Magic trick completed!

"duurtlang" (duurtlang) 06/12/2015 at 13:45 • Filed to: None

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Today I went on my merry way to magically turn a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! into a classic Italian- built influenced French convertible. The magic trick worked, but wasn’t flawless. This is where I’ll explain what happened.

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7:45 am. I got my company car(*1) and... drove 4 kilometers to my company’s parking lot. From there on I walked the 8 minutes to the train station and I took the train to a place deep in the Dutch Bible Belt. While I’m seemingly able to magically turn paper into a car, I can’t magically drive two cars at the time. So train it was. The trip was about 190 kilometers (120 miles) and would take about 1 hour and 50 minutes by car, assuming no traffic jams. By low-speed train it takes 2 hours and 20 minutes, including 20 minute transfer time in between. Not bad, not bad at all.

The second class cabin. I obviously picked the ‘silence’ carriage, meaning people should be mostly silent. When I get the chance I always pick one of these as having to listen to all the dumb things people shout into their phones seem to kill my brain cells.

Even the scenery wasn’t all that bad.

10:36 am. Arriving at my destination I spotted the seller of the car. During our previous meet I had already test driven the car and made a bid on the car that was accepted. But not before we had agreed to meet at the train station close to his home at the day of delivery. Sadly he brought his daily (*2) instead of my future car. We went into town where we did the official paperwork (mandatory in the Netherlands) at the local postal office. At that time I was the new registered owner of the car.

11:00 am. Next stop: the previous owner’s home. There my car was waiting for me. A 1988 Peugeot 205 CTI with 192k km on the odometer. It was parked right in front of the PO’s shed full of Beetles and a Karmann Ghia. He’s a VW guy he told me, so he wanted to get a bitch basket VW instead of a Peugeot. Considering the content of his garage this seemed plausible to me.

Picture from the ad. The Peugeot parked on the PO’s driveway.

We exchanged pleasantries, I made a stack of paper disappear and when I wanted to leave I was invited to a cup of tea. With cake. Because their son had just graduated. As I make a habit out of never refusing cake I stayed a bit longer. When we finished the tea and cake, the PO helped my practice opening the roof, mounting the cover and installing that thing behind the front seats that’s supposed to reduce the amount of wind in your neck. He also handed me a spare set of windows for both front doors he had lying around for some reason. He also had another red grille. I probably won’t need them, but the PO certainly won’t need them so it all went into the trunk.

During my test drive last Monday I spotted a few minor issues. The gear knob was broken, the original rear view mirror and mounting point were missing and were replaced by some after market stick on mirror, and the leather on the steering wheel was rather tired. As I knew a 205-specific place on my way home I headed there to pick up some parts.

11:55 am. Shortly after leaving and on my way to the 205 place I scored my first significant road kill in this 205. A dragonfly managed to head-but my window wiper. My window wiper won. The head seemed to separate from the body rather quickly, but the dragonfly (head included) managed to stay tangled in my wiper for the remaining 150+ km I drove after the collision.

The dragonfly as it was 15-30 minutes after first contact. Notice the typically Dutch scene in front of my car: a tallish compact vehicle owned by babyboomers. Babyboomers who seem to be going on holiday or on other kind of pleasure trips 40 weeks a year in this country. With their bicycles.

During my drive to the 205 place I noticed something I should’ve noticed earlier. Far earlier. It didn’t shift right. At all. I had noticed it didn’t shift as nice as my 205 GTi, but it seemingly started to shift worse or I became more critical. Especially 1st and reverse were bad. I hadn’t used reverse during my test drive, and I only shifted it into first once, so I overlooked it. My test drive consisted of 2-5th gear mostly. Anyway, when shifting in reverse you can hear the gears grinding. When in first, with the clutch pressed, it would crawl forward like a car with an automatic. It needed significant strength to put it in first or reverse during a full stop with a running engine.

