Wanted Renault 11 Turbo, 3 Door

[Alby1310]

Hi,
I've joined the forum both because it looks like a great forum and because I want to buy a Renault 11 Turbo (3 door). Problem is I'm in Melbourne Australia and these cars were never sold here, so hoping there's one in the UK that will make sense to bring over for a project I want to do.
I need a car with as good a body as possible, especially as little rust or accident damage as possible. The mechanicals don't really matter as most of these can be sourced here or reasonably overseas. In fact, it wouldn't matter if say the engine and gearbox were missing as long as the car is on wheels, can roll, is a good shell and has most of its interior trim.
On the other hand, if a complete, good car is available at reasonable cost, I can certainly consider that as well.
I'm in no rush so if someone might have something suitable coming up in the next 3 to 6 months, that would be fine as well.
Hope that all makes sense.
Cheers, Alby

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Hi,
I've joined the forum both because it looks like a great forum and because I want to buy a Renault 11 Turbo (3 door). Problem is I'm in Melbourne Australia and these cars were never sold here, so hoping there's one in the UK that will make sense to bring over for a project I want to do.
I need a car with as good a body as possible, especially as little rust or accident damage as possible. The mechanicals don't really matter as most of these can be sourced here or reasonably overseas. In fact, it wouldn't matter if say the engine and gearbox were missing as long as the car is on wheels, can roll, is a good shell and has most of its interior trim.
On the other hand, if a complete, good car is available at reasonable cost, I can certainly consider that as well.
I'm in no rush so if someone might have something suitable coming up in the next 3 to 6 months, that would be fine as well.
Hope that all makes sense.
Cheers, Alby

Hi @Alby1310 and Welcome to TurboRenault.co.uk!!

You may have already stumbled upon my R11 Turbo Restoration Thread on this website? If not have a click HERE :bt:

I think your best bet is to try & buy a good condition /restored R11 Turbo right from the off.. Getting new/replacement parts (as I've found out with my restoration) is a complete nightmare... It's all the silly little clips/gromits & trim that you need that will kill you trying to restore something..

 

[Alby1310]

Hey Big-Steve,
Yes, I found that thread and read it with fascination. I'm a big admirer of your work and can only sympathise with some of the trials and tribulations you've gone through when trying to get others to do some of the work.
I agree with your comments. I've restored a few cars and built quite a few rally / race cars pretty much from scratch (- best was an A310 Alpine with 240 hp 3.0 L motor all setup for tarmac rallies). So, I've sometimes learnt the hard way how its the little hard to get things that kill you.
In this case there are two reasons why I detailed the choices I might be comfortable with. Firstly, because the project is to build it up as a Tarmac rally car in the original factory colours. So, complete originality is not the aim. Secondly, I've been looking for a little while and 11 Turbos in any condition don't seem to come up for sale that often so I figured I can't be too choosy.
On top of those reasons, importing one to Australia is quite costly and many of the costs are proportional to the price paid. It can all get very expensive very easily and the car will never be worth that much here. Few people here have ever heard of them!
So, I'll approach any possibility with an open mind and try to balance up the various considerations. Lol
PS, will look forward to seeing yours when finished!

 

[DaveL485]

Hello! Where are you based? I sent a Renault 21 Quadra out to QLD a few years ago. I believe it's the only one in the country Finding a solid 11 Turbo...well, thats a big ask already let alone getting it halfway around the world. I know where there is a good 5-door original 11 Turbo, that might be negotiated for, the only 3-door I know of right now is around £1500 and in below-average condition. It's been for sale for a LONG time.

 

[Alby1310]

Hey Dave, thanks for your response. I haven't seen that 21 Quadra but I also understand there's only one in the country so that would be it.
I'm in Melbourne, have owned lots of Renaults, sprinted or rallied a few. Always wanted an 11 turbo so now I'm winding down to retirement seems the ideal time to finally get one. Thanks for the suggestion about the 5 door, but have my heart set on a 3 door , even if it doesn't make as much sense, haha.
Yeah, I know getting a solid one is a big ask. Hence my flexibility in what I'll consider. Like many I do most of my own mechanical work but hate body work. Also, there are no body panels available here which is also limiting.
However, I'll look at anything and have done lots of online searches but have never found the 3 door you referred to. Can you put me on the right track to see it properly? It's obviously not good value from what you've said, but do you know what's actually wrong with it? Or maybe its just generally run down all over?
Anyway, I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post. If you can add to that I'll follow that car up just to see whether it might fit.
Cheers

 

[Brigsy]

The red one is scrap. Try Mike at gt turbo spares i think he has a couple that might fit the bill..i think he has adeys old 3 door 11t ph2

 

[Alby1310]

Thanks Brigsy. I have just taken your advice & emailed Mike, so hopefully that will get me on a reasonable track. Cheers

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

@Big Steve - Raider wonders if his 11 Turbo Pain in the Ass would fit in a container.... :dg:

 

[Alby1310]

Hey Big Steve, don't give up on it because of a bad patch. You've put far too much blood, sweat & tears into it!

