1990 Espace colour code

[renaultsan]

Does anybody know where Renault put the colour code for the 1990 Espace. Haynes book has nothing .

[Espace Atlantic]

Does anybody know where Renault put the colour code for the 1990 Espace. Haynes book has nothing .

Do you mean where on the car the info is noted? Sounds like the sort of thing the regulars at Passion Espace would know... Parlez-vous?

[Espace Atlantic]

Here's an illustration and explanation of the Espace 1's plaques: For the 'reference pienture' it says "reference collée sous le capot moteur a l'avant de celui-ci."   Which means that the paint code is located under the bonnet, towards the front of it...

[renaultsan]

The information on the oval plate does not contain the colour code. In the case of the 2990 Espace the oval plate is located on the front bulkhead and next to is the Matra Data plate (which I am having remanufactured by a French company as it is badly corroded) Renault colour codes are normally a sticker located in various places depending on the model. For instance, the Renault 25 code is on the metal under the air cleaner on the left side of the car, we have 4 Renault 35 models, 3 four cylinder and one six cylinder. On the Renault 15 of which we have two, it is locasted on the left front wheel well under the bonnet. I have Renault Customer Services working on the problem and hopefully they will get back to me later this week.
Thanks for your interest

[Espace Atlantic]

I saw several posts and photos on 'Passion Espace' showing that there was a sticker on the Espace I's located under the front left side of the bonnet (seen from front), which is apparently how they then marked the car with its paint code. Your car is apparently an Espace I phase 2. Look under the bonnet!

The color code stickers had the name VERILAC on them, and the Matra color codes then were comprised of four numbers (whereas Renault uses 3 numbers).  See if you still have that sticker under the bonnet

(Later, with the Espace II, the plaques (and color code info) were combined and moved to the passenger door)

[Espace Atlantic]

Here's one of those stickers: (log in if you don't see the attachment)

[renaultsan]

The only sticker on our 1990 Espace is that of ELF on the bonnet closing panelm there are no thers .

[Espace Atlantic]

The only sticker on our 1990 Espace is that of ELF on the bonnet closing panelm there are no thers .

If there's no sticker anywhere, you could perhaps do it thru elimination; there are only so many reds, blues. etc in a given model year.  When I looked for this info I saw that the french were able to find good color swatches for 84 and 85 models, for example.

Is there any paint looking especially unworn, anywhere on the car?

[renaultsan]

I have the only Renault Espace in USA. Renault stopped exporting cars to Anerica many years ago and colour swatches are just not available. This particular car was a special order direct from the factory by the original owner who had a lot of extras fitted at the factory. One of thoses was an nj3 automatic gearbox, a little known option for the car that could only be ordered direct at time of building as it entailed the manufacture of steel (not cast aluminium) mounting brackets using Renault 35 gearbox mountings. He also had the twin sunroofs, an alarm and immobiliser, the rather nice alloy 14 inch wheels and the phillips radio 4 speaker system.
For all I know, even the colour could have been a special order as well.
I have contacted Renault Customer services and spoken with them on the phone and they are looking into it hving been given the Oval plate numbers and the Matra ID plate details, The problem these days with Renault is a lack of experienced people running departments who know nothing about th old Renaults.
Even taking a sample to a local paint specialist who scanned the ample, they cannot come up with a colour or a mix to get it right.

I will wait and see what Renault can come up with. I normally do not haave problems like this despite having 9 Renaults in the family most of them rare even in England and here in USA almost not heard of or seen on the road.

[Espace Atlantic]

^^

Twin sunroofs are a must!  My '96 has 'em too.


Here's the kind of color swatch info I referred to. Clearly the Frenchies have books of this stuff, and probably for the 1990 model year as well.  If you describe the paint job (metallic? two tone? closest to which pantone color?) or send a good photo then I could see if the French know which one it is.  

Here's colors exterior/interior on 1984 Espaces, a PDF, put the address in your browser:

http://www.passion-espace-club.com/download/file.php?id=9225

[renaultsan]

Gris E47 which I assume is grey is close but it needs looking at because all the colours indicated are for 2000 plus cars, mine is 1990

[Espace Atlantic]

Gris E47 which I assume is grey is close but it needs looking at because all the colours indicated are for 2000 plus cars, mine is 1990

2000 GTS & 2000 TSE were designations in the 1984 model year (see bottom of that page)

But I gather that your 1990 diesel then has a lighter grey metallic color?

I'll post a question to the French, and I'll tell them it's for the only Espace I (or maybe I, II, III or IV) in the USA.  I think that will intrigue them.

 


And here by the way is another explanation page for the Espace I plaques, in case you find it useful.

[Espace Atlantic]

So I posted that little inquiry just now, you can see it here:

In my Excellent French

Lol.  Isn't the anonymity of the internet wonderful, not really having to worry about making a fool of oneself in a foreign language...

I find that Google translate can help me a lot, if I follow some procedures: Keep the sentences short, keep the grammar unambiguous, use only common words.  Unless you adhere to those rules, it gets mangled by Google translate, even though that service has improved some, since I began to fiddle with it some 10 years ago. If you want to be more sure that your translation is accurate, you can enter your foreign language version and see how it translates back into English.  

[renaultsan]

The car is not a diesel its a 2.0 petrol

[Espace Atlantic]

The car is not a diesel its a 2.0 petrol

Well excuuuuse me!  So then you're not quite as at odds with the rest of the US motoring public as you could be?   

Don't know where that snuck in or how I got the impression - anyway I wrote nothing about that in my missive to our cousins, with their old stone barns full of immaculate Espaces in their charming countryside.