2002 Renault Clio V6 RenaultSport (230) Phase 1

The Cheshire Collection is a carefully curated ensemble of modern classics that represent our vendor's enthusiasm, and are all offered on a No Reserve basis to make way for new additions to their respective collections. For nearly a decade, they have been a welcome sight at our auctions, and whilst we have appreciated their energetic bidding, we have valued their chats, enthusiast to enthusiast, just as much. Each car is special, whether it's the vastly improved 1973 Ford Escort, the last production Sierra RS Cosworth showing more than 21,000 miles, the fabulous 12,000km 'Group N' Escort Cosworth, the well-maintained Clio V6, the one-owner, low-mileage Evo VI GSR to, perhaps, the best 2005 Honda Civic Type R on the market.

A spin-off from the 'Clio Trophy' race series and first previewed at the Paris Motor Show in 1998, the Clio V6 230 was in many ways the spiritual successor to the mid-engined 5-Turbo. Launched in 2001, the wide-hipped, mid-engined ‘baby supercar' was broadly based on the Clio Mk II but the V6 variant actually shared very little with its standard counterpart. Where the rear seats would normally be nestled a tweaked version of the proven and unstressed 3-litre, 24v, V6 unit from the Laguna saloon offering access to 227bhp (230PS) fed to the rear wheels and enabling 0-60 in 6.2 seconds and 146mph, not for the faint-hearted in such a diminutive 'rocket ship'. The Phase 1 cars were assembled by hand at the Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) workshops in Uddevalla in Sweden, using parts shipped from France, producing just 1,513 examples between 2001 and 2003.

This right-hand drive UK-supplied 2002 Phase 1 Clio V6 is finished in sparkling Iceberg Silver with a Charcoal half-leather and Alcantara interior and was registered to the first of just two keepers on the 15th July 2002. Stored in a 'Carcoon' in a heated garage the car formed part of a collection and having admired his mature enthusiast neighbour’s car for many years, the second recorded keeper bought the car directly from him and lightly recommissioned it, thereafter driving it only on sunny days. Recently serviced with a brake system overhaul, the car will be presented to auction with a fresh MOT, handbooks and service book. The Clio's condition shows the care bestowed on it from new, the odometer reading 42,568 miles at the time of cataloguing.

Offered at No Reserve and estimated keenly, this modern classic represents a great opportunity to join the rarefied world of low-production UK, rear-engine motoring.