You are here : Cars Homepage > News and Reviews Hub > Bonjour from the Paris Motor Show
Bonjour from the Paris Motor Show
We sent Stuart Milne to the Paris Expo Centre to bring you the latest from one of Europe’s biggest motor shows. I’ve never been to the Paris Motor Show before – in fact been to Paris before. Compared to the six mile / two hour car journey to the British Motor Show earlier in the year, getting to Paris was a cinch. Thanks, Eurostar! Like the London show, Paris combined the latest cars with a host of other activities. Like a 4x4 track, kart racing, and even an Xbox tournament. Highlight of the day are expected to be:
But enough of this, I’ve got work to do. Alfa Romeo As soon as I burst through the doors of the show, I had one car on my mind. The sensational Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. Sadly, the boys and girls at Alfa haven't pulled the covers off yet, leaving me tantalisingly close to the car I love. Never mind, I'll be back over there later. Volvo Downcast, I walked across to Volvo's stand, where there was a gaggle of its new C30 hatchbacks. The Focus and 1-Series-rivalling hatch is hardly changed from the stunning concept which was shown at the London Motor Show back in July. And in a rare moment of design boldness, the Swedish car maker has done a cracking job. Sporting Volvo's corporate front end, and a radical glass bootlid, the C30 is likely to set the small family hatchback market alight, Ford There was another real-world showstopper on the Ford stand next door. Its all-new Mondeo looks incredible - and like the Volvo bears a striking resemblance to its concept car roots. Unsurprisingly there was a crowd ten deep surrounding the estate car, which takes styling cues from the S-Max MPV and the Iosis concept which did the rounds a couple of years ago. In a part of the market that isn't selling well at the moment, the new Mondeo could be just what it needs. Elsewhere on the stand was an ice-modeller carving a replica of the Mondeo, which was about the only cool part of the show on a day that is shaping up to be very hot indeed. Mazda After a quick poke around Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover - well, it'd be rude not to - I emerged onto Mazda's stand. Star of their show was the new Mazda 3 MPS hot hatch, which kind of looks like a bog-standard 3, but with added aggression. We'll be driving the 3 MPS in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for the full review. Citroen After a quick pitstop for a much needed can of coke, I paid Citroen a visit. The centrepiece of its stand was the C-Metisse concept - a crazy coupe complete with a hybrid powerplant. It nearly eclipsed one of the most anticipated launches of the day - the C4 Picasso. The current Picasso is one of the best-selling MPVs in the UK, so Citroen have built on this to create a slightly larger and more stylish model. Citroen say they'll be building the C4 Picasso alongside to existing model, so fans of the value-for-money people carrier can sleep soundly. Fiat Fiat had armed itself with a bevy of beauties in barely-there clothes, so I had to battle my way through a fog of testosterone to catch a glimpse of the Pandas and Grand Puntos on show. Not too much to report here, other than the boxy little Panda is growing on me, particularly when wearing a fancy bodykit. Ferrari What show would be complete without a Ferrari or eight? Rumours had surfaced on the internet that Ferrari might pull the wraps of its lightweight F430 Stradale. Sadly that day has not yet come.. The Prancing Horse bought along a rather rare second-hand car, previously owned by one Michael Schumacher. They would have missed a trick if they didn't bring his F1 World Championship-winning car to Paris. Pininfarina Italian styling house Pininfarina has designed just about every Ferrari ever made, but rarely do they appear at shows in their own right. Nor is it very often that they do one-off cars for the well-heeled. The Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina - to give its full name is a hand-built, fully functional supercar based on the Enzo. It looks better than the Enzo, is quicker - and at several million pounds, more expensive too. But it's worth every penny - and it looks so good, it’s the only unofficial coach-built Ferrari to be allowed to use the name. To see the P4/5 in the flesh was worth the trip here alone. Lancia Here's a blast from the past. Lancia no longer sells cars in the UK, but having thrived on the continent is set to make a comeback. Their new concepts hint at the goodies that will be on offer. The Delta concept is likely to hit production soon. It wasn't all good news though. Ugliest car of the show so far goes to the hideous Thesis saloon. Nissan Another stand shouting about its latest model was Nissan. A pair of dinky offroaders were the ones pulling in the journos. The Qashqai - which is pronounced 'cash-kigh' - is a Focus-sized car with offroading pretensions. Nissan says it will find