Many car enthusiasts have a special connection to a particular car in their family, with core memories tied to it. This fondness often begins at a young age, between learning to walk and writing your name, and the memories are usually quite ordinary upon reflection.
For me, that car is the Renault Scenic. Our family owned a Mk1 facelift version, finished in maroon red with color-matched plastics. I may not remember the engine or the year it joined our family, but I do recall its beauty.
My mom purchased the Renault Scenic around 2002 or 2003, needing a larger car for when my younger brother arrived. As a two-year-old, all that mattered to me was the interesting color and the fold-out tables in the back. I was sold on it when my parents bought a portable DVD player and a copy of Monsters, Inc for our road trips.
Some of my earliest memories are watching Pixar movies on those fold-out tables as we traveled to remote caravan parks for holidays. Those tables were a game-changer for me when all I knew about cars was that they made the sound “brum-brum.”
While the new Scenic may be fantastic, lacking those fold-out tables makes it unappealing to me. I’m usually indifferent to the reuse of old names on new products, but a Scenic without tables stings a little.
Unfortunately, our time with the Scenic came to an abrupt end in 2005 when the engine mysteriously fell out while parked outside our flat. Renault bought back the car and offered a great deal on a 1.2-litre Clio from their demo fleet, which served my mom well for 13 years, but it was no Scenic.
