Crazy Renault 21 dressed to extremes

The things we do for love - beneath the mirror-glass, fish-tail wings, outrageous body kit and an interior that would make Liberace blush, is a plain-Jane Renault 21 hatchback.

Spotted trying unsuccessfully to integrate in a backstreet in Reims, France, the unattended car appears to be a mobile billboard for a person adept at modifying and tuning Renault 21s. Good luck with that business.

It's a car difficult to miss. Features include a boot that has become a clever sound box for an upmarket (over-the-top) audio and creating the box with a perimeter of mosaic mirror glass, then cutting a small hole for rear vision.

The driver's scenery includes chromed instruments, diamante-studded dashboard edging with a jacquard-print dash covering - but no fluffy dice! Amidst the intricacies of fabrics and chrome and glass is a writhing pool of electrical wires and telescopic arms to hold iPads and iPhones.

There's so much mirror glass that Reims must have a police force blinded by the eccentricities of the owner or chosen to turn its eye away from the glare. About two-million examples of the 21 were made from 1986 to 1994 in seven countries from China to Chile but this one - a post 1989 model - is more likely the product of Renault's Marseille factory. It replaced the Renault 18 and was succeeded by the Laguna.

Oddly, the 21 goes down in history as one of the few cars built with either a transverse or longitudinally-mounted engine - the latter a by-product of Renault's inability to source a suitable high-torque transmission and solved by using the bigger Renault 25 gearbox.

There was a slight difference in wheelbase but outwardly, it was almost impossible to pick cars with the different drivetrains. This Renault 21 sedan represents one person's devotion to the automobile. If you think you can top this, send in your photo.