Grampa's Garage Hero

The garage restored Renault 5 with a beefed-up beating heart and plenty of botox.

I'll be honest, when it comes to cars there a very few things that bring me more joy than seeing 'resto-mods'. The icons and daily hero's of yester-year brought back from the brink of demise with a whole new lease of life and peppy go get-em attitude in the modern world. They're charming, fun and filled with the character that defined by gone era's. You know, the times your Dad or Grandad would describe as the 'Good ol' days'.

The problem is that many of these projects start and ultimately never end up getting their tyres to the tarmac. Those high hopes dashed by curve balls presented by the un-predictable mistress called life. Change in financial circumstance, change in relationship status, a firstborn on the way, or even another pandemic... all of these ever changing possibilities loom over your weekend restoration plans.

Jordan however, has managed to transform his stunning 1995 Renault 5 Campus in just 12 months. Something he gleefully describes as a massive learning experience having never done anything like this before and that the majority of the work took place in none other than his grandfather's garage.

How Jordan came to own the Renault 5 is a slightly more tear-jerking explanation:

"I've owned the car exactly 3 years this month and it came into my possession through a trade. It was relatively incomplete and the fella was very ill with cancer and wanted a fast car to enjoy the remainder of his time, so I traded my MK1 S3 for it".

A poignant exchange of car keys saw Jordan swap the 1.8l turbo-charged German lump for a humble 1.4l naturally aspirated French variant. This significant reduction in grunt has been addressed with a 2.0l 16v transplant taking place.

Was this the end for the power output? Absolutely not as Ronal turbos have been fitted alongside a fully custom exhaust and manifold, induction kit, and radiator setup to keep the beefed-up internals nice and cool.

Yet with additional power in a lightweight 90's hatchback, careful considerations need to be made to ensure all four wheels remain planted when your right foot falls heavy. For this, Jordan has dropped the Renault 5 on coil overs, and has converted the rear axle to feature disc brakes, whilst upgrading all remaining discs and callipers.

"My favourite feature of the car has to be the lack of driver assists. It's just 3 pedals and a steering wheel. The lack of assists make the driving experience so much more enjoyable."

So with all of this additional hardware under the skin of the Campus trim, it would be criminal to not dust the exterior with the same invigorating brush. Jordan has kept the exterior simple, tidy, yet sporty by adding the full GTT kit with Imola front bumper, a full respray, and a really neat bonnet bulge, to help set pulses racing.

This sporty feel is then transported into the cabin where we can find full custom leather work, a Sparco steering wheel and trusty Recaro seats from a Rover 800. It really is a 90's hot hatch with modern flare.

"The car exterior and interior are pretty much done but I want to put ITB's on the car - not for the extra power but for the noise."

For those of you wondering about ITB's this stands for Individual Throttle Bodies; designed to improve air flow and throttle response. Whilst relatively uncommon today, they typically featured on cars from the 80's and 90's in an effort to maintain a nimble driving feel. If you're thinking about adding them to your boosted build advance with caution - running ITB's makes it far harder for any tuning so it's definitely worth doing your homework beforehand.

With Jordan's can-do, positive attitude I'm sure he will find a way to make these work to good effect. As it stands, any challenges that have been thrown up during the restoration have been swiftly despatched.

"A lot of the challenges of the car have been mechanical. The head gasket had gone when I got the new engine and then the crank pulley bolt went, causing it to smash all the valves. Head off again and sent away to be skimmed and have the valves replaced before back on the car she went. Wiring was also another issue trying to get the original 8 wires on the car to work with the new 36".

Despite all of this Jordan remains humble with his accomplishments and confesses that...

"I'm by no means mechanical but I'm good with my hands. Being able to build it myself has made me so proud to drive it and that for me is a massive success".

Investing time into anything adds to the pride of the final outcome. For cars, seeing another piece of automotive history grace the roads with a modern updated twist is a real pleasure. Sadly, it's something that's slowly dying.

As I write this I'm on Renault's website staring at something called the ' Renault 5'. A soulless, plastic looking electric hatch featuring two measly power trains - a 120hp or 150hp variant. Unfortunately this is the new trend for the big manufacturers. Take a beloved classic marque, rebrand it as an EV or SUV, and wait for the sales from the unassuming general public to roll-in. Owning a car with charisma and charm is just no longer desirable hence why it's so important to enjoy these moments why we still can:

"The best memory I've had with the 5 has to be during the summer of 2024. I had just got the head gasket back from the shop on the Friday night and then rebuilt the car and timed it up on Saturday morning, to drive it 2 hours to the Midlands for a weekend with the boys. When I arrived having told them I might not make it, everyone was amazed when I arrived in one piece!"

Would you get that level of admiration from a boring EV emitting lifeless qualities... no... no you wouldn't. You only get that from a car with charm, brought back from the brink of death and filled with the spirit of owners past and present.

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