Macca Versus Fezza – Which one would you have?

It is the question right now. Whether or not you can afford them is a non-issue – prince or pauper, which car would you have on your drive? The Ferrari 458 Italia or the McLaren MP4-12C?

I’ve decided to help my fellow-man (and woman of course) by dissecting every facet of the decision-making process and help you make up your mind. Even you Mr. Moneybags, who can afford both cars, read on and see which one tickles your fancy the most and save some hard-earned cash in the process (why not donate it to your favorite car design blog?).

Growler to see the light of day

You may have seen images of this concept, the hilariously named ‘Growler’, over the last couple of weeks. It is a tribute to the E-type and now news has arrived that some examples will actually be built.

The iconic E-Type Jag is celebrating half a century since it first rolled out the factory doors in Coventry and the company commemorated this last week at Geneva by hosting E-Type drives at the Parc des Eaux Vives. The event went largely unnoticed. However, the car’s fan base spread far and wide and they won’t be resting on their laurels.

Volkswagen Group’s future visions at Geneva

Concepts galore, from minibuses to city compacts, and that’s just the mother company! VW and its subsidiaries had an amazing array of vehicles showcasing their collective yet separate directions – lets just hope they actually build a few of them for once.

The last of my Geneva based blog comes rather late, over a week since the Geneva Palexpo closed it’s doors to motoring enthusiasts for yet another year. However, not looking at the many concepts Volkswagen and its subsidiaries showcased this year would be a mistake.

We’ll start with the daddy. The brand with the heralded VW badge showed of three concepts the funky Bulli Bus and two gorgeous Giugiaro compact cars. The latter consisted of the Tex, a Polo-sized coupe with a low and wide stance, and the Go, a just as slight yet taller MPV with a narrower track.

The Compact Concept Congregation

No, not a Seattle-based folk/indie band, just an observation that when it came to concepts, captivating coupés rubbed shoulders with cute compacts at this year’s Geneva motor show. It is an ever increasing trend and a sign of the times.

The Mini Rocketman

Car brands create concepts for a multitude of reasons: first of all, they generate interest, which equates to a more crowded stand; secondly, concepts give us an (often false) indication to the brand’s future design philosophy; and finally, perhaps most importantly, they act as studies for new tech, materials, platforms, engines, drive trains and so forth. In this day and age, what is the point of using cash and resources researching products for a segment that is either shrinking, increasingly competitive, or both (such as the sports car market) That is why we are seeing more city car concepts.

As I mentioned in the Mini Rocketman blog, the market for superminis is growing due to a factorial soup, the main ingredients of which are environmental and financial. We may not openly like it but these diminutive designs tug at our heartstrings and open our eyes to a developing situation, the Rocketman is great example of this.

Stars of Geneva – The Super Cars

There are so many supercars and sports cars making their debut at this year’s Geneva Motor Show – it must be unprecedented.

Here’s a quick run down of the best of the best. For most of us, let us adore these machines as unattainable works of wonder, and as for those select few – your choice has hardly ever been more difficult – heck, why not collect them all?

Stars of Geneva – the Concepts

Here are my favourite show cars form the currently ongoing Geneva Motor Show.

There have been a few welcome surprises at the show (the Alfa),  and quite a few studies (again, the Alfa) that have had visitors on tip-toes trying to catch a glimpse through the crowds. The majority are listed below in what is a concise run-down of the show’s concept car highlights. I have already dedicated quite a few lines to the Mini Rocketman and the BMW Vision ConnectedDrive so I will not delve into them any more at this point (just scroll down or use the tag cloud).

Main Avent(ador) – The New Lambo flagship revealed at the Geneva Motorshow today

It’s a twelve cylinder, mid-engined Lamborghini named after a feisty toro and has those trademark doors. It looks fantastic yet why is it that the new flagship vehicle from the raging bull is failing to push my buttons?

The Geneva Motorshow this year is already developing into a classic. I’ll be delving into my favorite concepts and new cars from the show over the next few days but I just had to jot down my thoughts on the new Lambo – this kind of event is a once in a decade occurrence and as soon as I heard the news I stood to attention and absorbed the occasion.

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time…

…went the famous Elton John tune with which this brilliant Mini concept shares its name and it is quite an appropriate phrase. BMW resurrected the Mini ten years ago as a marque yet it is only now that they are showing signs of reconnecting with true spirit of Sir Alec Issagonis’s original.

I’m a big fan of the modern Mini yet I’m sure I’m not the only person thinking that the company was starting to lose focus. Mini will forever remain synonymous with small yet every new model seemed to get bigger and less distinguishable form what should have been a pretty straight-forward identity. I feared that with the Clubman, and more so with the more recent  Countryman and Paceman, Mini was walking up a path well trodden by Smart. The Daimler subsidiary had great success with the City/Fortwo and then it decided to expand into markets which, quite frankly, it had no business getting involved in. The Forfour and Roadster where discontinued after only 2 years and an SUV model, the Formore, never even made into production.

The Porsche 928

The Porsche 928 is to the automotive industry what Donnie Darko is to film and Hüsker Dü is to music – all critically acclaimed yet generally unappreciated during their time – cult classics.

Some twenty years ago I was eight-year-old living in Australia, a friend of the family decided he no longer had any room for his a collection of plastic car models. Knowing my fiendish adoration of anything four-wheeled, he bestowed them on to me. The Collection consisted of  a Holden Kingswood and a Holden Tirana (which I loathed at the time as my father drove a Falcon XY), a ’57 Chevy, and a Porsche 928. The two Holdens and the Chevy had been lovingly assembled, particularly the latter, which sported a two-tone, emerald and pearl, paint job. The Porsche had not been painted at all and the only alterations to its matte, beige, plastic bodywork were white slivers of superglue fumes – I instantly fell in love with it.

First peek at BMW’s Vision ConnectedDrive concept

 

It has been nearly two years since BMW showcased the Vision EfficientDynamics and exactly how do you follow up such a showstopper? Well, quite emphatically by the looks of it. Here is the Bavarian’s latest concept – the Vision ConnectedDrive.

The concept has a distinct predatory look, with many calling it shark-like. The marine-based similarities suit it: the pinched body panels protrude gracefully like fins; gill-like slits pierce its metallic flesh; and the many LEDs that highlight its shape seem to hark at some sort of deep water dwelling, bio-luminescent beast.