Motor Shows & Car Museums – Driven To Write

Hillhead

A quarry day out.

Armour to increase grip on loose surfaces along with handily avoiding punctures. These tyres cost a kings ransom to replace. All images: The author.

Set in the beautiful but often hidden, industrial Peak District, Hillhead, Buxton is host to the UK’s largest quarry, construction and recycling exhibition. With watchwords of sustainability, environmental technology and safety, alongside carbon and other kinds of footprints littering this hole in the ground, your correspondent became Charlie to Willy Wonka’s industrial might. Life sized Tonka toys on display or in operation. Tyres larger than an Escalade. Excavator buckets bigger than a house. Everything for sale.

In a world gone mad with rising prices, three words to strike joy into a Yorkshireman’s heart. A free show. Nothing of course is ever free but as I had no need to shell out for parking, entry fees or indeed lunch, the DTW coffers^[1] remain intact. Journeying but an hour from home, the traffic flotilla increased as we got closer to the show ground, with around 8,500 like-minded folk in train; the event lasts three days. Marshalled into parking, one could wait for a white, yet dusty 22-plate Transit to van you closer to events but I preferred to Continue reading “Hillhead”

Show and Tell (Part Seven)

Concluding our recollection of a phenomenon now in danger of extinction: the traditional motor show.

Detroit 2000

Chrysler’s PT Cruiser was styled by Brian Nesbitt⁽¹⁾ with the assistance of Gilbert Clotaire Rapaille, a French medical anthropologist, which may well have been an automotive industry first. The reason for employing the services of Rapaille was to Continue reading “Show and Tell (Part Seven)”

Show and Tell (Part Six)

Blowing the dust off another set of rediscovered envelopes and their contents, rekindling some memories.

Paris 1990

Project 2758, as the Mercedes-Benz 500E was known internally at Porsche AG, who partly built the car, was a ‘Q-car’ in the vein of the BMW M5 but, this being Stuttgart, the 500E presented itself in an even more discreet way than Munich’s autobahnstormer.

The 5-litre, 32-valve M119 V8 propelled the 500E to an electronically limited maximum speed of 250km/h (155mph) although, without the limiter, its terminal velocity was known to have been quite a bit higher. The 500E was strictly a four-seater, which was not entirely by choice: the differential needed was so large that there was no room left for any suspension or even padding in the middle of the rear seat area. Continue reading “Show and Tell (Part Six)”

Training Day

To Daventry, Nimrod, and don’t spare the DERV.

Volvo’s Daventry Training Centre. All images: The Author

My Volvo S90 would be the perfect town and commuter car if not for the fact he runs on diesel. Both derrière and back are supported supremely but the engine and that particulate filter prefer the motorway dash to the monotonous urban grind. Having had little opportunity to head out anywhere other than the supermarket and workplace for seemingly an age, the opportunity to Continue reading “Training Day”

Show and Tell (Part Five)

Look and you shall find.

Ending an aesthetically dodgy episode during the eighties, the final facelift made the Spider regain most of its former prettiness. Image: the author

Some envelopes with car show photos that were elusive when the first four instalments of this series were being written in 2020 have now resurfaced.

Geneva 1988:

Quite late into its life, the Jaguar XJ-S was finally offered as a true convertible⁽¹⁾. Although the conversion might at first glance seem to be relatively straightforward, no less than 108 new panels and 48 modified pressings were needed to make the car a production reality. Also required were reinforcements to the transmission tunnel, rear floor and both bulkheads. The car was available in V12 form only, making it the most expensive vehicle in Jaguar’s model range apart from the very limited production Daimler DS420. Continue reading “Show and Tell (Part Five)”

This Weekend I Shall Be Mainly Visiting A Car Show

King Car is Dead. Long Live the King

August Bank Holiday

How the year doth fly

Eight hours observing in a field

Metal boxes under wide, leaden skies.

The car show can be held practically anywhere. The hard-standing of a shopping mall, someone’s backyard, a village green. And while holding a large gathering on some trimmed verge is not an exclusively British phenomenon, it does appear oh-so English to Continue reading “This Weekend I Shall Be Mainly Visiting A Car Show”

Not For Sale: Car Museums

A sermon about why car museums are to be avoided if you like old cars.

