Time for a relevation: there was only 1 Acid safety car

[David T]

The last photo in Kett's sequence is posted on the Renaultsport website in their track days gallery - Bedford July 04, so one of it's earliest duties and more than likely pre decal livery era.

Someone had previously referred to one or both Acids as 'press cars' which reminded me of the Autocar article dated 17/05/05. This features HT 04 JWF with no decals, top windscreen 'Clio Reanault Sport V6 255' banner or sign of any road tax! Probably most Acid and LY owners would swear that the car used is a LY shade not an Acid. There's no clear side shot to prove absolutely that it has Acid pods rather than silver. There's a part front, part side shot that suggests it might be more Acid than silver, so I guess it must be an Acid. But why no tax for a Renault UK car? Perhaps as it was 12 months on from first registartion it had just run out. Anyway the article and photography would probably have had to have been done a week or so before publication date. The last previous sighting of the silver decal car (if it was this car was at Donington on 09/04/05.)

Performance GTi magazine also used HT 04 JWF to go to the GTi International at Magny Cours in 2005. I'm not exactly sure what the date for that was (possibly 4th - 7th July) but the article was in the Sept/Oct 2005 magazine. Again no decals or top windscreen banner. So perhaps HT 04 JWF was more press car than Safety Car.

 

[Kett]

I guess this has been done / asked in the past - but has no one asked Jeremy Townsend to shed any light on all of this?

Regards, Steve.

I think we tried to tackle Jeremy about the missing plaques 3 years ago and only got informed there were 2 acid media cars...

If track days invalidate a car's warranty, Renault UK may have been slightly embarrassed by it.

They obviously went to some trouble to disguise it (covered number plates and ID plaque removal)
HT04UVR was even sent by Renault UK to a motor auction, rather than sold through a franchised dealer.
Hence I bought it through an independent performance car dealer.

 

[k1ano]

And do you ultimately think that is why yours had no plaque then Kett - to blur it's id ?

I suppose looking back though it is a different kind of heritage for the car which is good to finally pin down ...

Martin

 

[Kett]

The last photo in Kett's sequence is posted on the Renaultsport website in their track days gallery - Bedford July 04, so one of it's earliest duties and more than likely pre decal livery era...

So perhaps HT 04 JWF was more press car than Safety Car.

Thanks Fella, much appreciated info on that picture.

There was never any evidence that JWF was a safety car, it was always an assumption.
Turns out it was the wrong assumption.

 

[Kett]

And do you ultimately think that is why yours had no plaque then Kett - to blur it's id ?

I suppose looking back though it is a different kind of heritage for the car which is good to finally pin down ...

Martin

Yes, defo.

 

[Jamesv6]

Oddly one car has a co pilot mirror and the other doesn't. Just one of those things I suppose.

 

[Kett]

Oddly one car has a co pilot mirror and the other doesn't. Just one of those things I suppose.

The unusually high passenger headrest position follows the chronological sequence of the photos too.
There's a pre-silver livery photo showing UVR on Flickr if you search "clio v6 pace car" with the headrest low.

The taller co pilot in the passenger seat must have raised it after the opening race weekend, he must have ditched the mirror at pretty much the same time!

I feel like a stalker :s but am relieved/happy that this mystery has cleared. Literally, without that recent photo you posted up and my recent shoulder injury (ie I'm bored at home) - this jigsaw would have remained uncompleted - probably for eternity. Thanks again.
[smilie=thanksgif.gif]

 

[RUSSO]

Well done Kett, nice read up this
Loved reading up day by day.
Are you happy now about the origins of your acid? Or is there more?

 

[Kett]

Well done Kett, nice read up this
Loved reading up day by day.
Are you happy now about the origins of your acid? Or is there more?

Yes, very happy. ::

I'm semi-glad that JWF isn't around to be discredited.

 

[tapias]

Damn, its come back to haunt me, again! [smilie=icon_cry.gif]

Its no discredit or credit imo weather or not mine was used on a track, if I still had it I would feel better in fact if it could be proved it was not used as a safety car which means its main purpose was for PR stuff only. Still there is no concrete evidence either way from what I have read.