This 205 place, called !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , has maybe a hundred 205s and a few 309s. Many junkers, many potential restoration candidates, some cars for sale, lots and lots of parts. You can even rent a stretched 205 !

205 Totaal , a place with probably 100+ Peugeot 205s. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

At 205 Totaal I was asked to retrieve the parts myself. As I didn’t see myself removing a steering wheel at that specific time and the steering wheel isn’t that bad I chose to focus on the mirror and the nob. Both seemed easy. Getting a mirror was easy. It would slide right from the metal mounting point, which was glued to the windshield. Sadly my car lost that metal mounting part as well. So how do you get a small metal part loose from a windshield? You get the owner of the junkyard and a hammer. The already slightly cracked windshield of the junker didn’t survive.

Rear view mirror of the 205, according to Peugeot Servicebox . Getting part 1 was easy, getting 2/4 was hard.

The gear knob was easy as well, with some persuasion they can be motivated to evacuate their initial position. Many junkers didn’t have one anymore or had a cracked one, but many others did still have one. However, none had the right one. Some had 4 speeds, most had 5 speeds. However, the early GTi and CTi had their reverse gear left of first gear. Regular 205s had reverse where a sixt gear would be. None of the junkers had an appropriate gear knob. Since I thought getting a wrong gear knob was better than having a broken one I picked a wrong one.

Left: the gear knob with the correct pattern. Right: the type of gear knob I got.

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14:45 pm. After losing another piece of paper I set out to drive to my home town. I had made an appointment with a friendly shop, specialized in older (but not classic) daily driver French cars. They would inspect my car to give me a realistic analysis of the condition of my car. A mechanic noticed my dragonfly. He also noticed the dragonfly still twitched its legs, multiple hours and 150+ km after the collision.

The mechanic looking at my car noticed that the a fuel line was crumbling, and had to be replaced soon. Easy. The clutch problem was something he could probably solve easily as well, but he lacked a part. The clutch merely needed to be adjusted, probably. However, the clutch cable was at its outmost position so he needed a part to extend it. Or something like that. Anyway, I’ll be back Monday when they will have the part. They’ll also do the fuel line then. Other than that and some engine oil sweating the car seemed to be in great condition. New front brakes, new brake lines, no rust. I was given a set of two types of tubes, which contained fluids which when combined would make metal-on-glass glue. I glued the metal mounting part of the mirror on the windshield. I left the shop without leaving any paper behind.

The next stop was the last stop for the 205 this day. The underground parking garage of my company. I won’t have my own garage until early July and since I don’t want to streetpark a convertible this seemed the best solution. While parked I made a few pictures of the car. It was 16:45 when I closed the doors of the 205 for the last time that day.

New leather on the bolsters. Bolster foam has probably been replaced as well.

After arriving home I noticed driving a 205 CTI convertible had left a permanent mark on me.

And yes, HammerheadFistpunch , there’s a tow hook on this subcompact convertible. Probably intended for a bicycle carrier like the one pictured earlier.

(*1) manual, diesel, wagon
(*2) manual, turbo, quattro, wagon

Party-vi > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 13:27

7

Marital aide. Cool car!

505Turbeaux > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 13:28

4

HOLY SHIT

MonkeePuzzle > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 13:31

1

the shadow from the wings is very cool

duurtlang > 505Turbeaux 06/12/2015 at 13:34

1

Lots of 205s and... an Explorer(?) !

This is just part of the collection by the way. Here’s a gallery .

MonkeePuzzle > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 13:35

5

wrong pattern anti-theft, if you park forwards so a thief would have to find reverse :D

505Turbeaux > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 13:35

0

I think I see an XJ jeep on the left too!

