For $7,950, Le CARpe Diem
Egypt's Cleopatra famously did herself in by asp bite. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe '05 Renault is another Clio, incongruously offered up in Orem, Utah. Strange as is its appearance there, is its price to die for?
While a few notable artists have found fame during their lifetime, the value of their artwork typically increases substantially after their passing, as the supply chain has dried up. Death may be too great a price to pay for the seller of yesterday's '87 Voyager Art Van, and according to 58% of you, so was seven hundred and fifty dollars. I guess some people's taste is all in their mouths. I'm just sayin'.
If you want to catch some REAL art then you won't find a much better venue than the Louvre in Paris, although you should be forewarned, it's closed on Tuesdays. While on your way to the 220-year-old museum, you might notice a common sight on the streets and sidewalks of Paris. No, I don't mean creepy mimes, I'm talking about little-ass – oops, I mean petit cul Renaults!
The Renault Clio is just such a Super Mini, and was first introduced at the 1990 Paris Auto Show in nominal replacement of the long-serving 5, the original iteration of which we in the States once knew as the Le Crap Le Car.
The 5 was dropped from Renault's US product line all the way back in 1983, being replaced by the Alliance. Renault itself rolled up the carpets and turned out the lights on its US operations five years later, and that makes the appearance of what's claimed to be a 2005 Renault Clio 1.6 in Orem, Utah, U.S.A. such a freaking nut scratcher.
Thing of it is, this 46,000-mile Clio is representative of a model built pretty much around the globe, including places like Turkey, Slovenia, and all over South and Central America. That puts the US in the minority when it comes to Clio-mania.
This Orem, Utah dealer is doing what it can to rectify that situation, offering up this 109-bhp 1,598-cm3 16V four equipped example. It also sports an automatic gearbox so you can tell the car itself is doing its best to try and fit in.
Aside from miasma-dimmed headlamps – typical of most cars of this age – this Clio looks pretty good. That is if you're into Renault's mid-aughts rolly polly olly styling. The pictures don't do the car's size justice, but suffice to say it's small enough that when fully laden you'd need to get to change your mind. That of course makes parking a snap, and is a good part of the reason for the car's claimed 40-MPG bravado.
But how can a used car dealer – in of all places, Utah – sell a non-Federalized car of under 25 years of age and claim it has a clean title? Riddle me that, Batman! Part of the explanation may be in the ad's incorrect description of this generation of Clio being similar to the Nissan Versa, a comparison that the Clio should take as insulting. In fact, the Clio III, introduced the same year as this model does share its platform with Nissan's tiny March, and Nissan once sold a booted version of this car as the Platina in emerging markets. But still, this is no Jack Kennedy Versa.
What it is is an enigma wrapped in a conundrum tied with a bow of mystery, and all folded into a crêpe of possibilities. It's also $7,950. What do you think about this weird little French fry for that kind of dough? Is that a fair price to uniquely express your Francophilia? Or, does that price – along with other potential issues – make this a Clio that's snake bit?
You decide!
Provo Craigslist or go here if the ad disappears.
Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a fixed-price tip, and remember to include your commenter handle.