photo_ed
ClioTrophy Moderator
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2018
- Messages
- 2,107
- Reaction score
- 4,016
- Location
- Yorkshire/Lancashire
- Trophy No.
- 407
Let’s start at the Beginning…
February 2026.
A pause at the Hause for the 'new' 172 Cup.
Back in the heady and optimistic early 2000’s I was running around in a couple of old minis and a hot Peugeot 205 GTi which I’d tuned to within an inch of it’s life and indeed when the Pug expired with a rod through the block, the writing was on the wall. I needed something modern and fast for a daily. After an entertaining test drive from the Renault garage in Huddersfield of the era, I bought a 172 Cup, it was the 1st proper brand new car I’d ever bought at that point and I made the most of it, racking up 40k miles in a couple of years. The thing went everywhere, Fast. Trips round the West Coast of Ireland, blasts down through France in search of Summer sun and more runs up the drag strip at York than was remotely sensible (a best of 14.6 at just shy of 100mph for those of a straight line persuasion). I’d caught a bit of a ‘new car bug’ and it was part-exed for a 182 Cup in Racing Blue, the 182 was a much calmer road car, but it never had the performance and wildness that the 172 Cup served up, which in retrospect was probably a good thing for my mortality at that stage of my life..
Many cars have come and gone over the years, but as more time passes, the more the urge for me to revisit those seminal cars of the back catalogue grows. The 172 Cup is one of those cars. As was the Trophy, and we all know how that has turned out…
So, since about 2020, I’ve been on the lookout for a 172 Cup. It’s been a bit like a needle in a haystack and I’ve looked at a lot of rubbish, I got very close to what I was looking for about 2 years ago with a couple of strong contenders, then I nearly bought one in the Gold Cup Auction at Oulton Park, it thankfully sailed well beyond my self imposed budget, as it wasn’t ‘the right one’. Like sourcing Sachs and original 182 exhausts, I knew eventually something would turn up, and a couple of weeks ago turn up it did. I got wind of a car which the owner was thinking of selling, I immediately made contact and set up a viewing.
Luckily, it wasn’t too far away and in a nice part of the country we know well, so a Sunday was spent on a 7hour round trip in the trusty Kangoo van. From the communications I knew the car was ticking a lot of my boxes regarding ownership, upkeep and history file. Now I just needed to see it, as we turned into the parking area in front of the owners farmhouse lodgings, I clapped eyes on the Cup and just knew this was ‘the one’. I’ve always had the notion that if a car ‘sits right’ then it probably is good, it’s a really subjective aesthetic thing, and really quite difficult to explain or quantify. Even before owner Matthew took me out for a little spin, I knew I was having it, we talked numbers, shook hands and made arrangements to collect the following week when I’d sorted some things out.
Winter light on the way to Lorton.
Saturday dawned a bit stormy, but by the time we were whizzing up the M6 in the trusty Clio workhorse the clouds were clearing, playing into my plans for a bit of scenic action on the return. By 11 we were rolling through the North Lake District. Purchase finalised, we waved goodbye to Matthew as he filmed the car leaving down the drive, a sure sign of a dedicated previous owner… Scenic route selected and discussed, we were off, all going well until I took a wrong turn at a roundabout and had to do some to-ing and fro-ing for a few moments, not ideal when you’re trying to get the feel of a new car. Soon we were back on track, and I began to relax into the car a bit. First impressions, it’s very well sorted, the brakes are on point, the suspension is firm, feeling very nicely foursquare and planted, control weights as they should be. I’m not surprised, Matthew is a transmission engineer for the M-Sport Rally team and has done all the mechanical works on it during his 5 year tenure, his expertise is tangible in the way the car feels.
