Our summer game is on ! Who, out of Renault Espace, Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Floride or Twizy, will be your favourite car this summer ? Are you more into holidays with the fam, with your other half or with friends? Country, beach side or the Big Apple? Find out who our contestants are and vote for your favourite. Whoever wins gets a special blog post in September. You'll find out about its conception, evolutions and trivia...by the teams who worked on it. Now... time to play!
It's pretty easy. Just leave a comment on this blog post, mentioning which car should be the car of the summer. The car that gets the most comments by September 1st, 2012, will be the winner.
Three contenders were picked, each one representing the following categories: MPV, coupé-cabriolet and small urban car. Meet them here :
Espace
Et si le vrai luxe, c'était l'Espace ? We all remember that claim, "what if the ultimate luxury was space (=Espace)?", which perfectly fit this MPV, considered a revolution in the car industry. Indeed, in 1984, a car that could carry up to 7 people and drive at 180 km/h on a race track was a real breakthrough. And who hasn't taken the holiday route in an MPV with his/her parents, children, grand-children? With its huge glass rooftop (the biggest on the market), its modular space, Espace is a real "living-room on wheels", perfect for covering long distances.
Interestingly, the very first scale model of Renault Espace was born in 1979. It was an original idea by Philippe Guédon, CEO of Matra Automobiles, who had just gone on a trip to the US. Espace seemed like the perfect solution for a market in need of a family, multi-function car that is playful and fun. First presented to PSA, the model finally seduced Bernard Hanon, then CEO of Renault, who later signed an agreement with Matra in 1983.
The first Renault Espaces came off the assembly line in 1984 and were built on the base of a Renault 18. A flat floor and 5 independent, dismountable, back swivel seats, made and still make of Espace, an innovative car. Today, Espace is in its fourth generation. In 2012, it got revamped to adopt Renault's new design identity, already seen on New Twingo.
Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Floride
Derived from the Floride, launched in 1958, as made famous by Brigitte Bardot, this coupé-cabriolet is the perfect incarnation of the French Riviera. On the beach, this pretty Mégane is a pleasure for the eyes and for the drive, and is a chic tribute to the 1960s. It is a car that truly embodies the gay, carefree mood of that era.
On the original Floride, particular attention was paid to the bodywork. A Floride badge decorated the front wing. A long side molding emphasized the waist line. "White sidewall" tires, an ultimate touch of sophistication, were available as an option, and the first models could be recognized by the air intakes on the rear wheel arches. The Floride's colors were part of its style and extravagance. In shimmering or pastel shades, red, light yellow or pale blue, they expressed summer days and joy of living. It's no surprise that all the stars of the time wanted to be seen at the wheel of a Floride!
Today's Floride limited-edition, based on the Privilège level of Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet, has two exclusive body colours, Floride Ivory and red (not available in France). The Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Floride is equipped with 17-inch aluminium Diamante wheels, painted ivory. Inside, the dashboard sports the name Floride on a red-ivory leather interior. The metal gear knob is encrusted with a jewel-like "f" monogram, which also appears on the overmats. A final but significant detail is that the limited-edition number is fixed on the centre console.
On the outside of the car, the name Floride is also proudly displayed: an eponymous badge with retro lettering is fixed on the front wing while chrome-plated 3D lettering in period style also features on the side, just in front of the rear wheel arches.
Twizy
No summer fun without our electric UDO (unidentified driving object)! In its two versions, without or with half gullwing doors, Twizy's the perfect car to hit the streets of big cities, wind flying through your hair. Perfect to avoid traffic, by yourself or with a friend, it's just the urban mobility solution you needed for the summer.
Half-car half-motorcycle, Twizy was conceived by Renault's sports branches: Renault Sport Technologies and Renault Sport F1. From the very beginning of the concept, its mission was to be an ultramobile car for two (TWIN) which was both intuitive and simple to use (EASY).
It didn’t take long to decide who the right team to develop the chassis was: because of Twizy’s mid-rear mounted engine (like Clio V6), it was the obvious choice to hand tthe project to RST. In addition to leading 80 percent of the overall design work, RST was in complete charge of the car’s handling performance. Furthermore, thanks to its experience of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), only Renault F1 had both the expertise and the available testing resources. In September 2009, the decision was taken to test Twizy's system at Viry-Châtillon and to apply motorsport processes. The race team’s engineers knew plenty about high rotational speeds (nearly 9,000rpm for Twizy).
Indeed, thanks to its feather weight (450kg, including batteries), to the surprising acceleration of its electric motor (13kW, 57Nm) and the opportunity it offers to drive in the open air without a helmet, Twizy is a unique concept that you can’t help but like – and which is poised to make its natural element – built-up areas – an even cleaner and safer place...
View more
SAFETY: 5 EURO NCAP STARS AND BEST RATING IN ITS CATEGORY FOR THE ALL-NEW CLIO
The All-new Renault CLIO: the most comprehensive driving assistance on the market