Ford Sierra Laser. Image source: The Truth About Cars

_{Originally published on 31st January 2014, the editor has selected to re-issue this piece, partially because it carries a fine profile shot of a Ford Sierra (making it vaguely topical) but primarily because it is an amusing, well crafted article – even if the author’s principle argument is somewhat debatable.}

Every car museum I have visited in the last 2.25 decades has been a disappointment. Cars are inherently space-consuming selfish monsters and even when they are caught, killed and pinned to plinths this quality does not diminish. They need plenty of room, alive or dead. Alive, the car needs sufficient space for portly passengers to open the doors and affect egress without having to close the door behind them, at a minimum. And dead, in a museum without sufficient space, the car can’t be assessed properly. You need to stand back, fold your arms (essential) and try to Continue reading “Not For Sale: Car Museums”

Newsgrab

A highly selective, subjective (and lengthy) IAA-themed grab for the week ending 12/09/2021.

The first indoor European motorshow since the onset of SARS CoV-2 is not something to be taken lightly, but neither is it of direct consequence to those of us who routinely fail to attend them. It’s not that I was ever particularly averse – in fact I rather enjoy perusing the putative, spectating over the speculative and free-associating over the fantastical, but the events themselves always seemed to have fallen at an inconvenient time. For the past 18 months or so this has been largely academic, but once again my coverage of a major motor event must by necessity be of a remote nature.

Impartial, in-person coverage is of course what anyone with a modicum of discernment would ideally Continue reading “Newsgrab”

Englishmen Abroad

A 1951 European Motor Show Review.

Seventy years have elapsed since The Motor, magazine both of note and of yore, printed year books (1949-57) to review the recent past whilst crystal balling the future. A 1952 edition happened my way recently, garnering a heady eight pages (from 220) with analysis garnered from the six European shows that year. Remember them?

Compiled by long standing journalists, Lawrence Pomeroy (son of the famed Vauxhall engineer) and Rodney Walkerley; could it be possible they had minions to accrue the information, rather than being sullied by waves of the great unwashed? Attracted more by figures than actual metal, “British cars are rare birds for 1951“, their words provide a very UK-centric view of matters motoring. Equally fascinating as they are frustrating, let us Continue reading “Englishmen Abroad”

European Car of the Year 2021: Worthy, But a Worthy Winner?

Once again the Geneva Salon is a no-show, but in the depths of the empty halls of Palexpo, the 57^th European Car of the Year announcement goes out to the world. Robertas Parazitas reports, from a virtual Grand-Saconnex.

Last year’s hasty but not unexpected cancellation of the Geneva International Motor Show established the template for the virtual ECotY presentation. No free fizz, no famous faces, but it worked, so why change?

Swiss television presenter Mélanie Freymond opened the proceedings, introducing GIMS CEO Sandro Mesquita. He almost answers everyone’s inevitable question. Will there be a show in 2022? The answer is that negotiations with their partner are nearing conclusion and he is hopeful of some “good news” in the next few weeks. Continue reading “European Car of the Year 2021: Worthy, But a Worthy Winner?”

If Hopes Were Dupes, Fears May Be Liars. Turin Motor Show 1970 – Part 2

Stepping back fifty years, we return to the Salone dell’Automobile di Torino for a second day for a feast of stylistic flair and bright hopes for the future.

Tjaarda-Giacobbi Sinthesis Image: Hemmings

As with neutral Geneva in the spring, Piedmont-centric Turin was a showplace for the industry’s fringe performers. In Italy fantasists and dreamers exhibited beside perfectly worthy but little-known Carrozzieri. In 1970, the sideshows were still rich in interest, although my IPC Business Press Cicerone, Anthony Curtis gave them only a sideways glance.

The UK and Italy seemed to share similar ambitions at the peripheries of their automotive industries. In Britain, clubman racing car constructors nurtured ambitions to Continue reading “If Hopes Were Dupes, Fears May Be Liars. Turin Motor Show 1970 – Part 2”

The Labour and the Wounds Are Vain – Turin Motor Show 1970 Part 1

Fifty years from the day it opened, we look back at the 1970 Salone dell’Automobile di Torino.