The weather has opened up a bit with spectacular skies scything through the peaks of the Lakes, we crest a brow and the light is stunning enough for me to quickly leap out and dance up the verge to grab a snap or two. We head down towards Lorton, Crummock Water and Buttermere, it’s not a road I’m familiar with, but seem to have struck gold, the twists, turns and scenery are all exceptional as we head Southwards. I’ve been letting the car thoroughly warm through, but a stunning switchback section through some trees presents itself followed by a decent straight, ‘I’ll give it a prod through here’ I think… It whips through the bends before I give it a boot full of throttle in 2nd as we enter the straight, it’s damp underfoot and I’ve momentarily forgotten there’s absolutely no electronic safety net with a Cup. The world goes into a sudden state of fast forward, but the tyres are lit and I’m committed now, reaching for another gear, another gear, it’s utterly ballistic. Dear LORD. The straight is gone and a bend I have no idea of the angle of is approaching, I hit the brakes, by now my brain is scrambling to catch up, ‘be careful it’s wet and there’s no ABS’!!!
Debrief...
I trundle for a while as the little red Clio plays catch up and at the next photo opportunity, I actually have to have a sit down in the workhorse for a couple of minutes, catch my breath, have a little debrief and possibly utter a few expletives. I’d momentarily forgotten how capable a Cup is, it’s the lightness, everything is ramped up to a fever pitch. They are quite a car… and this one seems simply sensational! Exuberance reigned in, we have a stunning drive down the side of Crummock Water to Buttermere, it’s one of those roads that has everything, particularly heavy on scenery, it’s atmospheric and utterly beautiful on a dramatic Winters day. At Buttermere, we take a left turn and head steeply up to the Newlands Hause, sadly hampered all the way by a crawling Peugeot Partner van. At the Hause, it’s time to pause and bag some more pics, before long we’re off again scything down the spectacular Newlands Valley to Braithwaite, we know this road well but I’m being kind to the car and the back up team, half pedal is enough for today after the excitement of earlier.
Deja Vu in Blue.
At Keswick, I brim the tank with V-Power then it’s time to head homewards on some bigger roads. The Cup behaves impeccably, arriving home absolutely filthy, covered in 150miles worth of Winter road grime. That’s certainly going to keep me busy, along with some other activities. At this point I’d probably better come clean and reveal another reason I’ve got the Cup. I’m hoping to compete in this years Harewood Hillclimb Championship in the car. It certainly seems capable enough, I just hope I’m also up to the task.
Next instalment coming soon, a big box arrived from France last week…
February 2026.
A pause at the Hause for the 'new' 172 Cup.
Back in the heady and optimistic early 2000’s I was running around in a couple of old minis and a hot Peugeot 205 GTi which I’d tuned to within an inch of it’s life and indeed when the Pug expired with a rod through the block, the writing was on the wall. I needed something modern and fast for a daily. After an entertaining test drive from the Renault garage in Huddersfield of the era, I bought a 172 Cup, it was the 1st proper brand new car I’d ever bought at that point and I made the most of it, racking up 40k miles in a couple of years. The thing went everywhere, Fast. Trips round the West Coast of Ireland, blasts down through France in search of Summer sun and more runs up the drag strip at York than was remotely sensible (a best of 14.6 at just shy of 100mph for those of a straight line persuasion). I’d caught a bit of a ‘new car bug’ and it was part-exed for a 182 Cup in Racing Blue, the 182 was a much calmer road car, but it never had the performance and wildness that the 172 Cup served up, which in retrospect was probably a good thing for my mortality at that stage of my life..
Many cars have come and gone over the years, but as more time passes, the more the urge for me to revisit those seminal cars of the back catalogue grows. The 172 Cup is one of those cars. As was the Trophy, and we all know how that has turned out…
So, since about 2020, I’ve been on the lookout for a 172 Cup. It’s been a bit like a needle in a haystack and I’ve looked at a lot of rubbish, I got very close to what I was looking for about 2 years ago with a couple of strong contenders, then I nearly bought one in the Gold Cup Auction at Oulton Park, it thankfully sailed well beyond my self imposed budget, as it wasn’t ‘the right one’. Like sourcing Sachs and original 182 exhausts, I knew eventually something would turn up, and a couple of weeks ago turn up it did. I got wind of a car which the owner was thinking of selling, I immediately made contact and set up a viewing.
