Fabulous Flops: The Renault Avantime

[Blake Noble]

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Fabulous Flops is a monthly series profiling some of the spectacular failures in the automotive industry. The automotive industry is by nature an innovator, but sometimes those innovative ideas are taken out of the oven before they are done cooking, others fall victim to poor timing. Today we are profiling the delightfully bizzare Renault Avantime.

There’s no mistaking that Renault has built some bizarre looking cars during its 113 years in business. Back in the 1950s, Renault rolled out the Colorale, a very butch looking five-door car with optional four-wheel drive meant to compete in Europe’s large family car segment at the time. The 1960s brought about the 8 sedan, whose front fascia juxtaposed a rather constipated brow above a wide-eyed yet expressionless stare.

The ‘70s and ‘80s was when Renault started to get a little more frisky with oddly designed cars. In 1971, the French automaker built the 15 coupe, based around the already fishbowl-looking 12 sedan, with rounded styling that was better suited to an electric shaver. Renault then launched the 14 hatchback in 1976, whose big-hipped shape and notorious rust issues earned it the comical nickname of “the rotten pear” in the automotive press. For 1980 there was the oddly bloated and hunchbacked Fuego sports coupe whose defining feature was a huge belt of ribbed cladding that ran its entire waist line.

1962 Renault 8 (left) and 1976 Renault 14 (right)

With the exception of the Batmobile-like Alpine GTA, Renault’s styling team mostly simmered down in the 1990s only to explode in a burst of French burlesque oddness in the early 2000s under the direction of stylist Patrick Le Quement. In 2001 Renault built the Vel Satis, another large five-door car with very untraditional upright styling that was too ugly or wasn’t ugly enough, all depending on who was looking at it. For 2002 the Megane, which had been fairly conservative during its first run in the ‘90s, would flaunt what would turn out to be one of the biggest derrieres ever seen on a small hatchback..

1991 Renault Alpine GTA

As bizarre as those particular Renaults were, one was created more bizarre than all the others: the infamous Avantime, whose name is a combination of the French word “avant” (meaning “ahead”) and the English word “time.”

On to page 2!

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The Avantime was introduced for 2001 alongside the aforementioned Vel Satis. Supposedly combining the styling of a 2+2 coupe with the space of minivan, the Avantime concept was conceived by former Renault co-operative Matra, who dabbled in Formula 1 racing while building computers, bicycles, missles, and the Espace van. Matra intended the coupe-van-thing to cater to a younger generation of buyers who, as they saw it, grew up with the Espace and didn't want to grow too far apart from it.

2001 Renault Avantime

Le Quement handled the styling and came up with a large-butted one-box shape with a pillarless daylight opening, a massive retractable glass roof, and huge doors. It was something that was truly unlike anything ever built before by an automaker, a huge two-door van that was guaranteed to leave onlookers with the most confused look on their faces. No one could figure out if they were looking at a car, a small land-fairing cruise liner, or something sculpted by Picasso turned into a parade float.

Though the design wasn’t without its engineering issues, Renault bested the better part of them with some interesting solutions. For example, the Avantime used a space frame made of strengthened aluminum to retain structural integrity in a side impact collision in spite of the fact there weren’t b-pillars. The huge doors used a clever double-hinged design to keep them manageable in tight parking situations. To keep weight down, the lower body panels were all composite.

2001 Renault Avantime

Aside from the neat engineering details, the best part of the Avantime was it’s so called “grand air” mode in which all of the windows and the big sunroof were retracted for a very convertible-like experience. The feature was activated with the simple push of a button on the headliner. It was this particular experience that Avantime owners would come to treasure most in their cars.

The entire package came at a hefty cost though. Engineering costs for the Avantime’s double hinged doors and semi-convertible design racked up at a whopping 224€ million back at the turn of the century (about $286 million US dollars then and $358 million today). Those engineering costs would also be passed on to the buyer with the base sticker price starting at 29,000€ (about $37,000 USD then, $46,000 USD today). With a sticker price like that, those young, Espace-loving buyers that the Avantime was supposed to attract couldn’t afford it. Their parents, which could, weren’t interested because of the odd styling and general lack of practicality. The Avantime also faced in-house competition from the Vel Satis, whose appearance looked more conventional in comparison.

2001 Renault Avantime Interior with door hindge detail

Sales of the Avantime totaled up to just 8,557 cars in May 2003, at which point the plug was pulled due to Matra’s decision to leave the automotive market partially due to the money lost developing and building the Avantime and Renault’s growing disinterest for the model. In contrast, sales of the Vel Satis equaled up to 62,201 cars during it's production run from 2001 - 2009 (an average of about 7,000 cars a year).

The Avantime’s polarizing styling and concept coupled with its very costly but clever engineering and poor sales definitely make this one of the most jaw-dropping failures ever in the automotive industry. In spite of its name, over a decade later we still don’t know what time it was supposed to ahead of.

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[Drew Dowdell]

You know... except for the cost... I could probably drive one of these.

[William Maley]

I would own one of these in a heartbeat..

[Robert Hall]

For some reason, I've long found the Avantime interesting..for the audacity of the design and idea. Saw one in person in the UK a few years ago, they look really cool in person.

That Alpine GTA was pretty cool. IIRC, one or more the car mags claimed in the mid- '80s it would come to the US as a AMC Renault coupe (before Chrysler acquired AMC).

[§carlet §wordfish]

I wish people would stop comparing cars that don't look anything like the Batmobile to the Batmobile.

I would so rock an Avantime all over the place.

[the_yellow_dart]

Those hinges are bizarre. Maybe moreso than the styling.

[ocnblu]

Je ne parle Francais in this case. Tippy!

[Intrepidation]

I wish people would stop comparing cars that don't look anything like the Batmobile to the Batmobile.

f@#kING THIS.

[Blake Noble]

I wish people would stop comparing cars that don't look anything like the Batmobile to the Batmobile.

f@#kING THIS.

It's an editiorial and a lot of editorials contain personal opinions that you may not agree with.

I don't mean to sound like a jerk, I'm just saying.

Edited January 19, 2012 by black-knight

[Intrepidation]

Funny thing is I wasn't referring to the editorial, I just saw the comment and had to requote it, because quite frankly, it gets old when every new car that comes out "looks like this this and this" Yes the 500 looks just like an International LoneStar in the same way a Cesna 172 looks just like a B-52 Stratofortress.

My response wasn't directed at you (I didn't even read the batmobile part), just in general. No offense intended to it. Just a personal pet peeve of mine.

[Turbojett]

I can't get behind the Avantime.

I like that Alpine though. were they still R/R layout then? (snap oversteeeeer!)

[Intrepidation]

I always liked the concept of it, really it even looks fine until the back, but that was par for the course for Renaults of the era.

[Blake Noble]

Funny thing is I wasn't referring to the editorial, I just saw the comment and had to requote it, because quite frankly, it gets old when every new car that comes out "looks like this this and this" Yes the 500 looks just like an International LoneStar in the same way a Cesna 172 looks just like a B-52 Stratofortress.

My response wasn't directed at you (I didn't even read the batmobile part), just in general. No offense intended to it. Just a personal pet peeve of mine.

Understood and point taken. No sweat.

[ocnblu]

I'm a fan of the current French wildness in car design. Citroens are really cool.

I can attest to the fact that the Le Car was a fun little dinghy.

[67impss]

Never drove a Le Car branded that way but was a Lectric Leopard and couldn't get into any driveing enjoyment at all. Those things had a fuse that would blow if you didn't monitor the amper gauge closely. It was a fleet car asigned to the citys garage and we made the fuses out of old stop signs if there were GO signs might have worked out better

[Drew Dowdell]

You know there is an Avantime fanclub out there somewhere.....

[SAmadei]

Only French car I ever drove was a friend's Renault Encore... the best lightweight car I ever drove... darn thing could be overloaded to seemingly double its weight and was so simple that I actually replaced the radio head unit WHILE DRIVING THE CAR.

Poor thing got routinely parked at McDonalds and somehow hydrolocked out of the blue.

[Turbojett]

Please....I've driven Renaults, Peugeots, Citroens, Alpines, even a Bugatti....

...In video games...

[Turbojett]

but seriously folks...

I wish we'd have gotten these things:

I'd have even settled for this:

Now that's a FWD hot-hatch I'd rock up and down the block.

Edited January 20, 2012 by Turbojett

[Blake Noble]

On a related note, I thought I would share with you guys the following ad I found for the Renault 14 while researching this article.

I wonder if Roald Dahl was responsible for that idea ...

[CanadianBacon94]

but seriously folks...

I wish we'd have gotten these things:

I rock one of those in forza 3 haha some stratospheric horsepower level last time i played

[ocnblu]

Stratospheric horsepower? Shirley you jest! I see no stickers.

[Drew Dowdell]

it makes up for it by having rear intake scoops on a front engine car.

[67impss]

I think they are trying to cool the brakes they're on the brakes as much as gas in rally cars

[balthazar]

[CanadianBacon94]

Stratospheric horsepower? Shirley you jest! I see no stickers.

Sorry, that was an old picture

obviously pushing 700 HP now...

[G. David Felt]

Was this not the James Bond Girl's Car Fatima Blush in Never say Never Again?

[Blake Noble]

it makes up for it by having rear intake scoops on a front engine car.

Actually, the Renault Clio V6 Renault Sport (what a mouthful!) is mid-engined and rear-wheel drive, so those vents actually cool the engine which is behind the front seats. The same is also true for the Renault 5 Turbo balthazar posted.

Edited January 21, 2012 by black-knight

[Robert Hall]

it makes up for it by having rear intake scoops on a front engine car.

Actually, the Renault Clio V6 Renault Sport (what a mouthful!) is mid-engined and rear-wheel drive, so those vents actually cool the engine which is behind the front seats. The same is also true for the Renault 5 Turbo balthazar posted.

Yes, same idea as the one-off VW Golf W12 from a few years ago...a hot hatch w/ an engine where the backseat would be...

[balthazar]

twin Kawasaki 6-cyls in the rear

[G. David Felt]

Was this not the James Bond Girl's Car Fatima Blush in Never say Never Again?

Yup just watched the movie again and it is her car

[Turbojett]

yup, the Clio V6 RS (you could have just said that YJ ) is a MR rally homologation for a car that never actually got to rally. It was used in a one-make racing series in Japan though.

as you can see here, owners were not the faint of heart.

[daves87rs]

I like that quirky van...

[Drew Dowdell]

it makes up for it by having rear intake scoops on a front engine car.

Actually, the Renault Clio V6 Renault Sport (what a mouthful!) is mid-engined and rear-wheel drive, so those vents actually cool the engine which is behind the front seats. The same is also true for the Renault 5 Turbo balthazar posted.

Wow! How French!

[Robert Hall]

Maybe for this year's SEMA show someone will build a Spark ZL1 with the Camaro ZL1 engine where the back seat would be...

[Blake Noble]

Maybe for this year's SEMA show someone will build a Spark ZL1 with the Camaro ZL1 engine where the back seat would be...

Actually, if you wanted a Chevrolet version of the Clio V6 RS (hat tip, TJ) here's the recipie you'd use. The normal Clio was/is about the size of a Sonic (subcompact/supermini class), so of course the Sonic would be your base. To make it absolutely livid, you'd throw a turbo 3.6L V6 behind the front seats and convert it over to rear or all-wheel drive. After that, you JB Weld the rear doors shut and throw on some huge vents and meaty tires. Presto! There's your 2014 Chevrolet Super Sonic Boom V6 Sport Edition ZL-RS (or Chevy SSB V6 SE ZL-RS for short).

Edited January 24, 2012 by black-knight

[Robert Hall]

Sonic Boom...I like that... they had some sort of tricked out Sonic at B-J, was matte black w/ neon green graphics and mountain bike on the roof..

[Turbojett]

yay for rediculously long names!

Sounds like a helluva project. I'll have to file the plans next to my idea to build a RWD Cobalt drift car using the rear end from a Solstice and a regeared transaxle/transfer case from an Equinox.

Edited January 25, 2012 by Turbojett

[timelord731]

Unfortunately, the Renault suffers from the oh so tragic 90's wannabe sleek style that was out of favor even when it was in style.