Renault 1929 RY1 Monasix

4 minute(s) of a 217 minute read

As I mentioned at the end of my post a week ago, I work (on the Renault) solo 99.9% of the time. Thinking about this, it has nothing to do with my personal hygiene or that I live on some remote island, quite simply I am working on what must be the most ignored and or disparaged of all pre 1940s cars.

When working on what must have been one of the ten rarest cars in the world, The Dixie Flyer, I had regular visits from interested people and it created comment from people all around the world.

By contrast the Renault if we are to believe our French friends, is one of the greatest Marques anywhere and yet of the thousands of Monasix built, the Renault d'Avant Guerre forum can only identify less than 20 of this model surviving and of those the vast majority have never left France.

But the sad part is that it would seem that while my car is the sole surviving example of the RY1 model in Australia, no one here is really interested. As the English motoring magazine "Autocar" stated in a contemporary (1930) article; "Renault differs essentially to any other car."

To say that in their design and construction they are idiosyncratic is an understatement in the extreme and yet ask the majority of old car enthusiasts and they will tell you "Oh! Renaults, they are so boring!" Even the members of the English, Renault Freres club, while passionate about the pre WW1 models, they would not cross the road to look at a 1920s example. Worse still this attitude is contagious, at times, such as the present, I find myself thinking "Why am I doing this?" Can it be true, rareity in itself is not necessarily a virtue. And yet I find it difficult to think of any other car that has so many unconventional design elements. Perhaps rather than "boring" they should be described as "frightening!".

Bj

8-27-2015

Just thinking about the venue for next years RAG Forum Annual Meeting makes it worth carrying on.

Say Buddy, can you spare a dime?

http://www.les-renault-d-avant-guerre.com/t6648-Programme-de-la-Rencontre-2016.htm

Meanwhile work on the body IS progressing with the two large sheets of aluminium being cut up into ever smaller pieces.

It was a chilly 10-12 degrees C and raining yesterday with more of the same forecast for today. Being Friday it is our weekly shopping day so not too much time left for Renault activities, perhaps I will get the top of the tail section cut out this afternoon. I think that I will need to anneal the edges where some tight folds are required. Either that or the (one) door skin which is a fairly straight forward job and is more or less self contained.

Bj

8-31-2015

The work on the body continues to progress. Tomorrow's task is to cut the hole in the top of the scuttle to accommodate the combined cowl-vent/petrol filler cover. For anybody in the immediate vicinity, it may be advisable to wear earplugs and to look well away. I will probably hold my breath and to keep my eyes shut until this delicate operation is completed.

Bj.

As promised in yesterdays post, another tiny step forward is well on the way with the hole cut in the top of the scuttle and the original vent temporarily fitted. Time right now is exactly midday making this a good mornings work.

Bj.