Luckily, it wasn’t too far away and in a nice part of the country we know well, so a Sunday was spent on a 7hour round trip in the trusty Kangoo van. From the communications I knew the car was ticking a lot of my boxes regarding ownership, upkeep and history file. Now I just needed to see it, as we turned into the parking area in front of the owners farmhouse lodgings, I clapped eyes on the Cup and just knew this was ‘the one’. I’ve always had the notion that if a car ‘sits right’ then it probably is good, it’s a really subjective aesthetic thing, and really quite difficult to explain or quantify. Even before owner Matthew took me out for a little spin, I knew I was having it, we talked numbers, shook hands and made arrangements to collect the following week when I’d sorted some things out.
Winter light on the way to Lorton.
Saturday dawned a bit stormy, but by the time we were whizzing up the M6 in the trusty Clio workhorse the clouds were clearing, playing into my plans for a bit of scenic action on the return. By 11 we were rolling through the North Lake District. Purchase finalised, we waved goodbye to Matthew as he filmed the car leaving down the drive, a sure sign of a dedicated previous owner… Scenic route selected and discussed, we were off, all going well until I took a wrong turn at a roundabout and had to do some to-ing and fro-ing for a few moments, not ideal when you’re trying to get the feel of a new car. Soon we were back on track, and I began to relax into the car a bit. First impressions, it’s very well sorted, the brakes are on point, the suspension is firm, feeling very nicely foursquare and planted, control weights as they should be. I’m not surprised, Matthew is a transmission engineer for the M-Sport Rally team and has done all the mechanical works on it during his 5 year tenure, his expertise is tangible in the way the car feels.
The weather has opened up a bit with spectacular skies scything through the peaks of the Lakes, we crest a brow and the light is stunning enough for me to quickly leap out and dance up the verge to grab a snap or two. We head down towards Lorton, Crummock Water and Buttermere, it’s not a road I’m familiar with, but seem to have struck gold, the twists, turns and scenery are all exceptional as we head Southwards. I’ve been letting the car thoroughly warm through, but a stunning switchback section through some trees presents itself followed by a decent straight, ‘I’ll give it a prod through here’ I think… It whips through the bends before I give it a boot full of throttle in 2nd as we enter the straight, it’s damp underfoot and I’ve momentarily forgotten there’s absolutely no electronic safety net with a Cup. The world goes into a sudden state of fast forward, but the tyres are lit and I’m committed now, reaching for another gear, another gear, it’s utterly ballistic. Dear LORD. The straight is gone and a bend I have no idea of the angle of is approaching, I hit the brakes, by now my brain is scrambling to catch up, ‘be careful it’s wet and there’s no ABS’!!!
Debrief...
I trundle for a while as the little red Clio plays catch up and at the next photo opportunity, I actually have to have a sit down in the workhorse for a couple of minutes, catch my breath, have a little debrief and possibly utter a few expletives. I’d momentarily forgotten how capable a Cup is, it’s the lightness, everything is ramped up to a fever pitch. They are quite a car… and this one seems simply sensational! Exuberance reigned in, we have a stunning drive down the side of Crummock Water to Buttermere, it’s one of those roads that has everything, particularly heavy on scenery, it’s atmospheric and utterly beautiful on a dramatic Winters day. At Buttermere, we take a left turn and head steeply up to the Newlands Hause, sadly hampered all the way by a crawling Peugeot Partner van. At the Hause, it’s time to pause and bag some more pics, before long we’re off again scything down the spectacular Newlands Valley to Braithwaite, we know this road well but I’m being kind to the car and the back up team, half pedal is enough for today after the excitement of earlier.
Deja Vu in Blue.
At Keswick, I brim the tank with V-Power then it’s time to head homewards on some bigger roads. The Cup behaves impeccably, arriving home absolutely filthy, covered in 150miles worth of Winter road grime. That’s certainly going to keep me busy, along with some other activities. At this point I’d probably better come clean and reveal another reason I’ve got the Cup. I’m hoping to compete in this years Harewood Hillclimb Championship in the car. It certainly seems capable enough, I just hope I’m also up to the task.
Next instalment coming soon, a big box arrived from France last week…
