Man, just saw a car I need to have.

[Old Crank]

If only for the name.

The Renault, BEBOP. Just right for around town bopping around. The rear roof slides forward and you can put in tall things.
Pretty cute. Unfortunately they are 13-15 years old.

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=410613473&cn=DE&dam=false&lang=en&ms=20700%3B13%3B%3Bbe+bop&od=up&ref=seo&refId=a1ff1ca2-8882-82eb-6527-66b093ee2b72&s=Car&sb=rel&searchId=a1ff1ca2-8882-82eb-6527-66b093ee2b72&vc=Car

[Shellback Squid]

1. not to rain on your parade but:

Rightcar NZ: The Kangoo has been awarded a 3-star Vehicle Safety Risk Rating by Rightcar NZ, based on real-world crash data.

It looks like the rear passengers are the crumple zone if the collision comes from behind

[Old Crank]

2. Who cares.

I won't be in the rear.... I haven't had a car for 10 years. I just liked the name and it is pretty cute. Hood for around town where speed limits here are 50kph and lower.

I do like the mote squared off rear end. Most vars this size have sloped roof lines and rounded in sides to the roof. Cuts room in the rear substantially .

[cksmithy]

3. My parents bought a Renault Dauphine in 1965?, my freshman

high school year, I learned to drive on it and took my driver's license test using it. Great little car, very comfortable seats. I have only seen one or two as an adult. My parents were looking for a car with high miles per gallon. The VW bug seats were too hard, so they bought the Renault, whose seats were more comfortable than anything in our house at the time. Our Dauphine was great for Beboping around town.

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. My uncle went through two Dauphines

when I was a little kid -- a '59 and then, I believe, a '61. I recall him telling me each had a two-cylinder engine and would barely make 25 mph on a grade hust the other side of Laguna Seca Raceway. Great for around town, though, and cheap at somewhere around 40 mpg.

[cksmithy]

7. It is interesting that you mention Laguna Seca Raceway, I've been there several times,

with boyfriend, now husband of 54 years. I grew up in North Monterey County, on a road off of Hwy 101, about 8 miles north of Salinas. I, a mere 17 year old girl, had to turn right, basically on a blind turn, crack the window to hear if a semi was coming around the curve, floor it, shift, floor it, shift, floor it, to get to 60-65 miles an hour or you were at risk of being hit. I think it had 4 gears, (can't remember) but I could hit 65 mph in about 4 seconds. I would have it floored, going up a valley to hill on 101, (area is now called Ralph's Lane, then known as Oakies Flats), and would have to slowly pass a semi, my eyes level with the semi truck's hubcaps, axle. It was around 1968, and the speed limit was 65, and if you were going 65 in the slow lane, you got passed. The volume of traffic was much lower, and there were plenty of speeders, 75+. Now 101 is a parking lot, whenever we go to the coast.

My stupid ass younger brother, who had his seat belt on and didn't get hurt, totaled our sweet little Dauphine, on our road, not the highway, because he over reacted to a chicken in the road. I was madder than hell, because I had to go buy my own car, VW bug, to get to work, I was 20 years old by then.

Thanks for the memories.

[Oeditpus Rex]

8. I lived in Salinas for my first 42 years

Probably been past Ralph Lane a hundred times heading north on 101.

The grade I referred to is on 68, just past what used to be Tarpey's, where 238 splits off to go to Del Rey Oaks and Seaside.

[cksmithy]

9. Yes, I know the area, have even had dinner at Tarpey's back in 1970, wasn't very good. Hope the food is better now.

I can't remember if I ever drove the Renault over that grade. I been over that grade many times as a passenger. In a Renault, you just have to know when to floor it and shift. I also could come to a complete stop, and then move forward without rolling back ten feet before I got it into gear and able to accelerate up a hill. I could handle the brakes, gas and clutch. I learned to drive in the rolling hills of Prunedale, lots of hills to practice on. Both my husband and I went to high school in Salinas. He went to North High, I went to Alisal HIgh when it was first built, first freshman to senior graduating class. They bussed the country high school kids into town. Again, thanks for pulling up old memories. Also, we got our first dog from the SPCA on 68.

[MLAA]

4. Love it!

[littlemissmartypants]

5. I like it. 👍