Paris Motor Show 2010: Rob's Story

The Paris Motor Show was, in a word, fantastic. If you know me, you know I’m passionate about cars. A few years back I went to the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland, and was thoroughly impressed. Compared with the show in Toronto I go to every year, it was miles better. Fortunately, the Paris show was even better!

First off, you get to see all the European cars that never make it to the other side of the pond. In some cases these cars can be fairly mundane; just because they sell the Dacia Sandero over here doesn’t mean it’s export worthy. I had to stop by and see the Dacia though, just because Captain Slow (aka James May) always goes on about it on Top Gear. Believe me, it’s really, really terrible. In other cases, however, they have some pretty incredible vehicles that don’t make it over to North America. Take for instance the Fiat 500 Abarth, the super hot version of the otherwise fairly plane Fiat 500. Or, take the Ford Focus RS500. They only made 500 of them, but it is ridiculously fast, and menacing in matte black



Second, the Europeans take their racing a lot more seriously than in North America. Perhaps this is because I’ve only been to the Toronto show, where manufacturers seem almost afraid to show that their vehicles have sporting credentials. Even the NASCAR teams rarely show their faces in Toronto. In Paris, however, racing was EVERYWHERE. There were two of the Peugeot 908 HDi's from the 24 hours of LeMans, Sebastian Loeb’s Cirtoen C4 rally car (he’s won the last 7 World Rally Championships), the Ford Fiesta rally car, and a prototype Mini rally car.






Of course, Formula 1 was also represented with Jenson Button’s BGP001 car, possibly the most visually boring formula one car to ever win the championship. Renault brought their F1 car (oddly enough, with a large Lada logo on the side of it), although Ferrari’s F1 presence was strangely non-existent.



The best, however, was this little Mazda racer stuck away in a corner, in the best of vehicles past section. The Mazda 787 first competed at LeMans in 1990, but both vehicles retired due to technical failures. The same could not be said of the following year when they brought 3 cars to the 24 hour race, started in 19th, 23rd, and 30th position, and ended up winning the race (with the other two cars also finishing in the top 10). It should also be noted that 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place at the race was taken by the Jaguar XJR-12, an absolutely bonkers race car with a 7.4L V12 engine. The Mazda? It was powered by a tiny 2.6L Wankel Rotary engine! The best part of the story, for me anyways, is that the following year the FIA actually banned the use of the wankel engine in cars competing at Le Mans, so this underdog from Japan was retired at the top of its game, before it could defend its title.







Also of note, the show was chock full of green vehicles. The eco-mentalists, as Jeremy Clarkson would call them, seem to have taken over cars in Europe, with one entire building in the show dedicated to environmentally friendly vehicles. You could learn about all the new technologies (from battery manufacturers, to charging station providers, to customization groups), see the newest and greatest prototypes, and even sign up to test the newest hybrid and plugin electric models. Obviously, I didn’t care about any of this, so I didn’t bother with pictures. What was cool (and what I think could actually work) is electric scooters. I could see people buying an electric scooter, since they don’t go very far on a scooter usually, and you can also own a car for the weekends and traveling. Both Mini and Smart (two very successful manufacturers) had their concepts at the show – I liked the Mini better. Smart also brought an ebicycle concept , but along with most of these eco-dream concepts, they’re probably too expensive to be successful in the market.



Without question, the most incredible and ridiculous car was the new Lamborghini. It looked like a modern version of the Countach, or Diablo, in that it was crazy and beautiful and so over the top that every little boy wants one. I’ve included a video that I took of it, enjoy.




Other vehicles of note included



Audi Quattro concept - very angular, and a departure from the general styling principles across the entire Audi line. Seriously, take a look at every audi that they make, and they’re pretty much all the same. Even the R8 is too close in style to the rest of their lineup.



Range Rover Evoque concept – a two door SUV? Yes, seriously. Expect this to be the next big thing for wannabe rappers and hockey/soccer/basketball players. The SUV is useless for almost everyone who owns it, and the two door version is the ultimate in uselessness.



Mercedes CLS – the old one was stunningly beautiful for a big four door car. The new one has something wrong with the front end. It’s not as flowing and graceful as the old one, and the front reminds me of the front of a Dodge Charger (which is supposed to look like the front of a Dodge Ram after all)

Finally, Lotus was the real standout of the show. They brought not one, not two, but FIVE new concepts to the show. When I read about all these models, and I looked at the pictures, I thought they were joking. When you look at the pictures, there just isn’t enough different between all the models. And their naming doesn’t make it any easier; the five models were named Eterne, Esprit, Elise, Elan and Elite! But in person, all of a sudden it starts to make a little more sense;

• Eterne – a four door sports car. Think the Porsche Panamera, the Aston Martin Rapide, or maybe the Maserati Quattreporte. Fantastic. Hope they make it. (sorry, didn't get a picture of this one)



Esprit – the top of the range sports car. Think Ferrari 599, Aston Martin DBS. Fast, beautiful, and slightly bigger than the other cars. Makes sense, as a halo car for the brand. Plus the old esprit has name recognition



Elise – the smallest of the bunch, and the most obvious replacement for the existing elise/exige, this is the one I think they will actually make. It’s kind of like a miata or s2000, but a lot better and a lot faster, for not that much more money. This is their big volume car. Think of it like the boxster for Porsche.



Elan – slightly larger than the elise, but not that much between the two. This one will be hard to sell within the company.



Elite – at first, very similar to the Elan, meaning it doesn’t fit in the product line. But then, it has a hard top convertible roof. Incredibly sexy. Think of it like the Ferrari California, or a hardtop convertible 911 (if Porsche made one!). Should be a good market for it. Check out the video below, around the 50 second mark you can see the top come down.




Lotus was smarter than most manufacturers at the show, in that their section was closed off and certain people would be let up on to the stage to see the cars. This is usually how Ferrari and the like keep their cars away from the riffraff, but I’ve never considered Lotus to be in this league. It’s clear that Proton (the Malaysian owners of Lotus) are putting big money into the brand, and are smartly moving it upscale to increase buyer’s willingness to pay. Anyways, I was able to get up on to the stage and spent a good 15-20 minutes looking at these new vehicles, taking photos, and talking to some company reps. Very interesting, should be exciting to see where they go in the future.

Other than that, the show was great. Busy (since the country was on strike, I have a feeling some workers came to the show on the second last day), but generally good.