Big Renaults - A thing of the past so a classic for the future

It seems that today, the only big saloons you see are German, but it wasn’t always so. Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s the Citroen DS and CX where as much style statements as means of transport. Peugeot’s 504, 505 and 604 were more staid but still imposing, however Renault’s offerings were limited until the launch of the 20 and 30 models. However into the 80’s and 90’s big French saloons died away, achieving little success outside of their home country.

Renault aimed to change this by doing things differently with their Avantime , the name combining the French word "Avant" (meaning "ahead") and the English word "time". Styled by Patrick Le Quément, the Avantime was intended to combine the space of an MPV with four-place pillarless qualities of a coupé.

The Avantime was first shown in 1999 in concept form at the Geneva Auto Show and went into production two years later, manufactured by Matra, between 2001 and 2003. The design borrowed the automotive space frame of the first generation Renault Espace which used a load bearing galvanized structure with non-load bearing composite panels. The clever one-box design eliminated B-pillars and featured an aluminium structure, aluminum panels for the greenhouse and a full sunroof of strengthened heat-reflecting glass. One key feature which utilises this sunroof is a "grand air" feature where one button can open all windows and the sunroof, leaving the car almost as open as a convertible.

The interior luxury interior features four seats each with built-in seatbelts and Bridge of Weir leather and to facilitate access to the rear seats, two long doors feature a double parallel-opening hinge system (marketed as "double-kinematic") that maximized access with minimal outswing of the doors, though these have been known to be troublesome over time. The mounting points of the rear two seats are higher than the forward two seats, giving the Avantime "theatre" seating. All Avantimes feature a two-tone look created by the exposed aluminium of the greenhouse and a wide range of strong colours give the car a strong visual identity.

However the Avantime's sales were poor and when Matra decided to pull out of the automotive production business in 2003 (partly as a result of the financial loss incurred by the poor sales of the Avantime), Renault chose to discontinue the Avantime rather than move its production elsewhere.

Only 8,557 were built during it’s 2 yr production run and it’s rarity, combined with it’s unique looks and design features make the Renault Avantime a sure fire future classic. However in the meanwhile values continue to fall as it’s poor reputation for reliability, thirsty engines (though LPG conversions have been known), quirkiness and lack of a German badge limit interested parties.


We didn’t manage to find many actually for sale, but eventually found this lowish mileage Renault Avantime on Autotrader. This car is claimed to be 002 on the Avantime list although it was registered in September 2002. With only 62,000 miles on the clock, it features the larger 3.0 V6 engine and is mated to an automatic transmission which is the combination which best suits these heavyweights. Finished in “Steel Grey illusion” it features the standard luxury interior including two tone leather as well as the rare (at the time) Sat Nav. It’s got an MOT until end of July 2011 although it’s only taxed until end of February. The owner is honest in stating that it “needs a little t.l.c. to bring it up to spec” but doesn’t state what that might mean.


Nonetheless this is reflected in the price of £4,395, and as these switch from being large unloved saloons to recognised classics, further depreciation will be limited.

A tale of two Alfas – Back to the 70’s with the Alfetta GT/V

Today’s the day to balance things up, so after two robust, solid 1990’s pieces of German engineering we’ve picked what some might consider to be their antithesis a 1970’s Classic Alfa Romeo. Well two Alfa’s in fact (some might say you’ll need a spare one just in case).

I’m not sure why but to us the 1970’s might have been the best decade for Italian cars, perhaps due to many fantastic supercars from Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati and De Tomaso that adorned so many of our bedroom walls. 

Back in the real world, the best looking, “achievable” Italian Car was the Alfa Romeo Alfetta  GT/V, the big brother to the Alfasud Sprint. We grew up with one owned by a gent down the road and in its day it managed to combine an air of exoticism, graceful looks and also some quirkiness thanks to the two section instrument panel (putting the rev counter only in front of the driver told you this was a car for serious drivers).

