RE: Renault Avantime V6 | The Brave Pill
Discussion
I have a confession, I own one of these. I bought it from an online classic auction where I may have had too much of the amber nectar.
It is a 3.0l manual, it looks fantastic, you never see another, It is a hoot to drive and the looks from other people are to die for.
Saying that the build quality is typical French and some of the plastic surfaces go sticky.
The price rises are due to collectors' like me chasing old unique cars rather than the bland SUV s
t we see everyday.
It is a 3.0l manual, it looks fantastic, you never see another, It is a hoot to drive and the looks from other people are to die for.
Saying that the build quality is typical French and some of the plastic surfaces go sticky.
The price rises are due to collectors' like me chasing old unique cars rather than the bland SUV s
t we see everyday.Great article, seemingly well researched with the bizarre exception of the designer’s name; Patrick Le Quément…
There are a couple of great interviews with him on Big Car’s channel on YouTube. I remember an interview with him in Car magazine back in the 1990s where he predicted that car lights would become like jewellery for the designs; how right he was.
There are a couple of great interviews with him on Big Car’s channel on YouTube. I remember an interview with him in Car magazine back in the 1990s where he predicted that car lights would become like jewellery for the designs; how right he was.
It doesn't look as out there to me as everyone seems to suggest.
Would be quite nice to experience but no desire to own one.
I imagine when these were new there was some savage price cutting from the dealers, I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me you could have picked a pre-reg one up for half the RRP.
Would be quite nice to experience but no desire to own one.
I imagine when these were new there was some savage price cutting from the dealers, I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me you could have picked a pre-reg one up for half the RRP.
Neither. It's time never came and it never will. Who wanted a 2 door cut down Espace? That is exactly what it was. It was built to keep the Matra factory going when Renault moved Espace production elsewhere. It was probably only done to prevent strikes, sheep burning and port blockades.
Only recently has it occurred to French car makers that wacky doesn't sell. Niche is fine, so long as you have a mainstream car too, but not wacky. No one wanted Renault's alleged 5 series rival, the Vel Satis either. People just bought the 5 series.
The price of this one is laughable. It's about the same size as a Jaguar X Type. You can pick up a 2002 V6 4wd X Type for £2-3K.
Only recently has it occurred to French car makers that wacky doesn't sell. Niche is fine, so long as you have a mainstream car too, but not wacky. No one wanted Renault's alleged 5 series rival, the Vel Satis either. People just bought the 5 series.
The price of this one is laughable. It's about the same size as a Jaguar X Type. You can pick up a 2002 V6 4wd X Type for £2-3K.
XMified said:
An Avantime, covert???
Either you just made that up (which I doubt), or whoever was in charge of prison vehicle deployment at the time was deluded.
I think the Avantime lived its name- it was a great idea but too early to catch on.
Yes, these and the (at the time) latest Espace. From memory, Highdown in Surrey had one as did a few of the London outskirt Nicks. Either you just made that up (which I doubt), or whoever was in charge of prison vehicle deployment at the time was deluded.
I think the Avantime lived its name- it was a great idea but too early to catch on.
LucyP said:
Neither. It's time never came and it never will. Who wanted a 2 door cut down Espace? That is exactly what it was. It was built to keep the Matra factory going when Renault moved Espace production elsewhere. It was probably only done to prevent strikes, sheep burning and port blockades.
Only recently has it occurred to French car makers that wacky doesn't sell. Niche is fine, so long as you have a mainstream car too, but not wacky. No one wanted Renault's alleged 5 series rival, the Vel Satis either. People just bought the 5 series.
The price of this one is laughable. It's about the same size as a Jaguar X Type. You can pick up a 2002 V6 4wd X Type for £2-3K.
