A mate of mine has an early Clio 16v. J reg IIRC, and in the usual blue.
Full leather etc., and still has MOT etc.
Apparently it has fast road cams, and the engine was rebuilt and tweaked at some stage in the past couple of years.
All I know, is that when I went in it the other week, it felt bloody quick - apparently it gives the tuned 106 Rallye with the tweaked and cammed GTi lump of my other mates a very good run for its money.
Anyway... head gasket appears to have gone - running like a sack of the proverbial on two pots which also now have low compression. The gearbox sounded a bit whiny as well, last time I went in it, so that might need some TLC in the near future as well - drove fine though up until the HG went.
Bodywise it seems reasonably straight - a bit of rot bubbling on one rear arch, and it has the tailgate with the built in brake light off a later Clio, so I suspect it's had a slight tap at some stage - most 15 year old hot hatches will have though by now, to be fair.
He's talking about sticking it on ebay, but I thought I'd offer it to the masses in here before it goes on there - open to sensible offers.
I should be getting some pics in a while.
-- JackH