Renault Espace

Espace I (1984–1991)

The Espace's design was originally conceived in the 1970s by the British designer Fergus Pollock, who was working for Chrysler UK, at its design centre at Whitley in Coventry. Later, Matra, which was affiliated with Simca, the then French subsidiary of Chrysler, was involved in partnership in the design, spearheaded by Greek designer Antonis Volanis.

The Espace was originally intended to be sold as a Talbot, and to be a replacement for the Matra Rancho leisure activity vehicle. Early prototypes used Simca parts, and hence featured a grille reminiscent of the Simca 1307 (Chrysler Alpine). In 1978, six years before the Espace went into production, Chrysler UK and Simca were sold to the French company PSA Peugeot Citroën, which phased out Simca within a decade because of falling sales. PSA decided the Espace was too expensive and too risky a design to put into production, so it was given to Matra, which took the idea to Renault.

The Matra concept became the Renault Espace. The design featured a fibreglass body mounted on a warm-galvanised steel chassis, using the same technique and assembly line at the factory as the Talbot Matra Murena. The introduction of the Espace required the relatively small factory to cease the production of the Murena to make room for the Espace. The Espace was eventually launched by Renault in July 1984. After a slow start - a mere nine Espaces were sold in the first month - consumers realised the benefits of the MPV concept and the Espace became popular. It was sold in the United Kingdom from August 1985.

In 1984, American Motors Corporation (AMC) announced it would begin to market the front-wheel-drive Espace in the United States. The minivan was exhibited to consumers at the 1985 Chicago Auto Show, but AMC's negotiations with Matra continued over the vehicle's import pricing. Plans for the Espace to be launched in the U.S. ended with the purchase of AMC by Chrysler.

In 2004, BBC's motoring show Top Gear set up a race between two Espaces, a Toyota Previa, a Toyota MasterAce, a Mitsubishi Space Wagon, and a Nissan Serena. The Espaces came first and second.

Facelift

Building upon its success, the Espace was revamped in 1988 with most of the Talbot/Simca content being replaced by equivalent Renault parts. The chassis and mechanical components of the car remained largely unchanged. The most obvious cosmetic exterior difference between the very first Espaces and the revamped post-1988 models were the changed headlights: the forward-slanting lights with orange indicator casing of the original Espace were replaced with backward-slanting lights with a clear indicator casing.

Along with the changes in design, a four-wheel drive version called Quadra was also introduced.

Espace II (1991–1997)

A heavily revised Espace was launched in 1991, adopting the Renault family look, to replace the Talbot–themed styling of the original. This was essentially a re-skin of the original car, with a new dashboard and other interior improvements. The chassis was unchanged.

In an episode of Top Gear, then–presenter Jeremy Clarkson referred to this generation as "probably the best of the MPVs". However, he went on to say "but that's like saying, "Oh good, I've got syphilis, the best of the sexually transmitted diseases!".

Espace F1

In 1995, Renault displayed a show car called the Espace F1, which was created by Matra to celebrate both the 10th anniversary of the Espace and Renault's involvement in Formula One racing. Though it resembled an Espace with substantial bodywork changes, the vehicle had more in common with a Formula One car.

The vehicle used a lightweight carbon fibre F1-style chassis in combination with a carbon fibre-reinforced Espace J63-series body (as opposed to fibreglass on the standard model). Powering the Espace F1 was an 800 PS (588 kW) (upgraded from its original rating of 700 PS (515 kW)) 3.5-litre, 40-valve Renault RS5 V10 engine, as used in the 1993 Williams-Renault FW15C.

As with an F1 car, the V10 engine was mid-engined (as opposed to the conventional front-engined layout) and the power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a 6-speed semi-automatic gearbox, also used in the Williams FW15C. The engine and transmission allowed the Espace F1 to accelerate from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 2.8 seconds, 0–200 km/h (0–124 mph) in 6.9 seconds and carry on accelerating to a top speed of 312 km/h (194 mph). With the use of carbon-ceramic brakes, the Espace F1's deceleration was no less impressive that its acceleration, and could accelerate from 0–270 km/h (0–168 mph) and brake to a complete halt in under 600 metres (1,969 ft).

