Renault’s svelte Laguna Coupe looks set to survive into production relatively unscathed. The concept car we saw at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show (inset) will spawn a sleek three-door fastback, if our spy photos from the Arctic are anything to go by.
We’ll see the finished car this spring before driving it in the autumn; the first customer cars are due at the end of 2008, wearing price tags from around £20,000. Don’t expect all the engine options from the workaday Laguna range, which spans from a 1.5 dCi to 2.0-litre petrol and diesel options. The coupe will cherry pick the most powerful engines at launch, and it’ll also offer Renault-Nissan’s new 3.0 V6 dCi which punts out around 260bhp through the front wheels.
Renault Laguna: the four-wheel steer
The Laguna’s all-wheel steer chassis will also be offered as an option; when CAR drove it last year, our testers were impressed by the handling and stability benefits of steering both axles.
Combined with the 3.7-litre V6 that we’ve already tried in the Infiniti G37 coupe, it could make quite a sporty big Renault. And when’s the last time we could write that with any confidence?