Restoration 1912 Renault - Part 1

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Not that long ago we received the following message from Darryl Grey from Australia.

“Hi, In 2011 I put in a request for information about my recently acquired CB Renault. Thanks to your website I made some very valuable contacts and have found parts, made new friends and learnt a great deal, so I would like to acknowledge that help. I am pleased to report that the car is now restored and on the road. Cheers and thanks for providing such a useful site!”

But this was not everything. We got in contact with Darryl and he told us the whole story of the restoration of the 1912 Renault CB. Which we would like to share with you.

In the spring of 1912, one more CB model Renault chassis rolled off the company’s production line in Billancourt, Paris. This one attracted some additional attention, as it was a special order, being fitted with larger diameter Rudge-Whitworth steel wire-spoked wheels. It was subsequently shipped to the UK agents Tozer, Kemsley and Fisher (TKF) and then to the Canada Cycle and Motor Co. in Brisbane, Australia and thence its well-to-do owner.

From then, nothing is known of the car, its ownership or coachwork until it was purchased by a farmer in southern Victoria in the 1930’s. What he did with it initially is not clear but in his later life, he had planned to display his large collection of veteran and vintage machinery as a museum. His collection passed to family members on his death and after 70-odd years of storage, the remains of the Renault came on the market, in the Australian spring of 2011.

At this time, Darryl Grey, a regular PreWarCar reader from South Australia, was looking out for a veteran for a restoration project. His niece emailed photographs of the parts, and he then drove across and negotiated a deal. At this point the date and model of the car were unknown, but he returned with a large trailer containing most of the mechanicals of a veteran four-cylinder Renault.

Enquiries through his car clubs led him to members of the Renault Freres group in the UK and from the engine number and photos they identified it as a CB model from 1912. They were able to confirm the original TKF order details and provide copies of instruction and parts books, and contacts with surviving examples. Darryl also approached us from PreWarCar.com and through the responses he made a valuable contact in Paris which led to the original factory records, sources of parts and more contact with owners and their surviving cars.

Armed with this information, he started on the restoration by loosely assembling the parts for an inventory. The majority of the rolling chassis was present, and a few additional bits, but no coachwork, windscreen or usable mudguards. The fuel and ignition systems were missing along with the universal joints, brake rods and numerous small items.

It was apparent that at some point the engine, gearbox, differential and radiator had been separated from the chassis, wheels, steering, brakes and suspension. The latter items had been subjected to intense heat, possibly a bushfire, such that the springs were soft and misshapen, and all of the bronze bushes and brass fittings had melted or deformed, making removal difficult. Subsequent exposure of these items resulted in a liberal coating of rust and in places serious corrosion.

Over the next two years, Darryl stripped all the parts and repaired and replaced as necessary, including the chassis, steering, suspension and brakes. He undertook all the work himself or with the help of friends, apart from those welding, machining and specialist tasks (such as the re-tempering of the springs) that were beyond his equipment or experience. The wire wheels were unusable apart from the centres so he refurbished them and rebuilt the wheels with new spokes and rims from the UK.

Would you like to know how this story continues? Tomorrow you can read Part 2 of the restoration of the 1912 Renault and can you see the end result!

Photographs sent in by Darryl Grey.

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