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oval_plate 4L Mag R1125TL
My FASA R1125TL



Before the R4

Back in the old days, two good friends drove 2CVs (we even went to Morocco in the one shown on the right) and I thought that a little variation could do no harm. My brother owned the 1977 TL (shown below the 2CV), and I borrowed it in 1989 to go on a geological field trip to Spain. After the fieldwork I went on a holiday to Morocco and Algeria with three other friends. All technical problems in Africa: 1 flat tyre! Sadly, the car didn't last much longer than that (engine died and lots of rust), and it was replaced by a 1980 L (rear chassis broke), a 1983 GTL (sold) and, lastly, a 1985 GTL (sold). All, however, weren't nearly as nice as that first one. I always wanted to own a 1977 TL again, preferably linked to Spain.

2cv

During all field trips to Spain, I have really developed a fondness for the country, and especially for its R4s with all the chrome parts the Spanish are so fond of. Driving an R1125 in the cold and wet Netherlands makes me think of the warm south of Spain.

Not surprisingly, most surviving R4s are GTLs, Clans and Savanes dating from the 80s and early 90s. Also, there are still quite some 60s R4. Specimens from the 70s are quite rare. I think this might be the case because they are too young to be considered oltimers, and therefore not collected (yet). On the other hand, maybe 70s R4 are just not as tough as the really old ones. Anyway, having a seventies R4 makes one feel just a little bit more special.

Algeria
For sale!
te koop

I have owned a 1977 R1125TL since 2004 when it was imported by someone else and advertised in the magazine of the Renault 4 Club Nederland. Although by 2004 I'd been happily 4-less for a couple of years (see the graveyard page) it was my girlfriend J. who convinced me to buy it. It was completely original although a bit bruised, dented and faint (a butsenbak as my friend Boerammetje used to name it. I am proud to say it was featured in 4L Magazine no. 20, of november 2010. You can read the PDF here.

Below are some pictures of what the car was all about when I started the restauration, and what it looks like now after a terrific paint job by Alacar in Harderwijk. As you can see by the very rare pressphoto of the same year (stamped April 1977; my own car is of May) all details are exactly as the should be. For a while I had the car equipped with the closed rims shown below, but finally I decided to change them back to the original ones with 10 ventilation holes to keep the car as original as possible. On the windscreen you can see the original Spanish plate from the province of Zaragoza.

pre-restauration post-restauration
Lieke pressphoto Tom

Here you can see some of the specific Spanish details that made the FASA models so attractive to me:

armrest bumper indicator oval palte window push button windscreen wiper engine bigoe windscreen cleaning fluid sticker colour code

this page last changed on Oct 15 2023