It was my parents first car, in the shape of a pre-facelift sedan (also known as a Phase 1) but, unfortunately, I don’t have much more information about it, other than the license plate letters (OC-xx-xx) and my suspicions of that one being a petrol 1.4 too. Apart from those cold winter days, when it became a struggle to get the engine running, they loved the car! So much that when I was born, they traded it in for another 21, but this time they picked a Nevada, the station wagon, because maybe the extra cargo space was a confortable place to get my diapers changed.

 

So, fast forwarding to 2021…

 

While chatting with my friend Júlio, he told me his father knew a guy who wanted to clean up a garage and there was a Renault 21 that had to go. I had bought another car not even a month ago, but I couldn’t say no and had to, at least, take a look.

I had a picture of what I wanted in my head and from the moment we arranged a meeting, it was getting more vivid and real. A white, Phase 1 sedan was all I could wish for, but since I was going to a “blind date”, I didn’t knew what to expect.

 

When I arrived, the picture was shattered almost instantly, but, on the other hand, the new reality was…interesting.

This car was pretty much the opposite, a Tungstene Gris Phase 2 hatchback, but despite the faded paint and scratched bumpers, the car had brand new tires and ran just fine!

 

Sometimes, it’s not the car you want, but the car that destiny choose for you to have, so by the end of the day, I found myself with yet another money pit.