The 83rd Salon International De l’Auto & Accessoires, to give the
exhibition it’s full title, took place between the 07 - 17 March,
occupying seven halls of the Palexpo exhibition centre adjacent
to Geneva Airport. Each year the show is the focal point for new
models for most of the major manufacturers, along with a wide
variety of niche market specialists, who see it as the most
important venue to have an impact on the international automobile
scene. 2013 was no exception, with around 180 World, European
or Swiss premieres within the confines of the show halls. From
supercars to eco friendly electric or hybrid cars, there was
something to cover virtually every aspect of the motoring genre.
Actually, Geneva in 2013 was the year of the supercar, with a
great selection of new models on offer to those with suitably deep
pockets. Most notable amongst them were Ferrari, Lamborghini
and McLaren, all premiering new limited edition models.
Unsurprisingly, it was the new offering from Ferrari that caused
the greatest interest amongst the press and public alike, with
journalist and photographers forming a human wall along the front
of the Ferrari stand, long before the unveiling on the Tuesday
morning of press day. The new model, “La Ferrari”, bristling with
hybrid technology, was eventually unveiled after an introductory
speech by company President Luca di Montezemolo,
accompanied by key design staff for the project. With a limited
production of 499 examples (all pre-sold), and a price around 1.2
million Euros, it certainly needed to make a bold statement and
have electrifying performance. From its dramatic appearance, and
the figures given, 0 - 300kph in 15.4secs, 70 - 120kph in half the
time of an Enzo, and reportedly 5secs per lap quicker than an
Enzo around the Fiorano test track, it is some mighty machine!
If the Ferrari was dramatic, then the Lamborghini Veneno, of
which only three examples are slated for production, can only be
described as wild! The best description that I can think of is an
Audi sports prototype for the road, due to its presentation duo-
tone grey colour scheme with red accents, and the central vertical
fin running from the cockpit to the rear wing of the car, add in
more slashes and slots than one could ever imagine, and you
have one extraordinary machine. In terms of presence, the P1
from McLaren was presented in a lurid yellow colour scheme,
featuring front light units that cleverly replicate the McLaren logo,
and like its Ferrari and Lamborghini counterparts, featuring
scissor doors, plus a flush rear wing that rises high on hydraulic
struts when required. To remind people of where they had been
with the supercar before, there was an example of the nineties F1
GT in bright orange XP1/LM form on the stand.
They weren’t the only company to go “retro”, as Jaguar had an
XK120 to accompany the launch of the new F-Type, Aston Martin
had a DBR1 sports racing car on their stand for the world
premieres of the Rapide S and the Centenary Edition Vanquish,
and Pininfarina had the original Dino Prototype, to compliment
their latest Ferrari 458 Spider based tribute/concept car the
Sergio. The show also witnessed the return of Spyker, with the
C8 Aileron and the B6 Venator Concept, then there were the
specialist supercar manufacturers like, Gumpert, Koenigsegg,
Pagani, Spania GTA and Weismann, to name but a few. Staying
with the wild and wonderful, there were also numerous companies
who specialise in modifying cars, sometimes almost beyond
recognition, like Mansory with their Ferrari F12 based Stallone,
and Lamborghini Aventador based Carbonado, Gemballa with their
McLaren MP4-12C based GT, ABT with Audi, Ruf and Techart
with Porsche based models, BMW Alpina, plus Brabus a
Carlsson with Mercedes-Benz, again to name but a few. Add in
the styling houses like the already mentioned Pininfarina,
Bertone, with their elegant one-off Aston Martin Rapide based
shooting Break, accompanied by the earlier Vanquish based Jet
2, Italdesign-Giugiaro with their GT SUV concept, and Touring
Superleggera with the first production version of their Touring
Disco Volante Coupe, originally shown in concept form in 2012.
Luxury cars didn’t go unnoticed, as Bentley debuted the new
Flying Spur with permanent 4 wheel drive, and the Rolls Royce
Phantom Coupe also made its world debut.
It wasn’t only the really high end of the market where there was
an abundance of new models, Chevrolet showed the 7th
generation of the Corvette, Jaguar had their new F-Type 2 seater,
Alfa Romeo had the debut of their beautiful new 4C 2 seater, with
a carbon fibre monocoque, and most of the mainstream
manufacturers for the masses had something, either new or
derived, to suit their part of the market. Once again, the Geneva
Salon proved to be a wonderful and glamorous showcase for the
motor industry and its constantly evolving technology.
|
