Date: Saturday 27th April 2002
Time: Early Evening
Place: Betws-y-Coed, North Wales

It was a wet, misty and yet strangely warm evening. The people of the beautiful village of Betws-y-Coed became aware of a number of strangers in their midst. Who were the strangers? What did they want? And what peculiar manner of chariots did they ride? It wasn't until the following morning that two experts arrived at the scene to take charge of the situation...

No, not Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Dafydd and Beryl Williams, sponsors and organisers of the Renault Owners' Club Twingo Run 2.

Shortly before Sunday 10:00 start, at the Swallow Falls Hotel, eleven Twingos and some cars which desperately wanted to be Twingos but had tragically rolled off the production lines of Ford, Peugeot etc. gathered to prepare for the Twingo Run, a jaunt through some of the British Isles' most glorious scenery.

Wales. Birmingham. Lancashire. London. Surrey. Kent. Even Bergisch Gladbach in Germany. Those who appreciate a real car instead of all those boring-old-normal things had travelled from far afield to join in the event.

As amazed locals watched on in wonder, the armada took to the roads, route plans in hand, for the first leg of the tour.

As the combined Twingo Club GB/Renault Space Car Club team took to the hills in convoy, sometimes only the presence black tar on the roads convinced us that we had not been transported several hundred years back in time.

Gates across public roads which are not even wide enough for two Twingos to pass at the same time lead into a world of rustic charm, completely unspoilt by modern living. If you ever wondered why the Welsh are so fiercely patriotic, stop wondering now.

Ah, back on the motorway(!). Look, there are more humans here! There is only a matter of minutes between this picture and those above. Is there any kind of scenery they don't have?

One minute you're all alone, the next minute Dafydd's fiendish questionnaire by which we will all prove that we followed the route correctly causes not a traffic jam, but a Twingo jam (see below...)

At lunch time, the crowd reassembled at Portmeirion, scene of the popular 60's TV series "The Prisoner". No Mini Mokes or deadly balloons today, though.

One wonders if, whilst we were away, some unsuspecting continental European had stumbled across this scene and thought they'd got lost in Folkestone's incomprehensible one-way system and ended up back in the Eurotunnel...

The village attracts in the region of 240,000 to its hotels, holiday cottages, shops, cafés, gardens and beaches. It's not difficult to see why.

As we strolled leisurely around this exquisite resort, took in our lunch, looked around the shops filled with locally made confectionary, jams et cetera, we fell victim to the one thing than can always be relied upon in the United Kingdom:

Back on the road, and the the weather still can't decide if it should be wonderful or wet.

Here we see Mr. Rudge doing his neighbourly bit and helping some wayward chops-to-be find their way back to the right side of the fence.

If stage one had been beautiful, the best word to describe stage two would have to be 'dramatic'. Defying gravity, and putting gearboxes to the severe test, we ascended into the mountains, and scenes un-nervingly similar to the film 'The Italian Job': rocks the one side and a sheer drop to the other.

Unlike Michael Caine and his cohorts, though, we only went over the dam (below). Not through it.

The day ended at the Green Inn, close to Oswestry, where we all relaxed, shared drinks (teas and coffees for those of us with long drives still ahead of us), and all did phenominally badly at the quiz.

Well, what do you expect? We've been driving all day! We're tired! You want us to think as well??!!

And that is the end of the road for the Twingo Run 2002, and this (left) is the Clark team lifting the trophy. Well done Dave & company, we're not jealous. Honest.

To all of those who couldn't make it, now you've seen what you missed, we're certain you'll join us next year. Until then, adieu...

Special thanks to:

Dafydd & Beryl

All pictures in this page are kindly supplied by, and copyrighted to, Annette & Michael Terzan of the Renault Space Car Club.

Click HERE for the Twingo Run 2003!