Italdesign Porsche 914 Tapiro Image: viaretro.com

In late 1970 much of Europe was in the grip of a pandemic, but not one which hindered the annual motor show round which had started in neutral Amsterdam and closed in Turin with a high-art extravaganza where function took a distant third place after form and fashion.

The pandemic was not biological but ideological, manifesting itself in social, political and industrial turmoil, and acts of terrorism by far-left, far-right and nationalist elements. In Italy the phenomenon was given a name – Anni di piombo – ‘The Leaden Years’, and was to Continue reading “The Labour and the Wounds Are Vain – Turin Motor Show 1970 Part 1”

Show and Tell (Part Four)

A last look back into the archive takes us into the late Nineties.

Geneva 1996

Peugeot’s 406 Toscana concept (above) swiftly faded into oblivion after the show, likely because it was not clear even to Peugeot itself what it was supposed to be or demonstrate.

The Opel Calibra 4×4 based Bertone Slalom “fits in between the modern coupé, the station wagon and the people-carrier” according to Bertone’s press kit. If nothing else, it took the concept of stretched headlights to a new level. Continue reading “Show and Tell (Part Four)”

Show and Tell (Part Three)

In the third episode of Bruno Vijverman’s retrospective through motor show memory lane, we enter the mid-nineties

Geneva 1994

Sharp eyes might recognise a youthful Jeremy Clarkson sitting behind the wheel of the Bentley Java concept below. This prototype for a more compact Bentley was designed in conjunction with (former ARG Design Chief) Roy Axe, and a small bespoke series in various body configurations (coupé, convertible, station wagon) was later built for the Sultan of Brunei.

When still a concept, Ford named its upcoming supermini ka: Some may Continue reading “Show and Tell (Part Three)”

Show and Tell (Part Two)

A further nostalgic journey through motor shows past, courtesy of Bruno Vijverman and his Nikons.

Geneva 1991

A surprise debut that year by Bentley’s Continental R; the car was brought to Switzerland in secret and driven onto the stand. In those pre-internet days, you could still organise something like this without being caught out by a blogger’s camera phone.

Alfa Romeo provided a preview of the upcoming 916 series GTV and Spider with the Proteo concept car. It was built on a shortened 164 platform and featured four wheel drive as well as then very much en vogue four wheel steering. Meanwhile, the Chubasco was centre point of the Maserati display; the Gandini-styled V8 mid engined sportscar was set to Continue reading “Show and Tell (Part Two)”

Lost In Translation

Crewe over-eggs the pudding.

Whilst the maker upon the end of this particular skewer cannot be held responsible for the quietening of the world, they’ve hardly brought anything positive to the table of late either. Values, like fashion and opinions, can change rapidly, and not always for the better. In a world obsessed by communication, attempting to Continue reading “Lost In Translation”

Show and Tell (Part One)

Bruno Vijverman takes us on a guided tour through motor shows past.

With current restrictions affecting millions of us worldwide, the change of circumstance has presented other opportunities – the rediscovery of the value of closer and more frequent interaction with our loved ones, as well as the time to make progress in sorting out and cleaning up the clutter one amasses over the years.

By consequence, I decided to delve into a large carton box with old photographs and negatives that has resided in a spare room for longer than I would care to admit. My aim was to Continue reading “Show and Tell (Part One)”

15 shades of GIMS (Part 2)

Part two of Lukas von Rantzau’s ‘virtual Geneva’ review considers the more rarefied air amid the luxury marques.

All images (c) GIMS

Bentley

Bentley’s CEO Adrian Hallmark welcomes us to a walk around the Crewe flagship of flagship showrooms. With the former Top & Fifth Gear presenter, Vicki Butler Henderson firmly by his side the conversation flows rather pleasantly. Eloquence, we are reminded, is a more important precondition for career success in Britain than in other European countries.

