It’s the early 1990s, and the 1.8-litre Clio 16v is locked in combat for hot-hatch glory with the ageing Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9. It’s a better car by many objective criteria, but not a convincingly faster one and, in the eyes of many, the GTI still holds the crown. It took a truly special car to convincingly wrestle supremacy away from Peugeot, to really bury the old-timer and to refine the class in the process. That car was the Clio Williams.

Sold with the compelling marketing strategy of an F1 team association, the Williams was actually an homologation special in the familiar mould. It was built because RenaultSport wanted to go rallying and the class maximum displacement stood at 2.0-litres. Given this was still the era of homologation into classes A and N, Renault simply had to build 2,500 road cars to qualify although it would eventually build many more. The initial production run of the Clio Williams was limited to just 5,400 examples, of which only 390 came to the UK.

Naturally, RenaultSport did a thorough job. The suspension used a reinforced front subframe borrowed from the Clio Cup racer, plus uprated springs, dampers, rear torsion arms and thicker anti-roll bars. The track was increased by 34mm and the 7J Speedline alloys were half an inch wider than the 16v’s and distinctively gold. The gearbox was stronger, too, with revised ratios. There was just one exterior colour offered for the first generation of Williams – ‘449’ Metallic Sports Blue – and the cumulative effect of body (already blistered of arch, front, and rear, and bulging of bonnet from the 16v), paint and those golden wheels was as close to hot-hatch perfection as many felt it was possible to get. It's a small car, with a wheel pushed to the very extremity of each corner; a little shorter, slightly wider, and significantly lower than a Clio 172 or 182.

Codenamed ‘F7R’ and developed from the 16v’s 137bhp F7P unit, the new engine featured a longer stroke and bigger bore size, and benefited from a stronger crankshaft (borrowed from the diesel Clio) plus new pistons, camshafts and conrods, with bigger valves and a lightweight exhaust manifold. Output was now 148bhp at 6,100rpm and 126lb/ft at 4,500rpm, not enormous by today's standards but 85% of the torque was available from 2,500rpm and the car only weighed 981kg. 

The car presented here is a 1993 Renault Clio Williams (Phase 1), #0179, and was originally supplied though Renault Manchester on the 31st December 1993, initially wearing the private registration ‘5174 MP’ and then, in 1997, this was removed and DVLA issued the current registration of ‘L299 LCK’.

The car is accompanied by a comprehensive service history from new, with 15 stamps in its original service book, a history file with numerous receipts for parts and service work over the years, along with 15 MOT certificates. Back in 2010, ‘L299 LCK’ was taken off the road with a comprehensive restoration planned and was well stored in a dry garage until 2018 when our vendor became its owner and embarked on the most complete and detail-laden restoration imaginable.

In our vendor's words, “The stunning car you see before you is the result of many years of work carried out by a retired car restorer who rebuilt this car purely for pleasure and without any budget or time restrictions. The body itself was in very good order having spent many years in dry storage, many new old stock parts were used where available, these include a genuine Renault windscreen, exhaust, dampers, and many more; the engine has been fully rebuilt and balanced, a genuine water pump and cambelt kit fitted, whilst the gearbox has been refurbished with new bearings and seals.

All the suspension components and dampers are new, along with new brake components and refurbished genuine Renault brake callipers. As you would expect, the paintwork is totally flawless along with the plastic trims and mouldings, the glass is all genuine and still wears the cars original matching security numbers. The car’s specification is very original with only a couple of modern-day upgrades, the engine mounts are modern Vibra-Technics units, and a soft clutch conversion has been completed making the clutch pedal much more useable on a daily basis.”

This is an opportunity to acquire one of the most desirable homologation road cars of the last 30 years. Whilst in ‘better than new’ condition and preserved for years to come, this sparkling little Clio remains eminently useable and may turn out to be a rather shrewd purchase.