MonkeePuzzle > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 13:36

0

love the story, and the car. best of luck, hope the clutch issue is indeed a quick fix

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 13:39

0

Loved this. Also not making me want a 205 any less...

duurtlang > 505Turbeaux 06/12/2015 at 13:41

1

It’s a weird place like that. Peugeot 205s as far as the eyes can see, and a few American barges. Grey market import barges. I spotted a Lincoln Towncar as well, some American SUVs, mostly trashed, and in their shop they had one of those luxury full size vans. In parts.

LongbowMkII > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 13:42

0

I’m hoping that European cars are just this tiny or OMFG THATS A GIANT DRAGONFLY!

duurtlang > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 06/12/2015 at 13:43

1

Ha! I’ve got two now, a GTi and a CTi. Not trying to make you jalous or anything. But two. ;)

duurtlang > LongbowMkII 06/12/2015 at 13:43

1

A combination of the two. The car is smaller than a new Fiesta and weighs less. But HOLY SHIT WAS THAT A GIANT DRAGONFLY.

LongbowMkII > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 13:44

0

I like that shifter.

Brian, The Life of > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 14:09

0

Called it!

Neat car :)

McPherson > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 17:27

0

Ah, Europe by rail. I’m jealous.

Schaefft > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 17:40

1

Its nice to read stories like this. People need to buy more cars on here. GO BUY A CAR NAO!

duurtlang > Schaefft 06/12/2015 at 17:44

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It’s the second car I bought in 2 weeks. Writing a full story about the first of those cars would mostly consist of screenshots of conversations with 505t and LHM fluid leaks though.

Schaefft > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 17:48

0

Ah yeah, the automatic BX. What do you need all these cars for? :)

duurtlang > Schaefft 06/12/2015 at 17:52

0

need

Repent, heathen!

Well, the BX will be shipped off overseas. I’ve got a local plan for the CTI. But not before I enjoy myself.

Schaefft > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 18:02

0

Well, can’t wait to see more of them. Should you ever find an Olds Aurora somewhere near you (I know the US car per capita ration is quite high in the Netherlands, there’s one for sale right now!), I might ask for your services as well. I might even come over for a visit.

duurtlang > Schaefft 06/12/2015 at 18:09

0

This one is slightly over an hour away. Probably the one you found as well.

Schaefft > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 18:14

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Yup, not a big fan of the V6 and white paint. Its the only one I’ve found for sale in quite a few countries though, and the prize sounds fair for the mileage and condition.

edit: Actually, pearl white doesn’t look that bad.

duurtlang > Schaefft 06/12/2015 at 18:16

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I could help you with translation, if needed. Or to break the ice with a phone call, as an email (or phone call) in English out of the blue scares some people away. Nigerian princes and all.

Schaefft > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 18:23

0

That would be nice, even though most people in the Netherlands do understand German quite well, too apparently? I will have to wait though, I haven’t even gotten my Lincoln back yet. The withdrawal makes me wanna buy all kinds of cars, its getting pretty bad.

duurtlang > Schaefft 06/12/2015 at 18:30

0

English is spoken better than German, generally. Especially among the non-elderly generations. Just look at me, I’m having this conversation with you in English while my last English lesson was in high school. Yet, despite my German girlfriend and multiple visits to Gemany each month I wouldn’t be able to communicate in German this way. Yet the only English-speaking country I’ve ever been to is the UK, I’ve been there once and I left within a day.

But my point isn’t about a conversation, it’s about first contact. Some people expect a scam when they receive a reaction to their ad in a foreign language.

Schaefft > duurtlang 06/12/2015 at 18:39

0

Yeah, I’d personally be a bit more careful with interested buyers when getting a call in English as well, there are too many dodgy people out there. And yes, that is probably the case for most people and languages. English is the international standard after all.

pip bip - choose Corrour > duurtlang 06/13/2015 at 02:59

0

nice!

KirkyV > duurtlang 07/09/2015 at 17:28

0

I imagine a quite a few car parks looked a little like that back in the eighties.

duurtlang > KirkyV 07/09/2015 at 17:29

0

With only 205s and the occasional 309?

