This Renault Clio V6 just sold for… £90,000

A Renault Clio V6 has just sold at auction for £90,000, which is comfortably more money than previous Renault Clio V6s have commanded. It is comfortably more money than many brand new things offering a truckload of additional power and toys. It is, according to Collecting Cars, the most expensive Clio V6 ever sold in an auction.

Ninety thousand pounds. For a Noughties hot hatch. While you don’t need reminding the used car game has wandered off the reservation of late, ninety grand for an old Clio is still astronomical.

There are a few clues as to why this particular Clio V6 warrants such a high price, the first being much YELLOW. That’s not being flippant – it’s one of just eight right-hand-drive Clio V6s optioned in ‘Acid Yellow’, out of 21 worldwide. Moreover, the special V6 gets a then-£3,900 leather option pack that only 18 cars were fitted with. Unsurprisingly this leather option pack gets much leather: on the seats, door cards, steering wheel, gearshift and handbrake.

More clues can be found under the bonnet, because that 3.0-litre V6 that presents 255bhp in Phase 2 guise has been used sparingly. We’re talking just-over-17,000-miles sparingly. It’s complemented by a full service history via main dealers and Renault specialists.

Speaking of specialists, none other than former Renault, Ferrari and McLaren Formula One driver Patrick Tambay drove this Clio at the 2005 Goodwood Festival of Speed up the hill. Fast forward to 2016, and the Clio would win the ‘Best Clio V6’ prize at the UK’s biggest gathering of V6 Clios.

“Low-mileage examples of the Clio V6 are becoming harder to find,” explains Collecting Cars founder Ed Lovett, “and this particular car represented a likely unrepeatable combination of exceptionally rare colour, full leather interior, and excellent history.”

Where's your money going - shiny new thing, or very shiny and very yellow old thing?