Renault improved on Matra's original design by insisting on an entirely flat floor in the entire area behind the front seats. The design featured a body of fibreglass, mounted on a warm-galvanised steel monocoque spaceframe, using the same technique and assembly line at the factory as the Talbot Matra Murena. The galvanization process increased torsional rigidity by 60 percent and bending resistance by 20 percent, at a cost of a weight gain. Weight distribution was rather front heavy, with 62.9 percent of the weight being over the front wheels (original petrol version). The Espace was eventually launched by Renault in July 1984. After a slow start, a mere nine Espaces were sold in the first month, consumers realised the benefits of the MPV concept and the Espace became popular. The introduction of the Espace required the relatively small Matra factory to cease production of the Murena to make room for the Espace. It was sold in the United Kingdom from August 1985. In October 1984 the turbodiesel versions Turbo D and Turbo DX arrived. In 1984, American Motors Corporation (AMC) announced it would begin to market the front wheel drive Espace in the United States. The minivan was exhibited to consumers at the 1985 Chicago Auto Show, but AMC's negotiations with Matra continued over the vehicle's import pricing. Plans for the Espace to be launched in the United States ended with the purchase of AMC by Chrysler. In 2004, BBC's motoring show "Top Gear" set up a race between two Espaces, a Toyota Previa, a Toyota MasterAce, a Mitsubishi Space Wagon, and a Nissan Serena. The Espaces came first and second. Building upon its success, the Espace was revamped in 1988, with most of the remaining Talbot/Simca content being replaced by equivalent Renault parts. The chassis and mechanical components of the car remained largely unchanged. The most obvious cosmetic exterior difference, between the very first Espaces and the revamped post 1988 models, were the changed headlights: the forward-slanting lights with orange indicator casing of the original Espace were replaced with backward-slanting lights, with a clear indicator casing. Along with the changes in design, a four-wheel-drive version called Quadra was also introduced. Brazilian Ford Concessionaire Grancar, in cooperation with Toni Bianco, developed a faithful copy of the original Espace in Brazil in 1990. Called the Grancar Futura, it was powered by four-cylinder engines (AP1800/AP2000) from Ford/Volkswagen's local lineup, while using the dashboard from the Ford Del Rey and the Escort's fuel tank.