Renault Avantime V6 | Spotted

There may not be a Geneva show this year, but this 1999 debutant remains just as striking two decades later

"Does the Avantime signal the end for 'normal' saloons?" pondered an anonymous author back in 2002, in a PH article entitled "The End is Nigh". Unfortunately, thanks to the uniquely steadfast way that the PistonHeads website functions, the rest of the article beyond the headline and standfirst is unviewable, lost to the same dark corner of the internet which hosts the Ann Widdecombe Fan Club and the Adobe Flash downloader.

With over 20 years of hindsight, however, we can now definitively answer that writer's question. No, the Avantime did not spell the end of traditional saloon cars - it would take another decade or so for the far more hateful crossover to threaten the three-box coffin with its final nail. In fact, the only thing which the Avantime's arrival signalled a fatal lack of interest in, was the Avantime itself.

The model's tepid reception wasn't entirely beyond the expectation of its creators, of course. Its very name is a portmanteau of the French word 'avant', meaning ahead, and the English word 'time', meaning the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.

That name appears rather more hubristic than self-deprecating, however, when viewed alongside the words of Philippe Guedon, the CEO of Matra Automobiles, which built the car for Renault. The model would be "reasonably profitable", he predicted, if they could sell 60,000 to 80,000 units over five to six year production run, "but our ambitions would be greater."

In the end just 8,557 examples were built in two years, before (Avan)time was called on production in 2003. But why? To look at the Avantime today you'd be hard pressed to believe you were regarding a product of the '90s. Based on an Espace floorpan, the Avantime made use of aluminium for its structure and panels, countering the mass of its revolutionary B-pillarless greenhouse - including a full-length retractable sunroof made from strengthened heat-reflecting glass - to keep its kerb weight down to 1,741kg.

In contrast to the seven-seat Espace, it sported just four luxurious chairs, each clad in Bridge of Weir leather and came with opulent features like powered sunshades and an 'Open Air' mode, which simultaneously retracted all four windows and the roof at the touch of a button. Then, of course, there were the "double kinematic'" doors. At 1.4 metres in length - yes, seriously - they were twice hinged, once to open conventionally outward and then to fold back on themselves, sitting parallel to the car and allowing access in confined spaces. All of this could be had for just £24,050 with a 165hp, 2.0-litre turbo four-pot - which was best left alone - or for £27,050 with a 210hp 3.0-litre V6 'Privilege' option, which could be hustled to 62 in just 8.4 seconds.

As we know, none of it was enough to entice buyers from their saloons, but the Avantime did spell the end for one long-running feature of the automotive landscape. The scale of the model's failure was too great for Matra itself which, having been in business since 1964, went under soon after production ended. Its sacrifice needn't have been in vain, though; the Avantime may have gotten too far ahead of itself at launch, but for £7,495 perhaps now its time has come.

SPECIFICATION - RENAULT AVANTIME
Engine: 2,946cc, V6
Transmission: 5-speed automatic, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 210@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 210@3,750rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
Recorded mileage: 74,000
First registered: 2002
Price new: £27,050 (£44,335 after inflation)
Yours for: £7,495