Renaultsport Twingo 133 | Spotted

Like your hot hatches small, cheap and simple? Voila!

By Matt Bird / Tuesday, 30 July 2024 / Loading comments

If you look at the hot hatches that are now worth a fair bit of money, they tend to share a few common traits. Today’s classic hot hatch heroes tend to be the light, simple, fast, fun pocket rockets of yesteryear - being cute to look at helps, too. Barring the rally reps, complexity doesn’t necessarily make for more desirability. As cars age, the less to look after the better.

With all that in mind, the Renaultsport Twingo 133 ought to be more in demand. It has the right badge, sold in small numbers that ensures rarity today and (vaguely speaking) has a link back to a current product in the Alpine A290. Yet here’s a low-mileage car that looks really good and seems to have been kept well, priced at £4,950. Always overshadowed by the more powerful, better-known Clios and Meganes, the Twingo now looks a great value way into a bit of Renaultsport magic for not very much. There’s no way a 58k Clio or Megane with some K-Tec bits is going to be £5k now.

The Twingo’s joy was its simplicity. Back when such things were commercially viable, Renault didn't seek to reinvent the junior hot hatch. Its smallest city car got all the important stuff - larger engine, firmer suspension, bigger brakes, cooler looks - and not a whole lot else in the quest for pocket rocket fun. The 133 was cheap and cheerful, a riot on back roads thanks to a taut, alert chassis, tiny dimensions and a rev-happy engine. For £13k, nothing was quite as much fun, the Abarth 500s were faster but not as nice to drive and the Swift not quite as agile. The French have always been the masters of lightweight fun - the Twingo definitely proved it.

There was a Cup chassis option for the truly committed, though it seems that this goes without (there are no badges, the air con remains, and so do the individually sliding rear seats). No bother - it’s more than entertaining enough without. Perhaps what’s most appealing about this 133, beyond having seemingly survived so well as a back-to-basics performance car built to be thrashed, is the money that has recently been spent on it. Just like its bigger siblings, the Twingo has a couple of known issues and maintenance jobs that can be expensive; they become hard to justify when a car isn’t worth very much. In 2022 yours truly was quoted £1,116 for a cambelt and waterpump on a £3,000 133, so it’s easy to see why cars get run on a shoestring and meet an untimely end.

There isn’t mention of a cambelt in the advert for this one, which is certainly something to investigate and negotiate with, though it does have a recently refurbished gearbox and clutch to its name - which cost £2,000. The last service was in August at a cost of £1,667, so a checkup this year should be a lot less. Moreover, that inspection was at renowned Renaultsport specialists K-Tec, where there’s said to be plenty of receipts for this car. Always a good sign when money has been spent despite the car’s junior billing. It’s been upgraded, too, with Brembo discs and pads, a new exhaust and a K-Tec underbonnet strut brace. All four tyres look to be Goodyear Eagle F1s. The service history isn’t extensive, but it seems that the most recent owner, who’s had the Twingo for the past five years, has ensured decent upkeep.

Even if it does need a cambelt soon, the Twingo has surely done all the depreciating it’s likely to do more than 15 years after its introduction. It’s hard to imagine a time when a 133 that looks this smart being worth less than £5k. Particularly if the best Clios and Meganes continue to climb. With the gearbox refurbishment done, that’s one less worry, and a Twingo shouldn't be too expensive to run otherwise. Because it’s a Twingo. Even wheels that always looked perhaps a little too big are only 17s. For good od-fashioned fun without the nostalgia premium, it’s hard to imagine much better than a 133.

SPECIFICATION | RENAULTSPORT TWINGO 133

Engine: 1,598, four-cylinder
Transmission: 5-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 133@6,750rpm
Torque (lb ft): 118@4,400rpm
MPG: 43.5
CO2: 150g/km
Year registered: 2009
Recorded miles: 58,308
Price new: £13,165
Yours for: £4,950