We are not quite finished thinking these thoughts, when the presentation turns to the coach-built Bentley Bacalar and its similarly overstyled designer, Stefan Sielaff. If one were to conduct a study on the varieties of German accents, GIMS wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

In the post-Motor Show Age, charismatic CEOs will Continue reading “15 shades of GIMS (Part 2)”

15 shades of GIMS (Part 1)

Welcoming a new contributor to DTW; Editor/Director of Transport Museum, Lukas von Rantzau, who opens his account with an acerbic two-part overview of ‘virtual Geneva’.

When the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) was cancelled only four days before its scheduled opening, some predicted this to be yet another nail in the coffin of the Motor Show per se. While visitors and exhibitors have been equally disappointed by the most recent iterations of the once glamourous celebrations of the automotive industry, the neutral ground of Geneva remained something of a last stronghold for a dying concept. Founded on Swiss neutrality, blessed with the presence of the largest variety of car manufacturers, it was supposed to be the one go-to-show in Europe this year. Alas, it was not to be at all.

More so than the Force Majeure cited in this year’s cancellation statement however, the limitless broadcasting possibilities of the internet have chipped away at the Motor Show’s raison d’être. Meeting at an agreed date and place, gathering all journalists in the same venue and holding world premieres back to back was a pragmatic way to Continue reading “15 shades of GIMS (Part 1)”

Farce Majeure

History repeats, first as tragedy, then as farce.

In a week where the massed ranks of the world’s motor business and the press pack who report upon them were to have crammed themselves into three preview days at Geneva’s Palexpo, they have instead been required to Continue reading “Farce Majeure”

All Together, All Alone : Car of the Year 2020

Geneva has been cancelled, but in some respects at least, the show goes on. There is after all, a car of the year to be decided. Robertas Parazitas reports, from the comfort of home.

Surreal is a word both over and mis-used, but it could apply to the 2020 European Car of the Year ceremony, delivered in the usual room in Palexpo, but with the rest of the exhibition complex near deserted, with dismantling and demobilisation already underway even before the first official press day. This time there’s no free fizz and media camaraderie, but by the grace of YouTube, the show goes on.

I’m delivering this from my desk at home, 1500km from Geneva, owing to the vigorous spread of “Novel Coronavirus Covid-19“. Dare one say it is a lot more ‘novel’ than some of the seven shortlisted contenders. Which are, let us Continue reading “All Together, All Alone : Car of the Year 2020”

A Geneva Gaffe?

The ninetieth rendition of the Geneva Motor Show, billed as Europe’s largest, is almost upon us. It seems barely five minutes since the last one.

Several manufacturers have chosen not to play this time. Bats and balls safely stored away. Lamborghini are preferring to chose more bespoke events to launch models. The PSA combine, which these days includes nearly ever other car on the road it seems, are staying home with the fire turned up to the third bar. JLR are most definitely not leaving Blighty either, an odd decision for when new Def’ner is almost ready to Continue reading “A Geneva Gaffe?”

Rétromobile 2020: A Culinary Perspective

In France, the automobile and Dionysian delights are far from mutually exclusive.

At your typical German vintage car show, the olfactory pecking order is both clear and dependable. Right after the smells of rubber and petrol – and well before leather or car polish, for example – comes the vapour of Bockwurst getting stale. Towards evening time, beer fart becomes another rather dominant olfactory sensation to the visitor of, say, Techno Classica in Essen.

The vintage car shows of my home country are not exactly hotbeds of sophistication. Some are worse than others in that regard, but one definitely doesn’t attend Techno Classica or Bremen Classic Motorshow for the dry biscuits, rubbery Bretzeln and beer served in plastic cups. An undivertible focus on the automotive exhibits is thus required, if one wants to Continue reading “Rétromobile 2020: A Culinary Perspective”

Rétromobile 2020 : A Retrospective

Our German correspondent goes Rétro.

Magnificent. And the car’s pretty impressive as well. Voisin C28 Aérosport amid Grand Palais splendour.

I don’t usually feel a need to travel to any vintage car shows. I visited Techno Classica in Essen (which was huge, but not terribly pleasant) just once and enjoyed the splendour of Villa d’Este (which is both interesting and off-putting for its detachment from reality) just as many times.

Certain headline-grabbing exhibits, such as some rarely seen one-offs and concept cars, notwithstanding, the repetitive nature of classic car shows makes a visit only appealing to me if it’s convenient – as with the annual Bremen Classic Motorshow, which is just a one-hour train ride away, generally well-organised and good fun. This year however, I elected to Continue reading “Rétromobile 2020 : A Retrospective”

Kei Car Compendium – 2005 Suzuki LC Concept

As Suzuki prepares more Kei car retro-conceptual joy for Tokyo, we dip into their toybox. Gosh it’s fluffy in there…

2005 Suzuki LC Concept (c) supercars.net

Scribed within the official automotive aficionado manual, [chapter 37, paragraph 8, subclause 14.7] is the injunction that both interest and enthusiasm for that unique Japanese phenomenon, the keijidōsha, or light vehicle is a prerequisite for full and unfettered admission.

Here at DTW, we’re not exactly slavish in our fealty to motor-enthusiast norms, tropes or mores, so it would, you might imagine be in our purview to take a less than conventional position on the subject. Believe me, we tried, but faced with such an unrelenting tsunami of Kwaii, it takes a very firm resolve indeed not to Continue reading “Kei Car Compendium – 2005 Suzuki LC Concept”

IAA 2019: A Culinary Perspective

We conclude our IAA 2019 coverage by asking, what does a shrinking car show taste like?

Audi’s press lounge. IAA 2019. (c) Auto-Didakt

Champagnerlaune is a German term describing the feeling of having cause for considerable celebrations. The 2019 Frankfurt motor show featured little of that – and little actual champagne, incidentally.

Unlike the Geneva show, IAA isn’t renowned for being the kind of occasion when supercars Continue reading “IAA 2019: A Culinary Perspective”

Infra Dignitatem

Ingolstadt presents ‘the off-roader of the future’. What fresh hell is this?

There has been, I’m reliably informed, a discernible atmosphere of fin de siècle about this year’s Frankfurt motor show; in the curiously underpopulated halls, the appearance of evident cost-cutting amongst some of the larger OEMs, not to mention a marked bi-polarity in the semantics being proffered, particularly by the home team.

But while the metaphorical (and to some eyes, actual) barbarians mass outside the gates, inside the bacchanal continues unabated – at least in some quarters. Volkswagen came to Continue reading “Infra Dignitatem”

A Def’ner By Any Other Name

Keep yer supercars and your electric IDs, stuff the Kias and the over large grilles. My eyes on Frankfurt were directed to SoliSlovakia.

AKA Tongue N Cheek Surveyors but in need of oil stains, mud splats for true greatness. (c) Autocar

I’ve been so looking forward to seeing the New Defender. I’ve pored over the camouflaged shots. I’ve scrutinised the form. I won’t be buying one anytime soon so why this lust for the Land Rover? Personally, I think it’s the bees knees and will trounce the faux-four-by-fours.

Certain that many more words will be written about New Defender, I wanted to Continue reading “A Def’ner By Any Other Name”

Lasting Beauty That Moves

Have the stars aligned at Mercedes?

“Sensuously elegant and dramatically charged”, say Mercedes. They would, wouldn’t they? (c) Automotive News

“Lasting beauty that moves”: It’s a little bit clunky, would you not agree? But given Mercedes’ previous track record in the much-abused arena of tag-lineage, I have read worse. This week, at the Frankfurt motor show, the World’s oldest carmaker debuted a styling prototype for what is likely to be the most advanced electric vehicle to be made by an established manufacturer, and given that this is DTW, you might expect me to give it and its creators a bit of a drubbing.

But while I may not have come here to praise the EQS, nor have I placed this in front of you today so as to Continue reading “Lasting Beauty That Moves”

The One That Got Away

Given its pedigree, the ‘lost’ Aston Martin DBS(C), designed by none other than Carrozzeria Touring, should be an unsung masterpiece. Yet it isn’t.

The car in front is an Aston.

It sounds like the typical scenario that entails reverberating boos and pronounced hisses from enthusiasts’ quarters.

