In exchange for giving up the Espace production, Renault promised Matra they could develop their new top-range luxury sort-of coupe-Espace. This became the Avantime which really can be considered an Espace-coupe, - using almost the same chassis in the lower part, but with the upper structure done in aluminium, to get the centre of gravity even lower than the Espace. The bodywork is still polyester, which is bonded in place. The doors are now a (galvanized) steel construction with polyester bodypanels bonded to it, making them much stronger than standard Espace doors, which were all fibreglass, with a metal frame, and in later models (J63 and JE) a side-impact steel bar about halfway up, on the inside.
It is an avantgarde looking, pillar-less Es pace Coupe, - the target group was (according to Matra themselves) people whose kids have left home, but who still prefers the style and flexibility of the Espace, spiced up with a more luxurious interior. The car was unfortunately seriously delayed (some say Matra were focusing too much on production, and too little on the look ahead?). One thing that certainly delayed the project was getting the pillar-less design security-approved, - the folding doors also proved difficult, - so there was a considerable delay in launching the car.
Renault had in the meantime tested their design studio "Vel Satis" with the public at car-shows
in 1999, but told people that this was only a design studio, and it would never be produced. Whatever
caused it (be it Matra delay, or the huge demand), Renault put the Vel Satis into production, and
hit the marked about the same time as the Avantime was finally ready.
This obviously was not a good thing for Matra, who musty have felt that Renault had not kept their part of the deal. To add insult to injury, its no secret that Renault urged their sales-porganisation to push the Vel Satis before the Avantime (by offering higher bonuses to the sales-people)
This caused the Avantime to sell suficciently poor, to drain Matra for funds, and since there were no hopes for Renault helping them out, Matra decided in december 2002 that enough was enough, and in April 2003 they shut down Matra Automobile, - closed the factory in Romorantin and a little later (August 2003) they sold off the test-track and prototype facility at CERAM/Chantillys (north of Paris) to Pininfarina.