GONE but not forgotten, Renault UK has sold its last new Avantime following the ceasing of production earlier this year by Matra Automobiles. Bizarrely, interest in this concept car for the road grew after it was announced that production would have to end after only 12 months on the market due to Matra's failure to find a replacement model for the Espace III production that was coming to a close, leaving them with too much excess capacity.

The scarcity of Avantime - the first "crossover" design merging a two-door Coupe with an MPV profile and space - prompted renewed interest in the car but people wanting to own one of these forward looking design icons will now be directed towards the Renault To Go scheme which sells nearly new ex-demonstrator and Renault UK owned vehicles. The first year-old Avantimes are now available through the Renault dealer network and the RTG scheme and these cars are already being talked about as future design classics due to their unusual concept, styling and scarcity - with 435 registered in the UK in the last two years.

Numbered plaques and certificates with owners' names have been provided for all the UK right-hand drive cars and owners have also been sent a book revealing all Renault's concept cars of which Avantime, of course, featured strongly. It was the first indicator of Renault's future design style previewing the vertical wrap-around rear window which has recently proved such a hit on the New Megane range - which looks set to become Europe's best selling model range in 2003.

A future classic? Only time will tell, however Renault is proud to have been at the forefront of the trend for crossover cars and although it might now be gone from the new car price lists, the roads of Britain are more interesting for the Avantimes that are out there, loved by their owners -both present and future.