Based upon the rear-wheel drive Alfetta saloon, the Giugiaro styled fastback coupé was produced from 1974 until 1987 by Alfa Romeo, selling over 400,000 units by the end of its production run.  The Alfetta had introduced a new drivetrain layout to the marque where Clutch and transmission were housed at the rear of the car, together with the differential for a more balanced weight distribution.

Introduced in 1974 as the Alfetta GT and initially available only with a 1.8 litre version of the Alfa Twin Cam DOHC four, in 1976, following the phasing out of the Series 105 GT 1300 and GT1600 Juniors and the 2000 GTV, the Alfetta GT became a range, with 1.6 litre and 2.0 litre versions added. The GTV designation being initially reserved for the largest engined version.

In 1981, the GTV received a restyle, with grey plastic bumpers and black trim replacing bright stainless steel, the 1.6 litre and 1.8 litre versions were discontinued and the Alfetta 2000 GTV became the base coupé model as the Alfa GTV 2.0 and the Alfetta name was dropped.  Later in the same year, the GTV-6, a version of the GTV with the 2.5 litre V6 engine from the Alfa 6 luxury sedan, was added.   The GTV went through a number of revisions, including a new gear ratios and an updated interior in 1984.

Whilst there are number of Alfetta GT/V’s for sale throughout Europe we found the two classic Alfas on Car and Classic for what seems to be bargain prices, though, as ever, an thorough inspection would be needed prior to purchase to ensure they are not afflicted by some of the body and electrical maladies that people associate with Italian cars of this period.

The 1975 Alfetta GT found on Car and Classic looks to be a bit of anomaly.  Rare in being an Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT with the 1.8 Twin Cam this must be one of the earliest models sold in UK, and is advertised with an incredibly low 35,000 genuine miles and only one previous owner.



The paintwork looks bright and has only minor blemishes.  However it has got a number of aftermarket additions, including Zender Alloy Wheels, a Mountney steering wheel, Stainless steel exhaust and Strut brace. You might want to reverse some of these changes to restore the car back to original condition, but as the original bumpers and fully refurbished original steel wheels are included in sale these might not be too difficult.  Re-assuringly work done by the current owner  includes bodywork, new servo, all brake calipers replaced, new brake pipes, hand brake cable, propshaft rubber couplings, clutch and fluids etc. Perhaps what appeals the most is the asking price of £2,650. There aren't many classic Italian coupes you can buy for that little.

Also sitting on aftermarket wheels is this more common 2.0 model Alfa GTV found on Car and Classic.

Though two years older it’s still a relatively early car, and with only 68,000 miles it’s also very low mileage for a car of this age. This current owner has had it for ten years, and had lots of work done this summer including respraying, waxoyling, and suspension and brakes overhauled thoroughly.

The owner describes it as a good running and well sorted car but is honest in claiming that it could do with some attention to the tiny details to make it superb, but then we wouldn’t expect a concours model at that price.





Re-assuringly it is sold with twelve months MOT and six months tax so you can get on with using the car if you didn’t want to spend further to make it a concours example. Again for sale at what seems a bargain price of £3,500 compared to the examples we've seen for sale on the continent, this could be a sound investment if it's solid underneath.

Mercedes Benz 190E - A classic car built to last.

At Retro-Spective we’re big fans of 1980’s and 1990’s German Classic cars as you’ll see, and the bigger the better in many ways (well with at least a six cylinder under the bonnet!).

Part of their attraction is that in our humble opinion these represent the zeitgeist of build quality, are fairly close to a modern car in terms of reliability and driving experience and yet have bags of retro car appeal.   

Nothing sums this up better than the Mercedes 190E (AKA W201) that was launched in 1982. £600 million was spent researching and developing the 190; Mercedes subsequently said it was 'massively over-engineered’ and indeed nothing since has really compared build wise and 190E’s have been known to last for well over 300,000 miles.

