Midweek Motoring with Gavin D’Souza
The major event dominating the motoring wires the past week has been the 81st Geneva Motor Show – that mother of all car conventions.
If you, as a car maker, want to make a big announcement, there is no better time or place to do it than Geneva, and with one of the biggest turnouts in the show’s history, that fact was clearly evident this year.
There was far too much new metal on display there to cover in one single report, so we will look at the most important and interesting ones, section by section, starting with by far the most exciting, the supercars.
Yes, supercars – big, expensive, loud, fast, extravagant things which serve as a distant beacon of inspiration for us to make truck-loads of money before we’re too old to drive.
There were many of these at Geneva, some of which we have discussed here previously, others which were surprises, pleasant or otherwise.
Lamborghini Aventador LP-700/4
We covered this bad boy last year based on a combination of information Lamborghini teasingly trickled out and pure optimistic speculation, but unveiled and in the carbon, the Aventador smashed all previous expectations.
It has a new chassis, suspension, engine, gearbox, interior (which is refreshingly anti-Audi), and a body that heralds a return to the madness once expected of the Raging Bull – not to mention, one hell of a name.
Until now, the flagship Lamborghini has only ever been a constant evolution of the chassis and engine first seen on the Miura in 1966, but the Aventador is a bold and welcome rethink.
The king is dead, long live the king!
Headlines: 6.5-litre V12; 515kW/690Nm; Carbon chassis including passenger cell; racing-style pushrod suspension; 0-100km/h in 2.9sec; 347km/h top speed.
Ferrari FF
Lately, Ferrari has been almost arrogantly polarising opinion with its briskly-evolving design language, and then promptly silencing the detractors with unquestionable engineering and technological clout.
With the rather stupidly named FF, they’ve done this five-fold; while it is, to these eyes, absolutely hideous, it debuts features new and undoubtedly beneficial to the brand for the coming years.
Replacing the bland but inoffensive 612 Scaglietti coupé as the big grand tourer of the range, this wagon (okay, ‘shooting brake’) can hold four people and their luggage more comfortably than ever before.
Intended to allow customers to enjoy their Fezza in all conditions is a lightweight and incredibly simple four-wheel-drive system and a hybrid V8 version is also on the cards.
What next, a diesel ute?
Headlines: Front-mid-mounted 6.3-litre direct-injection V12; Ferrari’s first production 4WD system; 485kW/683Nm; strange, golf bag-friendly shooting brake design; folding rear seats (gasp!).
Pagani Huayra
When grainy images of the Huayra (pronounced ‘Why-Ra’) began to pop up on the internet, it was slammed for being bloated and ugly compared to the Zonda it replaces.
Large amounts of feet are reportedly being put in mouths now as official pictures and details are revealed, because the Huayra is nothing short of spectacular.
Literally woven from a blend of carbon and titanium, it is roomier, faster, cleaner and safer than the Zonda, those last two details allowing Pagani to finally do business in the very lucrative USA.
It also eliminates the need for spoilers by using four mechanical flaps at the corners car that constantly adjust for the perfect downforce.
Although more powerful, the AMG V12 is now smaller and cleverly turbocharged, so it’s cleaner and more efficient.
Not bad for a one-model car maker from small-town Italy.
Headlines: AMG-built twin-turbo 6-litre V12; 515kW/1003Nm; unique active aerodynamics; exotic materials inside and out; $2.2m (est.) price tag.
Koenigsegg Agera and Agera R
We’ve salivated over the Agera already, but as it turns out that was just a pre-production prototype. The good news is the showroom version is pretty much exactly the same, except now it has a steering wheel worthy of its price tag.
Power is still a dizzying 692kW from the homemade twin-turbo 5.0-litre V8 and chances are it still spits metre-long flames from its cavernous exhaust, but it delivers a claimed 14.7 l/100km, which is outstanding for its performance.
The independent Swedish manufacturer also previewed the hotter ‘R’ version of the Agera which tasks its rear wheels with a rather silly 820kW.
It’s not like the Swedes have a reputation for being sensible or anything.
Headlines: Twin-turbo 5.0-litre V8, 692kW/1001Nm (R: 820kW/1001Nm); 14.7l/100km; $1.8m (est.) price tag.
GTA Spano
GTA who? No, this isn’t a car spawned from the wildly popular (and controversial) video game franchise. We weren’t sure either until we remembered a largely overlooked concept car from 2008.
Now in production guise, it looks like the bastard love-child of a Ferrari Enzo and a Bugatti Veyron and it should, given the punch it packs.
Its Spanish maker calls it ‘Amazing GTA Spano’, sort of like ‘Amazing Spider-Man’, but comical as it may seem, if the figures are real, the competition should be quite afraid.
Headlines: 8.3-litre supercharged V10; 603kW/960Nm; carbon, kevlar and titanium construction; 100km/h in under three seconds; limited to 99 units.
Gumpert Tornante
What would you do if you were an standalone company that spent a fortune honing the aerodynamics of your hyper-expensive (and quick) supercar, only to have your efforts criticised for being too ugly?
Gumpert teamed up with design house Touring Superleggera to create the Tornante, an allegedly all-new supercar which you won’t mind being seen in on the red carpet at the Oscars. It’s still no Alfa 8C, mind.
Underneath, it promises the same mind-bending performance as the Apollo, but with more comfort, space and ease of use – like an Aston Martin DB9. Yeah, right.
Gumpert maintains it’s still a performance car at its core, so prepare to sacrifice four-zone climate control for sub-seven-minute Nurburgring lap times.
Headlines: 4.2-litre twin-turbo V8; 515kW/900Nm; 87% less ugly than its Hannibal-masked stable-mate.
Tune in next week when we look at more metal from the Geneva Motor Show floor.
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