So, I thought I was doing well managing my intake of 1:18s. I had gone five weeks without a purchase, not quite cold turkey, but pretty good. Then, suddenly, the eBay app on my phone jingled at me and boasted about how many diecast conquests I was potentially missing out on. So the addiction lives on.
With the Renault 5 Turbo safely stashed away in my collection and looking pretty marvellous, it seemed only right to find a reasonably priced copy of its descendent as a garage buddy. The model you see before you is branded under the Eagle Collectibles banner, which is part of the same group as Universal Hobbies, who, in turn, marketed a version of Revell’s Renault 5.


Firstly, a word about the 1:1, which is a car wholly without parallel. It existed in a class of one and could never be fairly compared with any other car, such is its uniqueness of concept and delivery. It can’t even really be compared to the original mid engined Renault 5. Yes, the engine here is also midships but it’s a lusty V6 and not a hard-charging Turbo 4, and the 5 was conceived from the outset for rallying, whereas the Clio V6 was designed, simply to be an absolutely mental Renault Clio.
It was mental. In absolute against-the-clock terms neither the original nor the slightly more powerful face-lifted version read particularly well compared to things like Subaru Imprezas of similar or lower price-points, but the recipe for the Renault was so different that the drive was unique enough to justify your outlay. Sticking a big V6 in a tiny car makes for a very heavy tiny car, but that engine being in the middle made for a fascinating driving experience.

And it’s wholly appropriate that it should be recorded as a die-cast, and one of considerable merit.
Finished in silver it looks well from a moderate distance and stays good until you’re pretty close up. The paint is generally very good though it does look a little thickly applied and uneven in some areas. Proportions seem spot-on and the stance is well observed. It looks like a Clio V6.

Looking more closely you’re impressed by the tiny separately detailed for the side indicator lamps and a weeny little embossed Renault diamond by the front grille. The headlamps (and the foglamps below) are very good indeed (the rear lights are good, but not AS good), and the decals are well applied – crisp and well placed. Plus the bee-sting roof antenna is one of the most delicately modelled I’ve ever seen.
There are a few slightly rough edges around the headlamp openings, which may be a sign of a relatively old pressing. Things have certainly got better over the last 20 years, even on budget models.
Peer under the bonnet and… there’s nothing there. Obviously. The engine is in the middle, so there’s just the decidedly limited luggage compartment to see up front. It’s nice that it opens, anyway.

The engine is accessible, and though you can’t see much of it what you can see looks pretty close to reality. Firstly you have to lever the very tight engine cover off, which takes approximately 3% less effort required than snapping it in half would. It’s so firmly attached that I’m tempted to keep my engine cover off and leave it loose in the box. Use a dentist’s mirror and you’ll see plug wires and other stuff, but the Clio V6 engine was never really much to behold. Again, it’s nice that they bothered modelling it.

The inside is very accurate indeed, especially the instrument cluster dials which don’t look a million miles removed from those found in a Clio 1.2 RL. The same is true of the whole cabin, really, which was never fully divorced from its shopping-car foundations.
The bits that separate it are therefore very important, so it’s nice to see the drilled aluminium foot pedals and RenaultSport markings on the kick-plates.
Overall it’s an excellent rendition of what is likely to remain a unique car. I can’t imagine Renault putting a big, thirsty V6 into a baby hatchback again in a hurry. That said, wouldn’t it be nice if they did?

Another great model, and all for £25 delivered from eBay. They come up every now and again. If you want one, sit about and wait until a sensibly priced one shows its face. Avoid those advertised as “mega rare” etc. They ain’t foolin’ nobody. There are plenty about, and I’m very glad somebody took the effort to produce the Clio V6 as a 1:18 at all.
(All images copyright Chris Haining / Hooniverse 2o15)