(March 25, 2012) There were only 8,557 copies built in 2002 and 2003, but the Renault Avantime grand tourer Coupé has a loyal following and its owners' group will celebrate the cars 10th anniversary in the UK. To mark the occasion a special meeting is being held for owners and enthusiasts next month.



The super-luxurious Avantime — which translates from French to "ahead of time" — was designed by Patrick le Quément and first went on sale in the UK on May 16, 2002. To commemorate the car’s latest milestone, the Avantime Owners Club will drive their iconic cars to the Transport Museum in Coventry on April 7 to chat about the Renault design classic, share stories and admire plenty of pristine examples of the eye-catching models on display.

Avantime excelled at the fundamentals expected of an executive coupé — comfort, style and performance — wrapped in a distinctive, innovative, attention-grabbing body, with design project manager Thierry Metroz admitting at the time he “wanted someone walking around the car to be continually astonished”.

Just six months after its debut as a concept car at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show, the first production model of the Avantime — which looked virtually identical to its concept — was unveiled at the 1999 Frankfurt and London motor shows, completely redefining the meaning of luxury coupé motoring for the future.

It is one of a few concept cars produced by a volume manufacturer that has gone straight into production within a year of first being seen by the general public.

The one-box design eliminated B-pillars and featured an aluminium structure, aluminium panels for the greenhouse and a full sunroof of strengthened heat-reflecting glass.

The interior featured four seats each with built-in seatbelts and Bridge of Weir leather. To facilitate access to the rear seats, two long doors featured a double parallel-opening hinge system (marketed as "double-kinematic") that maximized access with minimal outswing of the doors. Front side windows lowered automatically when either of the front seats folded forward to further facilitate entry to the rear two seats.

With its six-speed gearbox and a three-liter, V6 24-valve engine producing 210 horsepower and a top speed of 140 mph it boasted smooth, swift power delivery for a unique form of long-distance travel.

The Avantime was designed and developed in-house by Renault affiliate Matra, but production only lasted 12 month. When Matra decided to pull out of the automotive production business in 2003, partly as a result of the financial loss incurred by the poor sales of the Avantime, Renault chose to discontinue the model rather than move its production elsewhere.

This has made Avantime, which was also available in a 2.0 Turbo in Dynamique guise and a 3.0 V6 automatic on the flagship Privilege version, something of a rarity on the roads and helped to build a cult following among current and past owners and enthusiasts of these iconic design classics.

The Avantime Owners Club 10th anniversary meeting takes place at the Coventry Motor Museum on Saturday, April 7 from 9 a,m.