Hopefully this summer ill be back with summit I actually want to drive!!

My old vee has most likely been completly repaired now and back on the tarmac, back in September it only required a few parts to finish it, it was being repaired in Hungary.

 

[Kett]

Damn, its come back to haunt me, again! [smilie=icon_cry.gif]...

Still there is no concrete evidence either way from what I have read.

Don't you just love it when you spend years solving a mystery and then somebody tries to rubbish your work.

Here's the summary:

This is the compelling circumstantial evidence:

We know from numberplate photos that UVR was the black-decal car at WSR Sept 05.
We can see that the passenger head-rest is set unusually high at that point.
We can see that a non-decal (ie stripped) acid featured at FOS June 2005 with a passenger head-rest set unusually high. June was when the new tax disc was due.
Donington April 05 the silver-decal car featured, with a low passenger head-rest position and tax disc in different location.
Pre-donington April 05 is a numberplate photo of UVR with a low passenger head-rest position stating that it's going to become a "pace car".

The photographic evidence is that the BTCC windscreen sticker clearly intersects the black sun-strip at the exactly the same position in all guises.

Hope you're well fella! :approve:

 

[k1ano]

It is all circumstantial Kett but sometimes that can gain a conviction - all depends on the jury ...

You would have to agree, the head-rest position is potentially inadmissable, but it does add some weight to the other details.

Have you been able to take the highest res images of each picture and identify any other factors such as stone chips, alignments etc. ?

Martin

 

[Kett]

Have you been able to take the highest res images of each picture and identify any other factors such as stone chips, alignments etc. ?

Hi Martin,

We've been looking quite hard for chronological inconsistencies - and have found none.

The unchanged position of the BTCC sticker is sufficient evidence on it's own.

I feel it's up to someone to prove that JWF was a safety car now. There has never been any evidence that it was, so I won't be waiting up.

 

[stevev6]

If you took a case to court with that evidence, it would be thrown out! :rofl:

Steve.

 

[Kett]

If you took a case to court with that evidence, it would be thrown out! :rofl:

Steve.

The photographic evidence of the randomly stuck sticker BTCC is there for all to scrutinise; the dates of livery change correspond with the event dates.

The bizarre thing is that you must think JWF was a safety car beyond reasonable doubt. There is zero evidence that JWF ever was a safety car. It might have been "assumed to be" because of the different tax disc position - the rational reason for it being moved has explained earlier in the thread.

Look at the BTCC sticker and judge for yourselves:

April 2005 Donington

June 2005 FOS

Sept 2005 WSR

 

[Jamesv6]

July 2005

Needs a tax disc.

 

[tapias]

This is funny, what springs to mind is Daffyd from little britain :rofl:

 

[Kett]

Damn, its come back to haunt me, again! [smilie=icon_cry.gif]...

Still there is no concrete evidence either way from what I have read.

Don't you just love it when you spend years solving a mystery and then somebody tries to rubbish your work.

Here's the summary:

This is the compelling circumstantial evidence:

We know from numberplate photos that UVR was the black-decal car at WSR Sept 05.
We can see that the passenger head-rest is set unusually high at that point.
We can see that a non-decal (ie stripped) acid featured at FOS June 2005 with a passenger head-rest set unusually high. June was when the new tax disc was due.
Donington April 05 the silver-decal car featured, with a low passenger head-rest position and tax disc in different location.
Pre-donington April 05 is a numberplate photo of UVR with a low passenger head-rest position stating that it's going to become a "pace car".

The photographic evidence is that the BTCC windscreen sticker clearly intersects the black sun-strip at the exactly the same position in all guises.

Hope you're well fella! :approve:

Sorry to resurrect an ancient thread - but I've found a photo of the UVR number plate at FOS 2005.
Prior to this - I had been using the tax disc position to confirm the identity.
LINK