The Vel Satis was shown as a concept in 1999. A number of its design motifs found their way onto the Avantime. Patrick Le Quement was head of Renault design and quality at the time. Chapter 28 of his autobiography/auto thoughts is devoted to the Avantime. He says that the Avantime regularly crops up in conversation when people know he had a hand in designing it. "Only the French could have produced car like that" is a common observation, he says.