A much-loved maker of exotic sports cars hires the services of a well-respected carrozzeria to come up with the design for a new model. The carrozzeria in question had previously designed the very same car maker’s most popular models. Due to circumstances (mostly of the business-related variety), that new model is only created in one-off concept car form. Et voilà – the recipe for yet another automotive myth!

Concretely, the car in question is a model retrospectively dubbed Aston Martin DBSC. Originally, it was simply called DBS upon its unveiling at the Paris Motor Show of 1966 – and that’s only where it starts to Continue reading “The One That Got Away”

Summer Reissue : Showing Off

Is there any point in motor shows, we ask?

The traditional large-format motor show it appears, is dying, as increasing numbers of carmakers are not only baulking at the expense of these lavish affairs but also the fact that in an era where data can target customers far more effectively and cheaply, the car show has for some considerable time now been seen both as something of a blunt instrument as much as a throwback to a more naïve time.

With manufacturers increasingly choosing to make their splashes at smaller, more targeted events, many commentators are predicting that the Motor Show as we know it will Continue reading “Summer Reissue : Showing Off”

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

Surprisingly, yet inevitably, the most original interpretation of modern luxury doesn’t come from Germany – but South Korea: The rather stupendous Genesis Mint.

Aspirational flair is not a matter of size. Photo (c) The Verge

Creating a ‘premium’ car brand is no walk in the park. It takes decades, unique flair, racing success (Jaguar), billions and a great many wise product decisions (BMW, Audi) to achieve this. Anything less than boundless commitment to the cause is bound to fail (Infiniti, Acura). It was therefore a brave/reckless choice, courtesy of Hyundai, to try and Continue reading “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway”

Match Not Found

A Shanghai Surprise for your Sunday deliberations.

Earlier this week, our German correspondent offered his considered views upon the stylistic progress of the Chinese auto industry, as evidenced by some highly credible concept cars shown at the recent Shanghai show. What’s clear from his report is that China’s carmakers, with some assistance from Western design professionals, are making significant aesthetic strides and that in this arena at least, the so-called developed world’s carmakers have little to feel complacent about.

The standard of many domestic concept cars at Shanghai would have put any European or North American motor show to shame, and while we have yet to Continue reading “Match Not Found”

Auto Shanghai 2019: Misunderestimation

To quite some degree, the western view on Chinese tastes in car design has been informed by awe and condescension. This year’s Shanghai motor show suggests that may have to change sooner, rather than later.

Good enough for China, photo (c) Motor1.com

China, as every donkey knows, is the centre of the automotive world these days. Without it, some of the fundamental changes to the business model of the western world’s car makers that are now on the verge of being addressed would have needed to be tackled a decade ago.

China is the lifeline of the car business as we know it, yet the dramatic dependance upon this market hasn’t resulted in similar levels of respect for it – quite the opposite, in fact. ‘That’s what the Chinese demand’ has been used as an excuse for a great many a dubious product and design decisions in recent years, often spoken with an expression of regret on the face of those so obviously forced by the Middle Kingdom to Continue reading “Auto Shanghai 2019: Misunderestimation”

Putting Out The Fire, Scattering The Ashes

Audi’s concept car for this year’s Shanghai motor show is an autonomous, electric homage to the brand’s legendary A2 model. Or so we’re told.

On the surface at least, there doesn’t appear to be much terribly wrong with Audi’s AI:ME concept car. It’s not an SUV for a start; its autonomous functions aren’t reflected by the lamest concept car trope of the past few years (swivelling seats), and it – supposedly – pays homage to no less than Audi’s bravest failure, the misunderstood A2.

However, as always, a surface is but a thin layer, whereas what lies beneath is an altogether more meaty matter. And the meat of this AI:ME is hardly scrumptious.

Take its overall appearance: It’s a rather generic EV compact concept car fare, to such an extent that nobody would bat an eyelid if it didn’t Continue reading “Putting Out The Fire, Scattering The Ashes”

Geneva 2019 Reflections – Eclectic and Electric

As the halls of Palexpo return to their quiescent state, one DTW reporter reflects on an engaging Estonian, a divisive dreamer, and new masters at Pickersleigh Road.

So how was Geneva? “Very electric” has become my customary reply, when I choose not to elaborate. In Europe at least, the internal combustion is likely to Continue reading “Geneva 2019 Reflections – Eclectic and Electric”

Geneva 2019 Reflections – A Culinary Perspective

Your faithful reporter ate lots of nibbles and drank plenty of cappuccino so you don’t have to.

Geneva’s favourite drink, served appropriately. (c) Christopher Butt

One could get seriously drunk at the Geneva Motor Show.

Whereas coffee enthusiasts would constantly remain on the hunt for a decent cup during the duration of the show out of sheer necessity, alcohol enthusiasts had it much easier. For champagne – and not just any champagne, but the most definitely above-average Perrier-Jouët – were free-flowing to the extent of ubiquity. And not just during the show, but under peripheral circumstances as well. Continue reading “Geneva 2019 Reflections – A Culinary Perspective”

Geneva 2019 Reflections – The Hopeless

Everybody appreciates a grafter, but some people really ought not bother.

Earlier in the week we sampled an array of Palexpo hopefuls, but a hapless confluence of waifs and strays remain for us to consider. These generally fall into distinct categories – once-storied nameplates seeking to demonstrate renewed relevance, reanimated marques exhumed from the grave attempting to Continue reading “Geneva 2019 Reflections – The Hopeless”

Geneva 2019 Reflections – The Hopeful

DTW’s Geneva coverage in conjunction with Auto-Didakt continues with a stroll through hypercar valley.

Geneva has traditionally been a shopfront to all manner of low-volume fantasy-merchants, but given the explosion of what journalists are fond of calling high net worth individuals, a growing cohort of dream factories have emerged to cater to their increasingly specific needs, wants and hitherto unrealised desires.

A of course stands for Aston Martin and the storied purveyor of superspy conveyances arrived at Geneva with a brace of hyper-concepts and near-production cars. Perhaps most convincing, if grindingly predictable being the Vanquish concept, having undergone a radical mid-engined makeover. A production version is allegedly being readied to Continue reading “Geneva 2019 Reflections – The Hopeful”

Geneva 2019 Reflections – Pio Would Have Loved This

For one DTW reporter, there was only one star of the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. We take stock of Fiat’s Concept Centoventi.

Still in mild shock at the most dramatic ECotY announcement in years, my Geneva companions and I took our customary evening promenade round the halls of Palexpo. The FCA stand promised little. We knew they had no new cars, but at least they turned up, unlike some, and Alfa and Fiat had heavily concealed concept cars to show the following morning.

Later in the evening we talked of what is to become of Fiat. Three of us, we have all had various Fiats in our lives and enjoyed the experience. Now the company seemed to be ever more marginalised in the increasingly Jeep-centric world of FCA in the Manley Era.

The FCA Press Conference was therefore a must-see. New introductions were thin on the ground. Alfa Romeo had the Tonale SUV concept, but no mention was made of the GTV. Jeep showed petrol-hybrid Renegades and Compasses, but they will not Continue reading “Geneva 2019 Reflections – Pio Would Have Loved This”

Geneva 2019 Reflections – What’s That Coming Over the Hill?

Today, our Geneva correspondent casts a horrified gaze over some of the more polarising Palexpo fare on offer. [Text amended and additional images added – March 8. 13.40 GMT]

For centuries, monsters and myths have been for the most part, indivisible in our consciousness. We console ourselves that it’s the latter rather than the former which represents the true state of affairs, but in this, as with so many fondly-held assumptions we are mistaken. Ogres truly walk amongst us, and as alarming as that prospect may be to those of us of a more sensitive nature, we are fortunate that our Hamburg correspondent is on hand to Continue reading “Geneva 2019 Reflections – What’s That Coming Over the Hill?”

Geneva 2019 Reflections – Watt’s Goin’ On?

Searching for the state of the art amid the vanguard of the EV revolution at the Palexpo with Auto-Didakt’s Christopher Butt.