This version of the Espace was featured in driving simulator game Gran Turismo 2. Frank Williams was a noted passenger of the Espace F1, chauffeured by Williams driver David Coulthard. The Espace F1 currently resides in the Matra Museum in France.

Espace III (1996–2002)

The third generation Espace arrived in December 1996, with the long wheelbase Grand Espace coming to market in early 1998. The most notable feature of the Espace III was the radically futuristic interior (including an elongated and centrally-mounted dashboard, digital speedometer and radio/CD display). The Espace III featured a plastic (GRP) body over a galvanised independent steel chassis.

The Espace III shared much of its running gear with the Laguna of the same era. Although Renault-badged, the Espace III continued to be built by Matra. A number of third generation Espaces were used as bases for NGV and taxi conversions for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the Kuala Lumpur Sentral transportation hub in Malaysia, rebranded as Enviro 2000s.

The third generation Espace was the last Espace to be built by Matra (The short lived Avantime was subsequently produced on the same production line). During 2001, Matra and MG Rover discussed a possible deal to build reskinned Espaces, as well as market them. However, the deal failed to happen.

Espace IV (2002–2014)

The fourth generation Espace arrived in 2003, being the first entirely Renault-developed and produced model. This model is 90% recyclable and contains numerous weight-reducing materials, thus cutting fuel consumption. The aluminium doors and bonnet are some 20 kg lighter than steel equivalents.

Its styling was reflective of a new design direction at Renault, symbolised by the radical Vel Satis and Avantime models, marking a major departure from the previous model, which also saw the range moved upmarket.

In 2006, the Espace received a thorough facelift (Phase II) and added new 2.0-litre and 3.0-litre dCi engines. In October 2010, a slight redesign was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show (Phase III), with minor cosmetic changes, LED lights and improved equipment.

On 22 June 2012, Renault announced a restyling of the Espace (Phase IV), the second important after 2006, incorporating the "family feeling" design concept of Laurens van den Acker. Also, it introduced new 2.0 dCi (M9R) engines, in order to meet the French regulations regarding the limitations on CO2 emissions. The car continued in production until the launch of a new generation.

In 2002, Renault goals were to deliver 450,000 units of the Espace IV before 2009, which would account for 20% of the European market for an MPV. The fourth generation Espace came third from the bottom in the Top Gear Satisfaction Survey 2005.

Safety

The Espace IV passed the Euro NCAP car safety tests with following ratings:

The 2003 Espace featured in British motoring television show Fifth Gear, where it was crashed into a 1990s Land Rover Discovery at 64 km/h (40 mph). The passenger compartment in the Espace was kept fairly intact, but the dummy in the Discovery was smashed between the seats and the dashboard, leaving no survival possibilities.

Reviews

The Renault Espace IV has received very good reviews from motoring journalists and is often cited as one of the best vehicles in the large MPV class.

Espace V (2015–present)

The fifth-generation Espace was unveiled at the 2014 Paris Motor Show in October 2014. It abandons the large MPV design of previous generations, instead having a mid-size crossover styling. The car is based on the Renault–Nissan Common Module Family architecture developed by both Renault and Nissan.

The Renault Espace has radar Adaptive Cruise Control, and active emergency braking. It is offered with the latest version of Renault's R–Link 2 infotainment system (voice control, navigation, Bluetooth and radio), engine stop-start, emergency brake assist, lane departure warning and road-sign recognition with speed limit alerts, 360-degree sensors, reversing camera and a hands-free parking system.

The Espace V is only available in LHD markets, with no RHD vehicles built or sold.

Initiale Paris

The fifth generation Espace was preceded by the Initiale Paris concept car, which is similar to the production version. The concept was unveiled in September 2013 at the Frankfurt Motor Show and it has a mid-size luxury crossover SUV-like design and various luxury elements, previewing also the new Renault's Initiale Paris luxury sub-marque.

The car incorporates an aluminium–poly(methyl methacrylate) roof which has a map of Paris.

The engine is a 1.6-litre diesel unit. The Initiale Paris is the final installment of Laurens van den Acker's "cycle of life" six-concept series, with each one representing, according to Renault, a lifetime moment: "love" (Renault DeZir), "explore" (Renault Captur), "family" (Renault R-Space), "work" (Renault Frendzy), "play" (Renaults Twin'Z and Twin'Run) and "wisdom" (Renault Initiale Paris).