This really is a quite extraordinary vehicle. It's the world's first people-carrier coupe and, depending on the success of the project, may be the last. It's based on Renault's immensely successful Espace MPV, but instead of offering multiple doors and seating configurations, it provides three doors and just four/five seats. Apart from its bold appearance, the Avantime is unusual for the vast amount of glass in its cabin, the absence of central roof pillars - lowering the electric windows opens up the sides of the car completely - and two glass sunroofs, the forward one opening to reveal the biggest hole ever punched into the roof of a car, or so says Renault. The Avantime is also about luxury. The interior ambience is impressive, the standard of equipment generous - and its sheer presence on the road certainly makes a statement.

Renault calls the Avantime a coupe, although it sees buyers trading in a wide range of machinery, including the BMW 3-Series and Peugeot 406 Coupes, as well as people-carriers, four-wheel drives and executive saloons.

The Avantime is big, although not as big as it looks - it occupies similar road space to a Laguna - but its height and the vast glazed cabin lend it the bulk and presence of a biggish van. It can be had with either a 210 bhp 3.0 V6 or a 165 bhp 2.0 turbo, both with a six-speed manual transmission or an optional five-speed automatic. A 150 bhp 2.2 litre six-speed dCi diesel will follow in November - an a diesel automatic, probably the ideal combination, has yet to be decided upon.

There are two trim levels, called Dynamique and Privilege, the first including electronic climate control, the electric sunroof, four electric windows, a 60 watt stereo, ABS and ESP and six airbags, while Privilege adds park distance sensors, cruise control, a stereo upgrade and heated front seats, among other things. Renault has modest ambitions for this beast, perhaps wisely, and will be bringing in just 1500 during 2002.