Our feature car for today represents the pinnacle of the 190E range, the 2.5-16 “Cosworth”. Mercedes wished to take the 190 E rallying, and asked Cosworth to develop an engine for this project rally car. However the advent of the Audi Quattro with its all wheel drive and turbocharger made the 2.3-16v appear outdated, so insterad attention switched to the DTM (German Touring Car) Championship instead. As cars racing in this championship,  had to be based on a roadgoing model, Mercedes had to put into this engine into low volume production series production, resulting in the 190 E 2.3-16. An enlarged 2.5l engine replaced the 2.3 in 1988. It offered double valve timing chains to fix the easily snapping single chains on early 2.3 engines, and increased output by 17 bhp to 204bhp with a slight increase in torque.

As BMW M3 prices start to hit silly money both 190E Cosworth look like relative bargains, and definitely classic cars of the future although careful buying is important as unlike the standard 190E models these are known to be more temperamental.

We found this 190E 2.5-16 on Car and Classic and it’s described  by it’s owner for the last 6 years as probably the most original 190 Cosworth out there. We like to see history and this car has lots of history to back up its 126,000 miles right back to correspondence between Mercedes and the first owner arranging to pick it up from the factor including Pre delivery inspection report and a full MB service history with the first few years serviced in Germany (first owner was in the British army there). There seems to be plenty of receipts to back up the money spent by the current owner which includes new alternator, distributor, water pump, radiator and battery. 

Its been off the road garaged for the last 2 years but has  just had a full service including all filters (Air, fuel & oil) plugs and new disks and pads all round to prepare it for sale and comes with a re-assuring full 12 Months MOT. At £4,250 it’s not the cheapest Mercedes 190E Cosworth you’ll find but may well represent the best value out there today.

BMW M535i - the ultimate shark nosed BMW?

There’s nothing quite like a shark nosed BMW in our opinion.

Back in the 1970’s and 1980’s when a BMW (or any other foreign car for that matter) was a rare site, BMW’s were top of the pile. Labelled as “The Ultimate Driving Machine”, they were not just the best to drive they were built better than their British competitors too

The ultimate in shark nosed BMWs for many was the E28 M5, but it’s long forgotten predecessor was the E12 M535i, albeit this was the first BMW M-technic marketed BMW rather than being a proper M Power vehicle. The M535i was also available in E28 format and offers a cost-effective alternative to the more highly strung M5.

At one point the quickest car BMW made (140mph, 0-60mph in 7.4sec), it was fast, agile but potentially lethal in the wet. As a result many ended up stuffed into a ditch or artfully bent around a tree. The second-generation E28 cars are more plentiful and easier to live and this is our feature car today. The raw material consists of a massively characterful and hugely durable 3.5-litre straight six, with 220bhp and 220lb ft, Bilstein gas dampers, and a limited slip diff for sideways fun. Unusually for many BMWs of the time, the interior was highly spec’d featuring a leather interior with Recaros, electric mirrors and even heated door locks.

Today these are still available for bargain prices and we found this BMW M535i on ebay (where else!) for £2,250, although the seller is open to offers so if you are lucky you might just get it for under £2000.

The present owner has had it for just over two years but more importantly the car comes complete with substantial history dating back to when the car was first purchased. It’s got 157K miles on the clock but these cars were built to last so it could be fine for many more to come without problem. Our biggest concern would be an Automatic gearbox which can prove expensive to fix, though this one is described as “runs through the gears very smoothly and seamlessly” so seems to be fine, and the benefit of an automatic is they rarely get driven as hard as a manual.

These can go rusty but this one seems to be in great condition for its 25 yrs with just a few stone chips and minor scratches and a tine but of rust around the rear wheel arch (a known BMW weakness on most models) so fairly easy to get into concours condition or perhaps in reality something you can use without worrying about picking up the odd supermarket car park ding. More importantly  (as parts get harder to come by) the interior is very tidy with no rips or tears on the leather and “the back seats look like they've been barely sat on in the last 25 years”.

Although the pictures show it on aftermarket rims it does come with the originals included in the sale as well.

So, if you want a “real” BMW, made before they became flabbier and made for “joy” rather than driving then this M535i might be a good place to start.