Lamborghini

After the radical KTM, it was going to take something special to get me worked up again. Thankfully Lambo wasn't far away.

The Gallardo Superleggera has to be the most aggressive car yet to wear the Raging Bull badge. The battleship grey paint – which has divided opinion looks great if you ask me, especially when coupled with a carbon fibre rear wing and some sexy colour-coded alloys.

Awesome.

Audi

Lamborghini 's parent company is next door, and had some show stoppers of its own.

Despite pictures of the A5 and S5 coupes being leaked – we reported on this a few weeks ago – the crowd mobbed the new cars.

It's not hard to see why. Once I'd battled my way to the front, I found the pair of sexy two-doors bore more than a passing resemblance to the new 3-Series coupe; and the S5 will have M3-rivalling pace.

Get on the waiting list now if you fancy one – demand will be massive.

Maserati

After the vision in grey on the Lamborghini stand, I need another fix of Italian passion.

And Maserati are perfectly placed to provide it.

The new GranTurismo is a strange blend of the GranSport and the Quattroporte, and I'm not sure it works. While other journalists were cooing over the gaping grille in the front, I was transfixed on the back.

Did Maserati get the idea from the new Mondeo?

Cadillac

Passing by the Bugatti stand (yes, I'm not a huge fan of the Veyron, although it’s the first time I've seen one in the flesh; maybe I'm just getting tired – its been a long day) I wandered over to Cadillac.

I stopped to take a couple of snaps of the XLR roadster – which looks incredible – before I realised it was the first time the Caddy CTS has been seen outside America.

Looks good enough to be a bona fide 5-Series rival, but the BLS is a good car too, though hardly anyone buys it.

I think it's only a matter of time before the Brits buy into the American styling in a big way.

Mitsubishi

Having checked out two of the CUV trinity – the C-Crosser and Pug 4007 – I though it time to look at the Outlander.

Editor Higgins has already driven one, and found it to be really rather good; but it was the first time I've seen one. Looks like a close call to which I'd go for, but I think the C-Crosser still edges ahead of the 'Bishi. Just.

To be honest I was more interested in the Prototype X concept, which will become the new Evo soon. It looks awesome, and will be the fastest series production Evo yet – I can't wait.

Kia (again)

Bet you'd thought I'd forgotten about Kia. Well you were wrong.

I'd seen pics of the new excee'd before, so I knew what to expect; but nothing quite prepared me for seeing a genuinely handsome Kia. It looks absolutely fantastic, and even though the interior has been lifted straight from a normal Cee'd, Kia has beaten it with the pretty mallet and it looks cracking.

If the Korean marque has any sense, it'll put it straight into production toot sweet.

BMW (again)

I'd hovered around BMW's stand plenty of time today, but the moment I was waiting for was when the covers fell off the new M3 'Concept'.

I use Concept in the loosest possible sense, because BMW did exactly the same with the current M5 a few years ago, and that hit the showrooms shortly after.

The Audi RS4 raised the bar for supercoupes, but the new M3 should turn it up one notch higher, with a 420bhp V8 and a dual clutch auto similar to VW/Audi's excellent DSG.

But pictures tell a thousand words - and it's the business.

And on that super unleaded-fuel note; I'm off. See you next year.

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