AT the dawn of the millennium Renault made a bold step in redefining the luxury car.

Produced hot on the heels of the lacklustre Safrane executive saloon, the Vel Satis was very different from any larger car Renault had produced.

The wraps were thrown off at the 2001 Geneva Motor Show and it was greeted with a mix of 'stands-back in amazement admiration' and the raised eyebrows of doubt.

It was not exactly unexpected because Renault had revealed a Vel Satis concept in 1998 which was market-wrapped in a very sumptuous way and the indications were that the futuristic concept had so much in the way of resources pumped into it that production was inevitable.

Events proved that the production car had little in common with the way-out concept, but the Vel Satis that reached the showrooms was a very expensive car for Renault.

The name Vel Satis is a composite of elements of the words Velocity and Satisfaction and in 3.5-litre V6 form it was certainly a satisfying performer.

The Vel Satis is distinguished by its unusual height which was 13cm higher than the Safrane, so gaining more interior space, especially in terms of headroom.

But some elements of the media were not convinced. A magazine described it as 'ugly and very French'.

One design expert said that it was not ugly enough and Renault's design chief, Patrick Le Quement stated that it was intended to have physical presence rather than any aspirations to classical elegance.

Renault was out to hook selective, modern customers who wanted to distance themselves from the conventional saloon.

In its own way the Vel Satis was a brave attempt at refining the prestige saloon but it did not catch on in a big way in the UK.

However, it was a clever car with an engine range from 2.0-litre petrol to diesel options and the punchy V6. It shared a platform chassis with the Laguna saloon and the Espace MPV.

Criticism of the car's ride qualities hit home and Renault UK decided not to develop a right-hand-drive version of the facelifted 2005 year model Vel Satis, as sales of the model had been poor in the United Kingdom since launch.

Although 3,500 sales were predicted, only a third of these were achieved. In France the Vel Satis came to the end of the road in 2009.

These days the Vel Satis holds court on the used car lot and can be an interesting buy. A late model V6 can be picked up for around £1,850, but be aware of costly repair bills.

But the Vel Satis was not exactly finished with the world, because on the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings, French President François Hollande wheeled out his mothballed bulletproof V6 Vel Satis to transport the Queen - because his Citroen DS5 and C6 were not tall enough to accommodate the monarch's hats.

A fitting tribute to an amazing car that should have done so much better.