Rare Renault 15 TS Garage Find Heads To Auction With £1,000 Guide

It has been sitting in a dry garage since 1986, the engine is seized and there are reportedly just five Renault 15 TS models currently licensed for UK roads.

Now this wonderfully untouched 1973 survivor is going up for auction in Essex with an estimate of just £1,000–£2,000.

For anyone with a soft spot for forgotten cars, this could be one of the most interesting lots we’ve seen for a while.

Hidden Away For 40 Years

The Renault, registration BGV 959L, has recently emerged from the garage where Reeman Dansie says it had been stored since 1986.

That means it has effectively missed four decades of motoring.

Better still, nobody appears to have tried to disguise that fact.

The green paintwork is still covered in garage dust, there’s an old tax disc in the windscreen and period stickers remain on the car. Open the door and the wonderfully 1970s Renault interior looks almost as though somebody parked it up and simply walked away.

It’s exactly how we like to see a long-term garage find.

A Properly Rare Renault

The Renault 15 arrived alongside the closely related Renault 17 in the early 1970s.

Both were front-wheel-drive coupés using familiar Renault mechanical components beneath dramatically different bodywork.

The 15 was the slightly more restrained of the pair, distinguished by its huge rear side windows and enormous glass area. Renault produced more than 200,000 examples during the model’s lifetime, yet seeing one on a British road today is extraordinarily unusual.

This isn’t the entry-level 15 TL, either.

The 15 TS received the larger 1,565cc four-cylinder engine, producing around 90PS, rather than the 1,289cc engine fitted to the TL. This particular car also has a four-speed manual gearbox.

According to figures quoted by Reeman Dansie, just five Renault 15 TS models are currently licensed for UK roads.

That puts its survival into perspective.

A French Alternative To The Capri

Cars such as the Renault 15 occupied an interesting corner of the market in the 1970s.

Buyers wanted something more stylish than an ordinary family saloon without necessarily needing a full-blown sports car, and manufacturers were only too happy to oblige.

Ford had the Capri. Opel had the Manta. Renault did things rather differently.

The 15 was front-wheel drive, unmistakably French and, more than half a century later, looks refreshingly unlike almost anything else.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that Renault says 209,887 Renault 15s were produced.

They weren’t some obscure hand-built rarity when new. They have simply almost disappeared.

Trips To Europe Before It Was Parked

There is another lovely piece of history with this particular car.

Reeman Dansie understands from the vendors that the Renault was regularly used for trips into continental Europe before it was taken off the road.

Some of the old European stickers remain on the car today, along with a large GB badge at the rear.

Even the maps and other bits and pieces visible inside somehow add to the atmosphere.

Rather than looking like an abandoned wreck, it feels like a little snapshot of how an old car was actually used.

Remarkably Solid, But There’s A Catch

Forty years standing still can be extremely unkind to a car.

The good news is that Reeman Dansie reports that the Renault has survived its long hibernation remarkably well thanks to being kept in dry storage.

It rolls freely and, on inspection, is described as appearing remarkably solid.

There is, however, one fairly important problem.

The engine is seized.

Anyone buying it should therefore regard this as a recommissioning or restoration project rather than something likely to be driven home from the auction.

After nearly 40 years sitting dormant, we’d want to work through every mechanical and safety-related system anyway.

But we’d also be very reluctant to over-restore it.

The dust can eventually go. The story shouldn’t.

Estimated At Just £1,000–£2,000

The Renault is Lot 64 in Reeman Dansie’s Classic Cars, Vehicles & Automobilia auction in Colchester on Saturday 12 September 2026, with the sale beginning at 10am.

Its pre-sale estimate is just £1,000–£2,000, with buyer’s premium also applicable.

That feels like a fascinating proposition for such an unusual survivor.

Of course, an auction estimate isn’t a guarantee of what the hammer will eventually fall at, and bringing a seized engine back to life could be anything from relatively straightforward to the beginning of a much bigger job.

But when did you last get the opportunity to buy a 1973 Renault 15 TS that has effectively been frozen in time since the mid-1980s?

You can see the full auction listing, photographs and bidding details at Reeman Dansie here:

https://www.reemandansie.com/auction/lot/lot-64—1973-renault-15ts-1565cc-finished-in-grey-reg-no-bgv-959l/?lot=293338&so=0&st=&sto=0&au=380&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=0&pp=96&pn=1&g=1

We suspect this is one we’ll be keeping an eye on.

Got Something The Motoring World Should See?

Cars like this are a reminder of what can still be sitting quietly behind closed garage doors.

We’re always interested in hearing about unusual cars, motorcycles and pieces of motoring history with a story behind them.

It doesn’t have to be immaculate, valuable or even running. In fact, sometimes the forgotten things are far more interesting.

Whether you’re a private owner with something tucked away, or a business with an unusual vehicle, motorcycle or piece of motoring history for sale, we’d like to hear about it.

If it’s something our audience would be interested in, it’s newsworthy to us. Get in touch with UK Barn Finds and tell us about it.