I would not say this is a cut down Espace and neither can you compare it to an X Type...totally different cars. Have a look at the beautiful blue example (€59K!) on Autoscout24 and tell me it's not an 'interesting' car. Would you not like to waft in this and head off for a 2 night break in champagne country? Others would, pricing on other websites indicates the same.Only recently has it occurred to French car makers that wacky doesn't sell. Niche is fine, so long as you have a mainstream car too, but not wacky. No one wanted Renault's alleged 5 series rival, the Vel Satis either. People just bought the 5 series.
The price of this one is laughable. It's about the same size as a Jaguar X Type. You can pick up a 2002 V6 4wd X Type for £2-3K.
There seems to be some love for them. A 109k mile example went for over £4600 at Historics in Nov 2021!
https://www.historics.co.uk/buying/auctions/2021-1...
https://www.historics.co.uk/buying/auctions/2021-1...
Have owned one for four years. It has been good for us but can appreciate they are not for everyone. Ours is the world's only six seater Avantime courtesy of a Multimac child seat in the back. The rear seat is raised (cinema seating) and pillarless entry and enormous glass roof make beach trips great. The boot must be one of the largest of any car in existence and fits our 40kg Old English Sheepdog plus weekend gear. Here's a pic of ours when we had just two kids on a Euro tour. Ours is the 2.0T manual and its 35mpg is ok I reckon and the engine always feels rapid enough for occasional overtakes and my fast trundling style. The £9K price suggests the UK's no.1 aficionado/expert Sandy B has fixed it up and if true is worth the £9k, Id be happy to have £2k for ours as its "used". The quality of the Matra product shouldn't be underestimated, slightly rusty engine subframe aside, the underside of mine at 150K is virtually spotless, at 20 years old. I also have a series 1 espace as my first job was with Geoff Matthews the (disputed) designer of the first Espace before it went Chrysler>Simca>Renault. The series 1 Espace has about 10kg of galvanising (don't quote me) on the chassis of the bleed-across-type and it is also unrusted underneath (lower front doors are tissue paper but that's another story. It and was beaten into production by the Chrysler minivan by a few months I believe in 1983. Funnily enough, have just bought a 2009 Chrysler Grand Voyager 2.8CRD. Made enquires to buy an Espace 3 to create a cool triumvirate of Matras, (the Avantime is based on an Espace 3) but the pull of electric sliding doors, electric folding down seats, electric tailgate and effing enormous interior was too strong. Fifth child imminent (think Spuckler family from the Simpsons). Avantime has been very reliable but I let the front struts crash for a year or so which has led to more problems, blame my ineptitude not lack of quality, recently rebuilt the struts, replaced the steering rack. I also "run" the Matra Espace facebook page, I say run, that means blocking people selling t-shirts and accepting members. The Avantime is what it is, a vaguely interestingly shaped practicalish car. Makes a good second car IMO. They have reached scrap/keep age (most cars do this after 12 years) when a big fix comes along. We had a new gearbox as our only big fix (steering column aside), but that was £600 all in cos the gearbox came from a Laguna Diesel. This also means we have the most economical (higher sixth gear) one in the world. The turbo engine is really sweet. I note the usual comments, yes the a silver roof rails have minor bubbling where electrical connections are earthed (the heated windscreen) but laughable as an issue when you compare to other cars 20 years old (rub down fill, paint silver about £200). The "Renault" electrics are from the previous age so not too bad, generation iV espace was the new age can-bus etc. We are probably growing out of it now, though I suppose it works as a second car for for a little while longer - but can see a Nissan Leaf or Zoe might be better for bobbing to gymnastics/swimming/dad-taxi etc. In our 6 seater guise, it works well given we can turn round and supply crisps etc, whereas once you go to three rows family arrangement is less cosy, albeit more roomy. Such talk is of course uninteresting when everyone on PH constantly hoons...... i.e. off to the DIY store down the legoland drive, two more 30MPH streets, five miles behind a van, two roundabouts and then on to an industrial estate. Still, I just got a scaffolding tower (FYI dismantled) in the Grand Voyager, it cant do that.
Edited by Hugh Jarse on Sunday 20th February 08:35
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