KremerK3 > duurtlang 07/09/2015 at 17:38

0

Not so jealous knowing i can spell ; )

duurtlang > duurtlang 07/09/2015 at 17:39

0

Here are a few more recent pictures.

duurtlang > KremerK3 07/09/2015 at 17:42

1

Typo + second language and all that.

KirkyV > duurtlang 07/09/2015 at 17:54

0

Pretty much. You used to get fairly similar displays with - ugh - 206s here at the height of their popularity.

E. Julius > duurtlang 07/09/2015 at 18:28

0

It's neat how the roof line matches the regular 205s so exactly.

KremerK3 > duurtlang 07/09/2015 at 21:11

0

Just jibbing you mate, i always wanted a Pug GTi 1.9 in black.

RedPir8Roberts > duurtlang 07/09/2015 at 21:31

1

6:20 p.m. Comment: Cool little car, good luck with it. Wish we in the U.S. got things like that before they were 25 years old. I was sort of expecting a pay off after all the time stamps, like “5:55 pm: Wife tells me I have to sleep in the car because 2 Peugeot 205s is 1 too many. 7:00 a.m. Wake in parking lot at work, at least the commute is short.

lecrab > duurtlang 07/10/2015 at 01:58

0

duurtlang > lecrab 07/10/2015 at 03:35

1

lecrab > duurtlang 07/10/2015 at 04:20

0

Yes, yes, I noticed. Soon I will take possession of mine.

Antti Kautonen > duurtlang 07/10/2015 at 06:40

0

Looking great! I have to fix my driver seat too.

But were these really built in Italy? Maybe they all came out the same Sochaux line, even if the cabrio roof was a Pininfarina design.

duurtlang > Antti Kautonen 07/10/2015 at 06:59

0

Despite the Pininfarina decal on the side I don’t think I ever claimed it was built in Italy, I think DasWauto (who made the Best Off post) got it mixed up with my daily driver, a Peugeot 406 coupe. That car was built by Pininfarina in Italy, and I made a few posts about it mentioning its mixed origin.

thebigbossyboss > duurtlang 07/10/2015 at 07:31

0

That`s great!! I like that car. My best friend growing up had a hot wheels edition of one.

duurtlang > thebigbossyboss 07/10/2015 at 07:42

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I can tell you from experience that the real thing is even better than the hot wheels version.

thebigbossyboss > duurtlang 07/10/2015 at 08:27

0

Cool!

Nauraushaun > duurtlang 07/10/2015 at 09:37

0

Really good looking car, I don’t think I ever appreciated the 205 much until now

CALUSA > duurtlang 07/10/2015 at 09:38

0

Amersfoort! Passing it almost every day. Great story!

duurtlang > Nauraushaun 07/10/2015 at 09:41

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The upside is that it’s great to drive as well. Bonus is that it’s reliable and cheap to keep running, easy to work on and it isn’t very rust prone (for the era).

duurtlang > CALUSA 07/10/2015 at 09:43

1

Amersfoort it is! I don’t pass it much anymore, but whenever I take a train for a trip over an hour it’s usually part of the route.

Nauraushaun > duurtlang 07/10/2015 at 09:53

0

So many upsides! We’re all envious of you.

bmw325_num99 > duurtlang 07/10/2015 at 10:00

1

More stories from the Netherlands like this! Well done :)

J Mendez > duurtlang 07/10/2015 at 21:24

1

Beautiful classic!

Congratulations.

That boneyard is amazing... Could spend a good time there!

Antti Kautonen > duurtlang 07/11/2015 at 06:23

0

Ah, of course, except for the first sentence in the post :D Lost in translation!

duurtlang > Antti Kautonen 07/11/2015 at 06:42

0

You’re right. How stupid of me. Blaming someone else even! I’ll edit it out.

Derpwagon > duurtlang 07/17/2015 at 00:08

0

Those are some of the best factory wheels to grace a car.