40 FACTS ABOUT THE RENAULT ESPACE by Andrew Roberts

As with many fine cars, the story of the Espace's origins is complex. Here are 40 facts about this remarkable vehicle:

1. In 1976, the Chrysler UK draughtsman Fergus Pollock created a ‘people carrier’. Management in Coventry approved it in 1977.
2. The Pollock design was named the ‘Supervan’, and Chrysler UK made several full-scale mock-ups in 1978 to validate the concept's feasibility.
3. By 1978, when Chrysler sold its European operations to Peugeot, the project passed to Matra. Chrysler France had a financial stake in the Romorantin-based company.
4. Matra's designer, Antonis Volanis, developed the Supervan idea as a Talbot that would eventually replace their Simca VF2-based Rancho leisure vehicle'.
5. The vans Philippe Guédon, Matra's CEO, saw when he visited the USA were further inspiration for the Espace.
6. By 1979, Matra had created three P16 prototypes based on the Talbot Solara. An impressed Peugeot management asked for further developments.
7. In response, Matra devised the more compact P17 and the P18. The latter was also Solara-derived but with modified bodywork and was seen as the more promising of the two.
8. Matra completed the P18 in 1980, and Jean Boillot, the President of Peugeot, was so impressed he said: “I think that this type of car represents as important a turning point in the field of bodywork as the Diesel in that of mechanics. There are those who will take it; there are those who will not take it!”.
9. However, Peugeot declined to make P18. www.Carjager.com suggests: “After having bought Citroën, then Chrysler Europe, and having been hit full in the face (perhaps harder than the others given the financial investments made) by the oil crisis of that year, the Franche-Comté firm did not have the means to embark on the adventure”.
10. Boillot suggested to Guédon that Matra approach Citroën. By 1981, they devised Project P20 based on the soon-to-be launched BX.
11. Citroën similarly decided against manufacturing the P20 on the ostensible grounds of high manufacturing costs.
12. As the story goes, the unofficial reason Citroën refused was that it did not want to implement a radical idea it had not created.
13. At one point, Philippe Guédon thought BMW might be a suitable partner for the P18.
14. In December 1982, Guédon presented Renault's CEO, Bernard Hanon, with P23. It was another variation on the theme based on the Renault 18.
15. In June 1983, Renault agreed to provide Matra with the P23's zinc-protected steel chassis and running gear.
16. The timing of Renault's involvement was crucial. In January 1983, Peugeot sold its stake in Matra Automobile to Matra, while production of the Rancho, one of their mainstays, was soon to end.
17. The P23 had a 'North-South' engine layout as the Renault power plants were not suited to a transverse mounting.
18. Matra decided to use semi-independent rear suspension, as Guédon thought it was better suited to the Espace's high centre of gravity than independent springs.
19. Renault would be responsible for marketing the Espace with Matra building the GRP bodies.
20. Guédon later said: “Without Bernard Hanon, we would never have built the Espace. He was not the one who designed it, but he was the one who wanted it”.
21. The Espace used parts from the Renault 18, 25 and Fuego.
22. In addition, the Espace employed Renault Trafic headlamps and Renault 11 pedals as further cost-saving measures.
23. The Espace's final design was approved in May 1983.
24. Production began on the 16th of April 1984.
25. When asked about the anticipated market for the Espace, Guédon responded: “The clientele is still difficult to define. Everyone feels that there is a clientele, but no one knows where it is yet”.
26. French sales began in July 1984, but Renault sold just nine units in the Espace's first month, and the first-year production was 2,703 units.
27. Matra also experienced quality issues with this Espace and, at one point, was losing 8,000 francs per unit.
28. In France, the 2000 TSE version cost 108,500 francs—a considerable sum when the Renault 25GTX cost 96,900 francs.
29. However, by March 1985, sales passed the 10,000 mark.
30. UK sales commenced in August 1985.
31. Renault GB promised a new solution to the "expanding requirements" of modern motorists but sold only 217 Espaces in six months.
32. The original UK-market line-up consisted of the GTS for £10,145 and the TSE for £11,555.
33. As befitting its status, the TSE boasted a roof rack, a front spoiler with auxiliary lamps, alloy wheels, electric door mirrors, remote-control central locking and seat fabric resembling a Terry and June sofa.
34. The Espace's rear seats were adjustable to create extra legroom, and their folded backrests created a table.
35. The driver and front passenger could also swivel their seats to create a meeting room.
36. Renault could sell you two additional rear seats for £483 to form accommodation for seven.
37. If the Espace owner needed a temporary van, they could remove all seats except for the front pair.
38. Autocar wrote of the TSE: “For our money, if you have to move people and/or goods frequently and want a vehicle with all the comforts of a car, it is difficult to imagine a more sensible solution than the Espace”.
39. Ultimately, the original Espace more than embodied Guédon's belief: “The most credible strategy to ensure the company's sustainability was not to focus on the production of sports cars, off-road vehicles or recreational vehicles, but rather to be ready to invest in emerging segments, that is to say, to experiment in real conditions on promising markets”.
40. And the Espace so enthused the collector Robin Bartlett that he recently commissioned a tattoo of the mighty Matra/Renault creation!

With thanks to Robin Bartlett for his time and permission to use the images included within this blog.