The Passat or this 21?
Yesterday we presented you with a nice Volkswagen Passat from 1987, now we drive an interesting alternative onto the stage: a Renault 21 from a year later. Which one would you like to have on your doorstep?
The Volkswagen Passat that was on stage yesterday in Lovers Wanted caused quite a few reactions. A once so ordinary middle class car that now seems almost completely extinct, does something with the nostalgically inclined AutoWeek visitor. This Renault 21 probably brings about a similar feeling. A direct competitor of the Passat, even though this is a sedan and moreover, the 21 was given a brand new generation of the Passat in the year of construction of this copy (1988).
What the two have in common is that you probably have to dig into your memory to think when you last saw one. The 21 seems to be just a bit rarer than the Passat. Certainly such a pre-facelift version of the Laguna predecessor signed by Giugiaro is a white raven. There is no arguing about taste, but the 21 had a slightly more stately appearance before its facelift than afterwards, because it had quite a few features of its big brother, the 25, especially at the front. A big difference with the 25 was that the 21 In addition to a liftback, there was also a sedan and station wagon. Especially the spacious 21 Nevada was quite popular here in the Netherlands.
Renault 21
Anyway, we don’t have Nevada here, but just the sedan, which was not only shorter overall, but also had a somewhat shorter wheelbase. Not just any 21 sedan, but a real GTL. So a fairly modest 21, that also splashes off. Apparently, in the past 35 years, no one has ever missed a bit of luxury in the 21, because even the original cassette radio is still there. That is probably a nice piece of evidence that the car has indeed only had one previous owner, as the provider states. That sounds favorable, of course, just like the mileage of only 143,507. No ‘scary’ low mileage, as is somewhat the case with the Passat, for example, but certainly a relatively low position for the age.
What is perhaps less in favor of this 21 is that the car is on Kumho tires. They certainly don’t have to be bad tires, but they are on the cheap side and that can also be an indication of cheap maintenance on the rest of the car. In addition, we do not yet see a maintenance booklet in the photos and it is to be hoped that there is some history with this newly imported car, especially because the asking price is not tender: €4,950. Does this 21 deserve a loving new owner? Absolutely, but for that money it may take a while before it is found.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl