2002 Avantime at my house
My Renault Avantime. This Coupespace first appeared in concept form at Geneva in 1999, and caused quite a stir.
“What is good design?”
This is a difficult question. Le Corbusier said that “good design is visible”.
In creating the Avantime, Patrick Le Quément (world famous Car Designer) has shown that a car that offers all the fundamentals of a coupé - comfort, style and performance - does not have to be cramped, impractical and expensive, but can offer these qualities in spacious, head-turning architecture.
Design Project Manager Thierry Metroz said “We wanted someone walking around the car to be continually astonished.” It would be fair to say they achieved that.
There's a lot of French cars I'd love to own, but the one I'd risk prison for is the legendary Avantime. This weird, gorgeous pillarless coupe minivan thing just presses all the right buttons for some reason. The Renault Avantime is a glance in to the future. However a good proportion of the general public really hate this car- it’s sales figures were dismal after all- but I have conjured up a theory as to why people hate it so very much: THEY ARE AFRAID OF IT.
They are afraid of the fact that this car is a look into the future, and people hate thinking about what the future might hold.
The Avantime was almost like an uncomfortable invasion of their personal space- It was quirky, unconventional, radical, unprecedented and visually confronting.
When buying cars, I think people are afraid of change. Thats why Toyota's Camry has been producing the exact same sedan shape for over 33 years. Critics labelled Renault insane at the release of the Avantime, but I get the feeling that they may have just been intimidated by the fact that this vehicle was a vehicle for change. It was still a regular car in every sense of the word- but it challenged design conventions to no end- and that pissed everybody off.
2002 Avantime at my house
My Renault Avantime. This Coupespace first appeared in concept form at Geneva in 1999, and caused quite a stir.
“What is good design?”
This is a difficult question. Le Corbusier said that “good design is visible”.
In creating the Avantime, Patrick Le Quément (world famous Car Designer) has shown that a car that offers all the fundamentals of a coupé - comfort, style and performance - does not have to be cramped, impractical and expensive, but can offer these qualities in spacious, head-turning architecture.
Design Project Manager Thierry Metroz said “We wanted someone walking around the car to be continually astonished.” It would be fair to say they achieved that.
There's a lot of French cars I'd love to own, but the one I'd risk prison for is the legendary Avantime. This weird, gorgeous pillarless coupe minivan thing just presses all the right buttons for some reason. The Renault Avantime is a glance in to the future. However a good proportion of the general public really hate this car- it’s sales figures were dismal after all- but I have conjured up a theory as to why people hate it so very much: THEY ARE AFRAID OF IT.
They are afraid of the fact that this car is a look into the future, and people hate thinking about what the future might hold.
The Avantime was almost like an uncomfortable invasion of their personal space- It was quirky, unconventional, radical, unprecedented and visually confronting.
When buying cars, I think people are afraid of change. Thats why Toyota's Camry has been producing the exact same sedan shape for over 33 years. Critics labelled Renault insane at the release of the Avantime, but I get the feeling that they may have just been intimidated by the fact that this vehicle was a vehicle for change. It was still a regular car in every sense of the word- but it challenged design conventions to no end- and that pissed everybody off.