Very early 60s R4 van and early cars

[Liam4R4SPARES]

Approx 3 year ago i was given a tip off of a very early R4 van of 1963 vintage unused and sat in the yard of a garage .After a bit of phoning around i traced i to a small garage in Revesby ,Lincolnshire .I spoke to the garage owner who informed me that it was owned by a lady who lived oversea's and it had sentimental value and she refused to sell it but just left it rotting.The garage owner said it was a pain sat in the yard and to keep in touch every so often just in case things should change ! i did for a while and then left a gap of approx 16 months and during this time she had collected it .Question is does anyone know of or seen such a van ? would love something like this and i do find that cars of that age rarely disappear for good they seem to bob up again and most likely on Ebay.

What is the earliest R4 van or pick up in the U.K ? i did meet a guy at a Renault owners club meet that had a very early 62 R4 saloon that he was going to restore.

 

[Simon.AU]

It'll be interesting to see how many other old vans have survived, surely its colonial cousin (my 1963 R2104) can't be the only RHD one.

As for the 1962 R4, there was one featured in an old ROC magazine about 10-12 years ago, it was restored using a new chassis.

 

[Liam4R4SPARES]

I did have a powder blue 62 R4 with the 750cc engine and that had only covered 15000 miles from new. After using it as a daily car for a year and having it featured in' Classic and sportscar 'I sold it about 4 years ago and it has a new enthusiatic owner .I did break two pre 65 R4s a few years ago but both of these were beyond help.One was a van and these can be viewed on the Renault classic car club site.
I love the early car but the engines and gearboxes are just so slow .The GTL R4 has always been the best in driving but does lack a certain amount of charm in looks .

 

[Simon.AU]

I love the early car but the engines and gearboxes are just so slow .The GTL R4 has always been the best in driving but does lack a certain amount of charm in looks .

Ah, so 585 EPX was your car. It looked a lovely little jigger in the pics!

As for the early cars being slow, I've found they are not too bad (845cc, three speed), with an engine balance it can just tip over 80mph before valve bounce sets in. On one interstate trip it did become a bit of a mobile chicane though, down hills it would slow down the freight trucks on the highway, up hills I could pull past them. In the van we did a 500 mile trip to Melbourne in the same time as a Lexus. Just that the Lexus always seemed to be stopping, but I didn't think 8.25 hours was too bad. I didn't ask the passenger what they thought. :-)

I guess not having driven an 1100 GTL though my point of reference could be tainted!!