RE: Renault Avantime V6 | Spotted

[sidesauce]

Mr Tidy said:

I didn't like them when they first came out, and I still don't.

I always thought these were utterly hideous and back when they were first touted it was very apparent to me no-one would buy them - I evidently wasn't wrong and less than 9000 being built just shows how horrifically bad a failure it was.

To me, this car is the very definition of an upturned jelly mould on wheels.

[swisstoni]

I have a soft spot for Renault and had the Avantime’s sister ship the Vel Satis for almost a decade.

They, along with Citroen, appear to have a wacky side that occasionally makes it to production. Something I doubt could ever happen in other companies.

[FA57REN]

sidesauce said:

always thought these were utterly hideous and back when they were first touted it was very apparent to me no-one would buy them - I evidently wasn't wrong and less than 9000 being built just shows how horrifically bad a failure it was.

To me, this car is the very definition of an upturned jelly mould on wheels.

You need to expand your horizons if you think the Avantime was a jelly-shape

1999 Ford Taurus



1999 Micra



It's actually rather sad that you can't see or won't accept the amount of design thought and work that went into the Renault.

[coogy]

Such a cool car. I'd have a fully restored blue V6 in my fantasy garage.

[sidesauce]

FA57REN said:

It's actually rather sad that you can't see or won't accept the amount of design thought and work that went into the Renault.

Whilst I fully accept a lot of thought and work went into Avantime's design, I think it's sad it was allowed to be sold at all. I also think its even more sad that Mantra went bust as a result of a completely misguided belief (probably more on Renaults part) that the general public would actually want to buy this thing.

In my opinion it's still hideous and its utter sales failure is/was fully deserved.

[frenchie TVR]

I am French and love the small Renault and specially the old school ones like the R4, R8 Gordini, R5 and all the fast versions of it: Turbo 2, etc…. and do not like the bigger Renault (Laguna and the like), but I LOVE the Espace. I am a father of 3 boys (almost 7 and 3 & ½ year old twins) and have a Renault Grand Espace mk IV as a family car (Top of the range trim, huge sun roof, most powerful diesel engine) and LOVE it, it is safe, massive (can pout the double push chair at the back without folding it), super comfy and for a massive car is reasonably fast ish and handles well…. But it looks like I will have to sell it as with the ULEZ extension will not be bale to run it in London from 2021… and it looks like I have just found a replacement car: The Avantime is brilliant, looks great and it is ULEZ complaint!
I means hard to believe that this car is 20 year old!
PS, as a fun car I have a TVR Chimaera 500 (which is a million miles away from the Espace)

[Helicopter123]

Was ahead of it's time. I quite like it.

[donkmeister]

Bonkers "we did it because we could, not because it was necessary or a particularly good idea" is where French design and engineering excels*. Solutions looking for problems, needlessly complex, or in this case, a type of car that no-one asked for. I love it.

* The British equivalent stereotype being inventing brilliant stuff on a shoestring in a shed, the German equivalent being needlessly surgical but efficient and so on.

[Abbott]

sjtgeray said:

If it was £4K i'd be tempted just for the bizarre looks you would get when driving it....wearing beret and onions of course to complete the look !

Be carefull what you wish for there are 6 for that sort of price on LaCentrale

I Believe the original design brief was for the Family man who has driven a big Espace with the family for years and now the family has grown up still likes the feel of a big bus but a bit more refined.

[Witchfinder]

Look at that fking sofa in the back! A guaranteed future classic.

[Water Fairy]

You only need to look at it to understand why it didn't sell. Too ahead of its time? No. Just ugly and with only 4 seats not practical enough for many.

[anonymous-user]

frenchie TVR said:

I am French and love the small Renault and specially the old school ones....

It's off topic but I always thought the original Renault Twingo was brilliant. Although in production for 15 years it was never sold in UK because AFAIK it wasn't engineered to include the possibility of an RHD version.

http://definitelymotoring.blogspot.com/2014/11/mis...

[edwheels]

I can see (obvs) why they didn't sell, but it's an MPV! They are never going to be lookers in the traditional way so all praise to Renault for going down this alternative styling route - i.e. it'll never be a low and sleek sportscar, so let's go a bit crazy with the thing and give people some good stuff such as lot of visibility and a sense of space.

Definately like these - miles more interesting than any other MPV out there - even today.

[alex.baker89]

I remember picking up a 2001 issue of Top Gear magazine which had a feature on both the Avantime and E65 7 series, when they first came out. That was an exciting time for futuristic car design as we entered the 21st century and I've loved these ever since.

The C6 seems to make more sense to me than this though, as I could stomach owning one of those with a diesel. Adore them both all the same.

Edited by alex.baker89 on Wednesday 4th March 13:10

[sjabrown]

Chancer asking that price for it. I think these were nudging shed territory a couple of years ago. Potentially more a brave pill... can't think parts supply would be easy unless there are specialist breakers in France.

[Tempest1961]

sjabrown said:

Chancer asking that price for it. I think these were nudging shed territory a couple of years ago. Potentially more a brave pill... can't think parts supply would be easy unless there are specialist breakers in France.

Most of the mechanical parts are regular Renault fare, so easy to source. The polyester body panels can be repaired by a fibreglass specialist, and the rest of the structure is either aluminium or galvanised steel. Even windscreens get re manufactured in batches and are available secondhand. And the values of nice examples are getting better and better as its journey into old-timer/classic status happens. and yes both the UK and France have people that break the really poor ones for parts.... but mostly they ones get refurbished and put back on the road.

And yes i am an Avantime owner and speak from experience. The UK owners club has a massive wealth of knowledge, experience and help and enthusiasm.

[lufbramatt]

Kinda like the Audi A2 being ahead of its time, I bet if they launched this now with a hybrid or electric powertrain it would do pretty well.

[Limpet]

Deranged Rover said:

I hate MPVs and I hate Renaults.

It is therefore a huge surprise to me that I have always loved the Avantime and have absolutely no idea why.

Same here, and even more surprising as my hatred of MPVs and Renaults comes from my ownership experience of a Renault MPV of a similar vintage to this Avantime. The Grand Scenic was actually a good idea, but so appallingly executed, and with such execrable build and reliability, that ownership of it turned into an eye wateringly expensive nightmare. It's a pretty safe bet that the Avantime would be more of the same. But it just looks so sodding cool

[Mr.Jimbo]

I really like it, despite it being a complete contradiction of a thing. V6 sounds like it'd be a hoot, and I genuinely think it has aged well in black/silver.

I think the blue/silver ages it though, and I love blue cars. if the Silver was wrapped black, and it had some EV/hyper efficient hybrid then that'd be bang up to date I reckon.

[monzaxjr]

FN2TypeR said:

Yours for: £7,495

That will seem like a bargain in a few years time. Can only see the values going one way on these.