Renault has no plans to put its striking 17 concept into production and will start to move away from retro designs now that it has revived some of its most recognisable models.
The 17 Electric Restomod was revealed recently as a reinterpretation of a lesser-known coupé from the 1970s, wearing a sleek new look, riding on a new carbonfibre chassis and being powered by a 270bhp rear-mounted electric motor.
There was speculation about the possibility of it evolving into a production car, but Renault Group design boss Laurens van den Acker has poured cold water on the prospect.
He referred to the 17 concept – created in partnership with designer Ora Ito – as a "brand kicker" designed "just to make noise", like the Twingo concept that Renault did with Sabine Marcelin last year and the 4 by Matthieu Lehanneur, who designed the 2024 Olympic torch.
"These are not for you guys, in a sense," he told journalists at the Paris motor show. "They're for people that buy Vogue magazine or read the Monocle."
And in response to calls for Renault to put a version of the 17 in showrooms, van den Acker suggested that not all historic Renault models have the same popular (and commercial) appeal as the new 4, 5 and Twingo.
"You have a selective memory when it comes to the past. Now we look at these cars and we say 'look at how great they were', but to be honest they were challenged," he said, referring to the 17, which had a relatively short life and wasn't especially popular.
The chances of a revival for the likes of the Safrane saloon, then, are minimal, suggested van den Acker - and even though "some people truly, deeply loved" the genre-busting Avantime of the 2000s, the short-lived two-door MPV won't be coming back.
And while there is an appetite for a resurrection of some of Renault's more recent and more mundane offerings, it's not to the extent that the company would consider all options.
Join the debate
Add your comment
Bring back the Espace, a new take on the seminal original, with reverse rake nose, monobox shape, deep windows and versatile cabin. Surely this is what an EV 'skateboard' platform was built for.
VW haven't made their new Buzz flexible enough and it suffers from the ID interface and general sloppiness. Renault could nail the MPV for a new generation, even offer a 4WD off road version.
Shame, I was looking forward to a restomod Dauphine .
In my inexpert opinion, there are about 20 European cars from the past, whose designs and characteristics might be considered memorable, that could benefit by revival, not to create retro designs but to use aspects of and inspiration from their designs to create evolved, thouroughly up-to-date models for the future. The existing daddy has to be Porsche, which few would regard as retro. Like the 911, the Mini, 500, 4 and 5, they are all evolved modern designs, in my view. The last VW Beetle was not.