WHEN I first drove Renault's imaginative Avantime in Berlin last year, there was nothing else like it in the motor industry.

Just like the Espace, Europe's first ever MPV which nearly 20 years ago launched a completely new sector that the rest of the motor industry has since taken up, the new Avantime had given us yet another type of vehicle which no-one had ever thought about before.

No-one has a monopoly these days and other makers have been experimenting in the same area.

Against the latest concepts (and others like Audi's bug-like A2) Renault's creation looks quite normal.

Simply, Renault took the Espace, built it lower, left it with only two doors (like a coupe) and made the top half almost entirely of glass, with a huge sunroof that turns it almost into a cabriolet.

You might suppose that the Avantime, being French, should be pronounced A-von-teem, but Renault still say Avan-Time, English style.

It goes on sale here next month, and Renault reckon we'll buy 1,500 a year. It would be a major leap for most motorists to switch to anything as adventurous as the Avantime.

Its 15ft 3in capsule bodywork does carry a hint of some visiting space craft, though space is not a major feature.

You get the welcome sensation of open-ness from that vast area of window pillarless to underline the goldfish-bowl effect and certainly three adults will be comfortable in the rear seat. And the boot is vast.

But the Avantime doesn't pretend to offer the load-carrying versatility of a real MPV, with removable seats and a multitude of different layouts.

A single 'open air' button slides the full-length sunroof and side windows out of the way and you are protected from the buffeting wind by that strange rear window.

Admittedly it's not the shape of your traditional sporty car, and driving it feels not a lot different from an Espace.

There's not much to inspire you to drive with coupe-style flair, even with the 204bhp of the 3.0-litre V6 engine only this version (priced around £27,000) was available for sampling, though you'd think the 165bhp 2.0-litre turbo would be a bigger seller.

The bigger engine (top speed 137mph and 25mpg overall) may sound powerful, but it's a lazy, lethargic lump, and the six-speed gearchange is smooth and relaxed. All of which makes the journey smooth and very restful, but hardly exciting. It whisks you silently along the roads, ignoring minor blemishes with French comfort-comes-first panache, though it's not so settled on rougher roads.

Inside, the driver gets a footrest, which is rather too close for comfort indeed, the car is short on leg-stretch space, for both driver and passenger. This is even more true in the back, where you find you're prevented from getting your feet under the seat in front.

At eye level, there's more than enough breathing space. As with the Espace, front-seat travellers find there's a vast distance to the base of the windscreen.

Below this, there's an endless panorama of fascia. This large and unspoilt area is part of the car's style, but it doesn't provide anywhere to keep smaller items, though there's lots of useful hidden space for stowage, including a large drawer in the centre.

The large area of glass, uninterrupted by door pillars, makes visibility no problem though you don't get much help from the rear-view mirror it's limited by the top of the rear window.

For an expensive car, you wonder why they don't include the Laguna's system of switching on headlights automatically in darker periods, or the Laguna's keyless entry. P.R.