something different...and free!

Where is it? I might be able to give it a home provided it isnt on Saturn or something!

Just got off the phone with the owner, a couple of details to sort, but basically it's mine

That'll be a nice retro family car...

Cheers all

Graham

Hi, not too sure what the tlc involves. The front suspension was rebuilt last year but they left the tracking a bit off so it's trashed the tyres. I think. Also he says that last time he took it above 50mph on the motorway it blew the headgasket, so he just takes it easy and pootles around. I'm thinking full on 2 stage rad flush before I bring it back down to Kent...

Anyway, my mother in law lives about 60-70 miles away so I'm going up there tonight. Tomorrow I'll go get it and stash it on her drive while we figure out what we're doing. She's got broadband and a digital camera so we should be able to update this thread with pictures. I just did a google image search and couldn't find any 304 estates, so this is a rare bird indeed... although the saloons look very cool.

Cheers

Graham

yes those are 304 estates. Someone on here got themselves a 204 estate the other week, even rarer, basically the same car as the 304 but with smaller engine and different headlamps.

Love those funky rear lights. You'll find it useful to pop over to the cpuk forum if you need to perform mechanical work on her. Saloons and estates are all 5 door. Only the coupé and cabriolet were 2 door.

oooh, another one!

ive got the 204, cant wait to see some pics of the 304
sounds like a intresting find

Great to hear a swift and happy resolution to this one! Good to know obscure stuff like this is being saved. I'm guessing the engine is similar to later 205/305/309 units so wouldn't present any great problem?

I bet that loadbay will be huge. 3-stud wheels too? Proper French!

OK so the 304 is now sat on my mother-in-law's drive. The Xantia with wife and 2 kids aboard has racked up 475 miles in a smidgen over 24 hours.

The front tyres were shockingly bad, one side had the steel wires poking out. Once we'd put two new tyres on it handles really well. Quite surprisingly, on a Saturday afternoon in deepest rural West Wales it proved difficult to source 145SR14's. However a set of 155 65/14's was offered up and looked to be about the same rolling radius, so on they went. When you're faced with driving about 130 miles on tyres which are basically bald over 1/3 their width, you make some compromises!

Aside from that it drives pretty much like a modern. It's light and nippy, but a bit noisy and rattly. It pulls really well. The temp gauge rides a bit higher than I would like, but not too bad. The alternator light came on intermittently around Cardiff so I caned it home before I had to put the lights on

In short for a free car that was used to going round the local village it's coped surprisingly well with a 130 mile blatt across South Wales. The plan now is to SORN it and leave it be until the insurance decide what they're doing with the Xantia. Hopefully they'll decide it's BER and give me enough cash to sort the 304 when it will become our family car...

More words later, I'm shattered! Here come the pics:

2 shots of the interior - this is what retro cars are all about!





Toby, the long suffering five year old wanted to be on the internet!



Grrrr!



Need to sort that mirror - not much cop for overtaking...



Just to prove it's an estate:



More later!

Graham

Absolute Corker mate.

thats seriously Hawt.

Interior must be from same supplier as my Audi 80.