Jeremy Clarkson road tests 2 new people carriers from the 2 manufacturers that invented them, Chrysler and Renault. Taken from a early 1997 episode of the old format Top Gear
You didn't hear that "E"? Here let me point it out to you AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÆAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
TFW the Voyager was on sale before the Espace (late 83 compared to the Espace in 84). Still, that Espace looks good. Better than a plain american minivan. But then again american minivans look good blacked out.
Meanwhile, the Toyota Hiace and Daihatsu Hijet minivans came out much earlier (minivan of Hijet was in production at least in 1971). Gotta agree the Renault looks good tho :)
Voyager was a minivan but not a monospace. The Hiace and Hijet were by design monospace minivans but they were not family cars in the sense monospaces are as they could not run in the highway at high speeds. Renault Espace was the original monospace. And the best of it. Clarkson just does not like most of French cars, that is all.
From the EuroNCAP’s actual website, the Chrysler Voyager (when sold in America as the Plymouth Voyager, Dodge Caravan, and Chrysler Town and Country), it received a two-star rating overall.
Someone will wonder this at some point in this videos future so here it is. The song at the beginning (after the intro) is "Parisienne Walkways" by Gary Moore.
Calling the Espace unsafe when it was first with a 5 star EURO NCAP whilst recommending the Voyager with no diesel options and so unsafe it was pulled from sale. This is why I don't listen to Clarkson for serious advice
Meanwhile I see still all those Renault Espaces running well after 20+ years while Voyagers? LOL! Either they did not sell at all or they were not made that tough. Renault Espace was also the one and only monospace that was cool looking and you were not ashamed of driving. Clarkson does not like most of French cars and so does reject this Renault here too but this had been an excellent car.
Visit Paris. Plenty of old Espaces roaming around. And these Espaces spent most of their life in Paris, not coasting around leisurly the Finnish lakes. Of course you may claim that is down to numbers (more sold in France) but then why that wouldn't be the case for Finland or Britain? You have also to note the differences among drivers that drive each type of vehicle, afterall it is all going down to statistics. I have worked in quality in the past, even if for a brief period, and I am aware how complex is the exact measurement of quality. If - say for example - Renault attracts, for whatever reason, the type of driver who has no personal garage, who is wreckless with the car, who is skipping maintenance by 10 or 15,000 kilometers, who never checks oil and water and who when remembering to maintain goes to the cheapest thieving-prone garage, then no wonder one won't be finding many of them 15-20 years later.
+Daisy Harris My point is that your experience with your Voyager is quite commonly shared by Espace drivers in the most congested city in Europe, Paris.
I wouldn’t be found dead in a Chrysler. I probably would if I crashed in one but I would never have gotten in one to begin with. They’re god awful at quality.