Renault Twingo 1.2 Liberty Mk1
Owned by me for the last three years, my unusual 1998 Renault Twingo 1.2 Mk1 is reluctantly now for sale. Its been brilliant fun, ultra-reliable and gets more attention than any of the more exotic cars I own.
I bought this in May 2022 from a nice chap called Chris who in 2020, had personally travelled to Berlin and imported this back to the UK. Its now covered an indicated 136087 kilometres (around 85000 miles) and is in generally good condition. Its been regularly since then and has travelled all over Scotland and the North East, always reliably and with its passengers always in complete comfort as its way bigger inside than you might think.
I’m not going to bang on about how good these are to drive and own (just check out the rave reviews on the internet) but this is just lovely. Its not fast, its ok on petrol (I run it on Super Unleaded by the way) but its comfortable and ridiculously practical.
This is the ‘Liberty’ special edition and has electric windows and mirrors, twin airbags, power steering and air conditioning (which is weak at best). Best of all though is the huge folding sunroof which transforms the feel of the car. It has central locking which doesn’t work properly as one of the keys has stopped working. It still has its original Renault radio/CD player complete with remote controls (near the steering wheel). There is some wear to the bolster on the drivers seat but the rest of the interior is smart and clean. The dashboard top has had a previous issue with the paint peeling off it: its been tidied up but its far from perfect.
Bodywork is pretty good with no obvious dents or scratches. There is some light corrosion to the bottoms of the front wings which has been repaired at some point time over the years and will need doing so again soon. The rear of the sills has been patch welded on both sides and while these look cosmetically less than brilliant, they are reasonably solid. I had intended to one day repair them properly but never got round to it. There are a couple of areas underneath that have had minor welded repairs buts its all pretty solid.
Mechanically its all good: its been serviced quite recently with new oil and filters and under my ownership, its had a new battery, new spark plugs and leads, a new gearbox speed sensor, new front wheel bearing and lower front ball joints and a new rear exhaust section. I don’t think any single part cost more than about £30 – these are cheap to run and maintain and everything is available. The engine is surprisingly sweet and smooth with a lovely gearbox and clutch while the brakes are just as they should be. The tyres are Toyos all round though the fronts will need replacing soon. The aftermarket alloys are showing some wear with lacquer damage and could do with a refurb.
It starts first time every time, runs beautifully and has been lovely to own. Its worth bearing in mind though that its getting on for 27 years old and will need constant maintenance. Its MOT tested until March 2026 and can be used and enjoyed straight away. I have two keys along with the original Owner’s Handbook Pack (in French and German) and a small collection of receipts and paperwork. Just to cover a couple of the ‘obvious’ points: yes its left hand drive and yes, the speedometer is in kilometres. There is a Youtube video of me showing you around this car, in particular, pointing out the ‘bad’ bits and that is well worth watching. Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/Uy1QRB-t7eU
I have a rough idea of an asking price: very simply the best offer over £2500 takes it. If it doesn’t make that (and it should given that Twingo prices are only going one way), I’ll keep it.
I bought this in May 2022 from a nice chap called Chris who in 2020, had personally travelled to Berlin and imported this back to the UK. Its now covered an indicated 136087 kilometres (around 85000 miles) and is in generally good condition. Its been regularly since then and has travelled all over Scotland and the North East, always reliably and with its passengers always in complete comfort as its way bigger inside than you might think.
I’m not going to bang on about how good these are to drive and own (just check out the rave reviews on the internet) but this is just lovely. Its not fast, its ok on petrol (I run it on Super Unleaded by the way) but its comfortable and ridiculously practical.
This is the ‘Liberty’ special edition and has electric windows and mirrors, twin airbags, power steering and air conditioning (which is weak at best). Best of all though is the huge folding sunroof which transforms the feel of the car. It has central locking which doesn’t work properly as one of the keys has stopped working. It still has its original Renault radio/CD player complete with remote controls (near the steering wheel). There is some wear to the bolster on the drivers seat but the rest of the interior is smart and clean. The dashboard top has had a previous issue with the paint peeling off it: its been tidied up but its far from perfect.
Bodywork is pretty good with no obvious dents or scratches. There is some light corrosion to the bottoms of the front wings which has been repaired at some point time over the years and will need doing so again soon. The rear of the sills has been patch welded on both sides and while these look cosmetically less than brilliant, they are reasonably solid. I had intended to one day repair them properly but never got round to it. There are a couple of areas underneath that have had minor welded repairs buts its all pretty solid.
Mechanically its all good: its been serviced quite recently with new oil and filters and under my ownership, its had a new battery, new spark plugs and leads, a new gearbox speed sensor, new front wheel bearing and lower front ball joints and a new rear exhaust section. I don’t think any single part cost more than about £30 – these are cheap to run and maintain and everything is available. The engine is surprisingly sweet and smooth with a lovely gearbox and clutch while the brakes are just as they should be. The tyres are Toyos all round though the fronts will need replacing soon. The aftermarket alloys are showing some wear with lacquer damage and could do with a refurb.
It starts first time every time, runs beautifully and has been lovely to own. Its worth bearing in mind though that its getting on for 27 years old and will need constant maintenance. Its MOT tested until March 2026 and can be used and enjoyed straight away. I have two keys along with the original Owner’s Handbook Pack (in French and German) and a small collection of receipts and paperwork. Just to cover a couple of the ‘obvious’ points: yes its left hand drive and yes, the speedometer is in kilometres. There is a Youtube video of me showing you around this car, in particular, pointing out the ‘bad’ bits and that is well worth watching. Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/Uy1QRB-t7eU
I have a rough idea of an asking price: very simply the best offer over £2500 takes it. If it doesn’t make that (and it should given that Twingo prices are only going one way), I’ll keep it.
