First Sight: Up close with Renault’s Trezor Paris motor show concept

Renault’s design department has been hard at work refreshing its production-car range in the last few years, but the Paris motor show wouldn’t be the same without a decent concept from the French brand too. Luckily, senior VP of Renault Group corporate design, Laurens van den Acker, has obliged, with the unveil of a low-slung electric GT concept called the Trezor. Even luckier, Car Design News got a sneak preview of the concept last week and spoke with all the key designers behind the project…

“The Paris motor show is the first time the public will see the complete production line-up of the cars my team has been working on,” van den Acker told CDN. “While the Trezor sows the seed for the next generation, it’s a sensitive car as we have something to lose now. It’s not the time for revolution so my power to surprise is limited.”

The first of Laurens van den Acker’s new series of Lifecycle concept cars returns to the theme of ‘love’ but this time not just the initial infatuation phase – as the 2010 DeZir concept that kick-started the last series was pitched – but a more mature love, that might result in a marriage proposal. The conceptual translation of this idea is the car’s dramatic jewellery box-style lid opening to reveal the interior treasure beneath (Trésor or Trezor, is French for treasure), like an engagement ring in a box.

Whether you buy into that idea or not, the long-nosed, rear-wheel drive, two-seater concept is undoubtedly striking and has a maturity to its design, offering new ideas and thinking.

One example is the contrast between the great-looking, and feeling, hexagonal matt surfacing on the lower front, side panels and rear fenders – involving complex parametric design – and the smooth and shiny hood and roof that clamps down over those areas with a few well-defined shutlines.

“We didn’t want everything to look sensual,” confirmed van den Acker. “It can start to look like a blob, like the ’90s Ford Taurus for example. We wanted a mixture of masculine and feminine forms. The Trezor is ‘more designed’ than the DeZir, even behind the wheels.”

When you have a huge lid that opens up and back to allow access to the two seats beneath – and completely exposing the front wheels – of course it makes sense to design the space behind them too, but van den Acker’s got a point.

Another exterior detail that gives credence to the “more design” claim are the tail lights. Tucked inside super-slim rear apertures, closer inspection reveals that the light source within is made up of multiple fibre-optic strands twisted under tension – a bit like a bag of clementines lit up with red lasers. It’s exterior designer Yann Jarsalle’s favourite part. “It’s a completely different approach, not just a lamp unit with lights behind. The fibre optic strands twist to adjust their intensity too”.

Dimensionally, the Trezor’s most dramatic measurement is its roof height, 37mm lower than a Lotus Elise (1080 vs 1117mm) while within its 4700mm length, 2180mm width and 2776mm wheelbase sits a real-world electric motor sourced from Renault’s involvement in Formula E, offering 350hp. A sub-four second 0-62mph is boasted and, as it’s a drivable concept, plausible. Two batteries house the energy, one at each end, to aid weight distribution for better handling, and great attention has been paid to weight loss overall. The chassis incorporates a central carbon fibre cell with tubular steel frames front and back allowing the car to weigh in at 1600kg.

Lots of lovely details then, within a high quality, well-finished concept, but what does it all mean? We wouldn’t put much money on Renault launching a production GT anything like the Trezor next year, but do expect some design elements to make it through to showrooms in time. According to interior designer Laurent Negroni, the floating L-shaped combined driver and infotainment screen is the cabin’s most real-world feature.

Using OLED tech and thin curved glass, it offers a drag-and-sweep touchscreen for moving nav maps and apps from one space to another, with controls for driving-related activities on the steering wheel. Physical buttons and switches still exist for the lights and a few other details, with a central controlling scroller device too.

As to the rest, we’ll have to wait and see, but perhaps van den Acker’s honest off-the-cuff remark to CDN on the sidelines of the preview event last week gives the strongest clue to the concept’s future-facing, rather than near-term, nature, as he said with a smile: “After hammering my design team for six years on production models I needed to let the guys loose and dream.” If so, the Trezor’s a good one.