gear and a further re-enforced subframe also improved handling and the Phase 2’s, known for their build quality were actually built at the Renault Sport plant in Dieppe, unlike the TWR assembled Phase 1’s which, means altogether, the Phase 2 isn’t solely the rarest, it’s also the best to drive.
For this car, from the brilliant depth of finish to the paintwork across the entirety of the car so nest and tidy, the original blemish free 18-inch O.Z. Racing alloys wrapped in new Michelin Pilot Sport 4’s and factory Renault decals that decorate in the windows, to the crisp perforated Alcantara seats and contrast silver double stitching on the leather sports steering wheel with zero signs of wear, all tell-tale signs show just how well it has been maintained.
This Clio V6 is also the best documented example we’ve seen. Accompanying this car are its original log books and owner’s manuals kept in the leather Renault wallet, a large file of service, parts and registration receipts plus a collection of factory brochures and top-rank magazines featuring countless articles of the Clio V6 stealing the show during comparison tests. There’s even the factory ‘Accident Management Kit’ still with the car with its instant camera and torch still present and accounted for.
Hand built by Renault in limited numbers with even less surviving today, let alone in original condition, superbly maintained throughout with a significant history folio and what will go down in history as one of the wildest cars ever designed, this Renault Sport Clio V6 is as collectable as it is exhilarating to drive.
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