Renault Initiale (1995)

The Renault Initiale concept, introduced in 1995, was a super saloon with seating for up to four people.

Patrick Le Quement created the Initiale as a luxury car design study.

The concept included the following features: a living-room-style passenger space, two lightning wells, four armchairs, a panoramic roof, a central console for showing films and video clips on laserdisc, an opening dashboard with controls for the hi-fi system, air conditioning, driving aids, and telephone, permanent all-wheel drive, and advanced braking and suspension systems. 

To aid entry and exit, the front seats could be rotated 20 degrees to the outside. The rear-seat passengers could watch movies while driving thanks to an integrated DVD player and a roof-mounted display screen.

The Initiale hid an extremely powerful drivetrain based on an F1-derived 3.5-liter V10 engine that produced nearly 400 horsepower. A six-speed sequential transmission delivered power to all four wheels.

With this drivetrain, the Initiale was capable of reaching 306 km/h – a speed that is still exceptional for a super saloon today.