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Hey Big Steve, don't give up on it because of a bad patch. You've put far too much blood, sweat & tears into it!

Generic "Like" button pressed at this remark!

Thanks for the morale boose @Alby1310

IU'm just in the process of updating this thread if you've not seen it...

 

[Alby1310]

Hey Steve, thanks for that link as I hadn't seen it.
Mind you, a bit depressing as there's so few of them left. Always puzzles me how some really excellent cars (like 11 Turbos) fall out of favour and into a sort of lost orphan status, yet other, not necessarily as good cars become popular & increase in value & status. I always seem to love the lost orphans, lol

 

[JonnyGee]

Just as a possibility I will be selling my 11 soon as need to concentrate on my 5
3 door in red and was moted up until September and would go through another

 

[Alby1310]

Hey JonnyGee, thanks for this message. However, I have just agreed the purchase of another car and sent the deposit. Unless the deal falls though at some stage I guess I'm no longer in the market for an 11 Turbo.
As soon as things are finalised & the car is on its way here I'll put the details up on here. Similarly, If it happens to fall through ( which I'm not expecting) I'll certainly be in touch.
Thanks again, Alby

 

[DaveL485]

Interesting!

When I sent the 21 over I was tracking the ship across the world, theres a great website for it!

 

[Adey]

please don't say you got the red one above in the thread @Alby1310 all the luck in the world if you did

 

[Alby1310]

One of the things I find frustrating is following an interesting thread but never finding out how it all ended - did he get the car, did any of the suggested fixes work, etc, etc???
So, in the interests of not contributing to one of those threads, here is the conclusion of my search for an 11 Turbo. I also want to take the opportunity of thanking many of you that came forward with suggestions, information or just encouragement. That was all great thank you.
Firstly, the car I "bought" fell through - owner changed his mind. I then went a long way down the road of trying to buy another 11 Turbo from the UK. At first it looked very promising, but as we went into the details a few issues started cropping up. As of a few days ago, this one is now also a no go.
That means after 2.5 months I'm back where I started. I'm also going on a months holiday tomorrow and hated the idea of coming back at end September and starting all over again.
So yesterday I drove up to the place where the only Renault 11 in Australia resides and bought it. Unfortunately its not a 3 door turbo but a white, 5 door TXE, 1985 model. It's completely standard and in excellent condition and has the advantage of the earlier headlights which I love. Pity about too many doors, gutless engine & wallowy handling, ha ha. But that all inspires me to rebuild it as a 5 door turbo!!
So the plan for the next 12 months is to fix the handling, get some decent wheels, improve the brakes, efi the engine, and then either replace the engine with a turbo one or rebuild the current engine to improved turbo specs. Should keep me enthused & off the streets for a while.
By the way, if anyone reading this has a reasonably good & complete 11 turbo or 5 GTT engine they'd like to sell by shipping it to Australia, let me know & as soon as I get back we'll see if we can arrange it
That's it for now. Thanks again for the great forum & the support I got.
Cheers
Alby

 

[Adey]

im sure they did sell the 4 door turbo on the continent engine and parts swap will be the same as almost all of them. Are you sure you want to go down the c1j route though? your now at the point where you could put anything in there. 172 engine.... possibly with a turbo on too to keep up with the ute's? good work on the find though

 

[Alby1310]

Thanks Adey, yeah, both 4 door and 5 door turbos were sold in some left hand drive markets, so its certainly all possible. A few small issues such as the different rear guards which limit wheel sizes a fair bit. But where there's a will, there's usually a way!
I've thought hard about the engine options and come down firmly on wanting to stick with the c1j. Not even completely sure why except that I've had a lot of pleasure from "improving" older engines in the past. My last big renault related project was an Alpine A310 4 cylinder (with the 1.6 alloy engine). I took the engine out to a full 2 litres, added programmable efi & independent throttle bodies. I loved that engine & think I just really want to do something similar again.

 

[Adey]

know that feeling, i took the c6j out of my old le car 2 turbo, cammed and rebuilt with individual throttle bodies, chargecooler and full standalone efi looking forward to see what you do with this one, keep us updated

 

[Alby1310]

Will do Adey