The Renault Avantime is a grand tourer marketed by the French manufacturer Renault, designed and manufactured by Matra between 2001 and 2003. As a one-box design without B-pillars, styled by Patrick Le Quément, the Avantime combined the design elements of an MPV, estate or shooting brake with the style of a 2+2 coupé and elements of a convertible.
The name "Avantime" is a portmanteau of the French word "Avant" (meaning "ahead") and the English word "time" – with the latter using the English /taɪm/ rather than French pronunciation /tiːm/.
The Avantime was one of the few cars on Top Gear to earn praise from all three presenters: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
Appearances[]
- In Series 1, Episode 6, Clarkson remarked the Avantime as a "fantastic" car he "adored", sticking it beyond the Sub Zero section of the The Cool Wall.
- In Series 12, Episode 3, the Avantime made its most prominent appearance when the team were tasked with making it go quicker than a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X around the track. The trio improved the car's wheels, brakes, seats, stiffened the suspension and tuned the engine but were still unable to beat the Evo. At one point aerodynamics were dealt with in the form of a wooden splitter (which predictably caught fire) and a rear wing, sourced from a Honda Formula 1 car, although these tweaks actually slowed the car down.
- In Carnage A Trois, James May's choice for the" Weird French Car" was the Renault Avantime.