Geneva Salon, 03 - 13 March 2011
The 81st Geneva International Motor Show opened its doors to
the press on 01 March, for two preview days prior to the official
public opening on the Thursday. After a couple of years where the
stands have been more restrained, it was back to its glistening
self, with all the major manufacturers having expansive and
opulent settings to display their latest offerings, and concept
cars. There were also numerous specialist high end new models
from a number of manufacturers, both well established like
Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce, and generally
lesser known outside the mainstream, like Artega, Gumpert,
Koenigsegg, and newcomer GTA Motor with their limited
production Spano, of which a production run of only 99 examples
is planned.
Equally, all the major Italian styling houses had a presence of one
sort or another. Zagato made their appearance on the main Fiat
stand, with their rendition of a Fiat 500 featuring their trademark
double bubble roof, which enhanced the lines of the already cute
car. Giugiaro offerings appeared on the Vredestein stand, with
Bertone showing their B99 Jaguar interpretation in both road and
race forms, Pininfarina displayed their latest design, the new
Ferrari FF, and Touring Superleggera had the Gumpert Tornante
alongside their Bentley Flying Spur station wagon. There were
also numerous styling and engineering modification specialists
displaying a wide range of modified cars, including Novatec Rosso
with a trio of Ferraris, Mansory with a wild carbon finish
Mercedes-Benz SLS coupé, and an equally wild 458 Italia based
model named Siracusa. Naturally the Swiss design house of
Sbarro also had a strong presence, with a display including their
renowned Ferrari 330 P4 replica, a Ferrari based retro roadster,
and new offerings in the form of a central driving position model
called the Evoluzione and the turbocharged V6 Alfa Romeo
powered Speed’R concept.
The emphasis on ecologically friendly transport continues to be a
major influence, with a variety of offerings from all the major
manufacturers, and there was a dedicated Green Pavillion
highlighting the latest advances in ecologically friendly transport
technology. Here, apart from being able to view the latest
offerings, visitors were able to test drive them as well on a
specially laid out circuit. However, whatever humble transport we
may use, it is the dream cars that are the major attraction at any
motor show, and there was no shortage of them at Geneva.
Ferrari gave their new top of the range FF model its world show
premiere, with an innovative four wheel drive system that takes
the drive to the front wheels directly off the front end of the
crankshaft through a electro-hydraulic dual clutch system. This
allows up to 30% of the engine power to be transmitted through
the front wheels up to a speed of 130kph, when it automatically
reverts to two wheel drive. Lamborghini also had a completely new
offering in the form of the Murcielago replacement, the permanent
four wheel drive Aventador LP700-4, the fastest and most powerful
series production car that the company has produced. Another
debut was that of the spectacular Pagani Huayra, replacing the
Zonda, with two examples on display, whilst close by was the
new Koenigsegg Agera R, boasting a claimed 1115bhp!
Aston Martin gave the V8 Vantage S its world debut, and their
stand also featured a part of their history, with a beautiful pale
metallic blue DB4 GT Zagato on display, fortunately well away
from the debutante behind the Cygnet city car, otherwise it would
have stolen its thunder! Bentley displayed their Supersports “Ice
Speed Record” convertible, which was driven to a speed of
325kph (202mph) on ice by Juha Kakkunen, and in tandem
announced a new limited edition model (100 examples), the
Supersports ISR Convertible, to celebrate this achievement. On
the same stand an updated version of the Continental GT also
made its debut, alongside the Continental Flying Spur Series 51
and the Mulsanne models. Jaguar celebrated the 50th anniversary
of the presentation of the “E” Type model at the 1961 Geneva
Salon, by showing the same car that featured then, together with
their new XKR-S model, finished in an attractive bright blue. Alfa
Romeo presented their 4C concept car, finished in a rather
strange metallic matt red finish, whilst fellow Fiat group member,
Maserati had an extensive display of their range including their
latest offering, the GranCabrio Sport, and the GranTurismo MC
Trofeo.
With some 250 exhibitors from 30 countries, and more than 100
world or European premieres, the show offered a great selection
of new models and concept cars for the visitors to enjoy, along
with a vast selection of regular series production cars.
Ferrari Models on Display
Stand Model Colour Chassis #
Ferrari
California Blue Met’/Cream 179315
458 Italia Yellow Met’/Black 179316
599 GTB Fiorano Red/Tan 179363
FF Red Met’/Black 179305
FF Silver/Blue 179314
FF Grey Met’/Tan 177021
F10 F1 SSC* Red 145
Pininfarina
FF White Met’/Blue 179529
Pirelli
F248 F1 SSC* Red 117
Sbarro
330P4 Replica Red/Black 08892**
Spider White/Black 51201***
Mansory
458 Italia “Siracusa” Yellow-Carbon/Black 176511
Novatec Rosso
California White-Carbon/Black ?
458 Italia White-Carbon/Black ?
GTO Silver-Yellow St./Black ?
*Livery to replicate current F150th Italia F1 car
**308 GT4 chassis fitted with V12 engine
***Fitted with carburettor 400 engine
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