favour with those wanting the occasional off-road capabilities of a SUV, but without the Tonka toy image. Given British drivers’ love of these things, it should sell well. Renault Nissan's partner in crime unveiled three concepts. Except in this case, two of them; the Twingo supermini and Koleos mini-SUV look like they're practically production-ready. The all-new Twingo replaces the dated model which has been on sale on the Continent since the dawn of time. The Koleos soft-roader is completely new car which bears a strange resemblance to the BMW X3 from the rear. The third concept was the completely hatstand Nepta. It's a convertible which still manages to pack a couple of gullwing doors. And it's more than just a sharp suit - there's a twin turbo version of the Nissan 350Z's engine under the bonkers bonnet. A trio of race cars and some slightly revised models were there too, but I could see the Porsche stand from the corner of my eye… Porsche It's been about half an hour and I'm still weak at the knees. I've always been a big fan of the hardcore 911, the GT3 RS, but the latest model - seen for the first time in Paris - looks sensational. While the spotlight was firmly on the glass-roofed 911 Targa, I had a poke around the bright orange RS and was amazed at its no-nonsense racecar inspired interior. I'm loving that carbon fibre wing too. Alfa Romeo (again) Seeing the vision in orange reminded me about the Alfa 8C, so I dashed across the show to take a peek. And for the first time in my life, I was lost for words. Slack-jawed, I barged my way through the crowd to look at the sweetest looking Italian car since…ever. There are more curves than a curve factory, and it has perfect proportions. There simply isn't a part of this car that's out of place. Its automotive perfection. Peugeot Taking a quick reality check, I ambled over to Peugeot who have been very busy making green cars. Pretty much every model in its range - including the convertible versions - has an environmentally-friendly engine; diesel-hybrid, bio-ethanol, the list goes on. Hats off to the French for making planet-saving cars, but the excitable child in me just wants to ogle the roofless racecar 207 Speedster concept and the immense 908RC supersaloon. Mercedes & Maybach The Three Pointed Star had three big unveilings in Paris, but all of them require very deep pockets to own. First up was the CL 63 AMG luxo-coupe, which has more power than Zeus thanks to a 6.3-litre engine. But that paled into insignificance alongside the Mercedes McLaren SLR 722, which is basically a 'bog standard' SLR with a funky bodykit, gorgeous alloys and even more power. I wouldn't say no to a go in it. Oh, and if you can stump up the £250,000-or-so for a Maybach, you can have it in white. The ultimate wedding car? Dodge & Chrysler Dodge and its brother Chrysler are hitting Europe hard with a new model every week, it seems. Paris was the first chance to sneak a peek at the Dodge Avenger - a hard-as-nails looking four door coupe. Give it a big rorty engine, and it'll be a card-carrying muscle car. The Caliber hatchback gets a shot of adrenalin in the arm with the SRT-4 hot hatch. Doesn't look bad, but unless its cheap I can't see it competing with the Focus ST or Golf GTi. BMW To be honest, I'm a traditionalist when it comes to BMW's styling. I was a huge fan of the angular 1980s and '90s looks, and the new stuff doesn't hit the right buttons. But that changed when I saw the 3-Series Coupe. The front is 3-Series standard fare, but the back looks at least 30 times better than the saloon. They'll even do you a hot 335i version, with a turbocharged 3-litre engine. That makes it the fastest 3-Series until the new M3 gets a launch date. Honda Fresh from announcing it will increase production at its factory in Swindon, Honda finally revealed the long-awaited Civic Type-R and the 3rd generation CR-V soft-roader. The Civic has been a Marmite kinda car - you love it or hate it. I'm not a huge fan, but I have to say the Type-R looks a belter. And it should drive like one too. It's packing around 200bhp from its 2-litre engine, which coupled with suspension, chassis and brake tweaks means it'll drive rings round most other hot hatches. The CR-V isn't a world away from the previous generations, but should be enough to keep the till ringing. Honda's boss, Takeo Fukui revealed it would expand its hybrid line-up by 2009 and will start selling a fuel cell car - based on the FCX concept by 2008. Audi The last visit of the day for me - I've got to catch the Eurostar shortly. Audi have at last shown the R8 supercar in the flesh. Forget the cutesy TT, the R8 - complete with Lamborghini engine - looks like its about to claw the flesh off your face. Expect a near 200mph top speed and photographs of footballers crashing them to be in the papers soon. Well, that's the end of my Parisian adventures - for now. Stay tuned for more on the Paris Motor Show over the next few days. Auto Trader links |
Page 1
Bookmark this page with: