Road Test Of The Ds19

[DerekW]

I used to be an avid reader and collector of motoring magazines and by the time I was sent to Aden in 1965 I had a huge pile of Motors and Autocars. Being loath to throw them away and unable to store them I gutted them of all the bits that were interesting to me.

I ended up with a pile of pages about three inches high which I was able to pursuade a relative to keep for me.

I had a quick glance through them this evening and found a copy of the road test on the DS19 published in "The Motor" dated December 5th 1956.

I don't know if it's possible, or permitted by our esteemed administrator Noz, but if there is sufficient interest I would like to copy it across to the forum. It runs to four pages and possibly could be copied across to photobucket and thence to the forum.

Any interest, or should I just put it back in the cupboard?

Derek

[noz]

Hi Derek,

Just hit the browse button when you post and attach a (scanned) copy to your post. It will appear on the screen as a downloadable attachment.

(There's a limit of 1.46mB though )

cheers

noz

[jorgy9]

That would be most interesting, go on Derek!

This French guy here has done an amazing effort of collecting road tests for his R25/Safrane club:

http://www.r25-safrane.com/ (under "Essais & Documentations")

I found a few comparative tests with CXs and XMs, 605s etc overthere. Perhaps we could have a similar thread to this forum that will fill up with the member's efforts? I have 3-4 old UK mags featuring the XM that I could scan.

cheers
George

[jorgy9]

ps. I also think a "members' cars" section would be a worthwhile addition -is there enough space available though for fotos?-

cheers
G

[demag]

I nearly bought a R25 once. I still have softspot for them. It was a silver 2.0L auto.
The motor was a bit tappety and it looked like it had been a bit hot. But it was coming at the right price and apart from the above it looked ok. I agreed a price and on the day of the pickup the dealer told me he couldn't get reverse and the car had gone to a specialist. Well the time dragged on and the part had to be ordered from France and there were endless delays. In the end I left it and bought a Rover 800. BIG mistake! What a nail! I wish I'd have hung on for the Reno now.

[Jan-hendrik]

Since this is anything goes . . .
Nearly an R25, writes demag. In the 1960s a mate of a mate drove a Renault Fregate. These cars were dirt cheap then and so were the Traction Avants. I then dreamed of ever owning one. The dream came true in the early 1990s when I imported a beat-up 1953 Traction Normale (11B). Spent almost 2 years restoring it to showroom condition. When the job was completed I was deflated and sold it to a collector

[Jan-hendrik]

Since this is anything goes . . .
Nearly an R25, writes demag. In the 1960s a mate of a mate drove a Renault Fregate. These cars were dirt cheap then and so were the Traction Avants. I then dreamed of ever owning one. The dream came true in the early 1990s when I imported a beat-up 1953 Traction Normale (11B). Spent almost 2 years restoring it to showroom condition. When the job was completed I was deflated and sold it to a collector

[jorgy9]

Hehe! Nice card...! Greeting to you as well (and ur nice family)

G

[jorgy9]

Re the R25: from what I read in those tests and from users in forums, it is a safe but outdated drive by modern standards handling-wise, even the Turbos (which are fast but an old-style turbo, huge lag). Comfort-wise, it is good.

Personally, I don't know, but the interior of those big Renaults (25 & Safrane) does me something. If you see a nicely maintened Baccara or so version, it goes close to the definition of "luxury" for my tastes. And I happen to be intrigued by those brown-ish interior shades. Veeeeery 80's all this, I know, but they do something for me. The Safrane is probably my favorite dash of all times -if only the exterior was not so blunt-. The S1 XM's dash, I love for totally different reasons (minimal, edgy, streamlined, even "aggressive", for me) -those two just evoque so different feelings, and you need both-. I think I'd get visually too pampered driving a Safrane everyday though. Ah! the other favorite dash/interior is the Thema 8.32. I hope I own one sometime in my life.

cheers
George