If there is a leitmotif for Geneva 2019, it is electrification; Audi for instance making much of the fact that they have no combustion engined offerings on show at all, the entirety of their Palexpo fare being in some way (ahem) amplified. Illustrating a notable keenness to Continue reading “Geneva 2019 Reflections – Watt’s Goin’ On?”

Geneva 2019 Reflections – This New Generation

We perambulate the Palexpo press days in the company of Auto-Didakt’s Christopher Butt. [Revised and updated with additional text and images – Friday 8. March 12.50 GMT]

At last year’s Geneva show, our man on the ground lauded Mazda’s Kai concept in lavish terms, suggesting that we would shortly see something very similar in production form. One year on and his claims we can see were not idle ones; the new 3 hatchback (and to a lesser extent, its saloon counterpart, cleaving faithfully to the concept. “It’s one helluva statement car,” our correspondent tells us – “everything the A-Class tries to be but isn’t.”

Meanwhile at post-Marchionne FCA, Mike Manley’s minions have been somewhat industrious of late, aiming to Continue reading “Geneva 2019 Reflections – This New Generation”

ECotY 2019 – The Jury’s In

“And I can’t deny the fact that right now, you like me. You like me!”

To our eternal disappointment, automotive CEO’s aren’t particularly noted for this kind of thing, so if you’re expecting the kind of tearful emoting in the manner of Sally Field’s 1984 Oscar acceptance speech, you’re likely to be disappointed. Mind you, if they sharpened up their act a little, they might attract the networks and get the whole thing televised. Perhaps BMW’s Harald Krüger could be convinced to Continue reading “ECotY 2019 – The Jury’s In”

Geneva, Here We…

…oh, wait a minute. We bring news of DTW’s Geneva intentions.

This week marks the opening of the 89th Salon International de l’Automobile at Geneva’s Palexpo exhibition centre. Open to the public’s lovestruck gaze from March 7 to 17, it will be preceded (as is customary) by two successive press days (5th and 6th).

Joining the likes of Ford, JLR, Hyundai, Infiniti, MINI, Opel and Volvo, (we’re very now) DTW’s full-time editorial team will be non-attendees I’m afraid, but in time-honoured tradition, we have retained the services of two regular contributors for both press days who will allow you to Continue reading “Geneva, Here We…”

Golden Years

An exhibition of landmark motor cars from a gilded age prompts us to ask: Is beauty enough?

During the 1950s, philosopher, Roland Barthes hailed the modern automobile as a visitor from the heavens. Some sixty years later, it seems we have returned the compliment, by propelling a Tesla motor vehicle out into the solar system. An audacious publicity stunt, a sign that we have lost our sense of wonderment for the motor car, or proof that our supposed mastery of the art has led us to believe we can Continue reading “Golden Years”

All Wrapped Up the Same

ECOTY 2019 is soon to be upon us. Who will learn to accept their reward this coming March?

As November slips silently from our grasp, and the season of good cheer has not yet fully broken upon us, we find ourselves at Driven to Write already looking ahead to March. But neither time, news agendas nor indeed my senior editor are known for qualities of patience or mercy, meaning I’m bound at least occasionally to report on the stories (as they say), that matter. The shortlist for the 2019 European Car of the Year award was officially announced this week, so let us take this opportunity to Continue reading “All Wrapped Up the Same”

Between Two Shadows Smoke Curls Like A Caress

It’s back to Denmark’s COTY exhibition. We’ve had a look at this car before yet it’s always pleasant to meet again: the Alfa Romeo Giulietta

The Danish COTY committee described it as an “uncompromised sports car for saloon drivers”. It won by garnering 76 of 250 possible points in 1978. The Simca Horizon and VW Golf diesel took second and third places respectively.

The Danes tend towards tightfistedness (or parsimony) and some jurors resented the AR’s high price, the highest of the ten contenders. In a way it was somewhat surprising that the Alfa managed to Continue reading “Between Two Shadows Smoke Curls Like A Caress”

If Only Hope and Despair Did Not Live Side By Side

The other day I gently placed a tiny gauntlet at the feet of the readers, a challenge concerning the set of boring parked cars. What had they in common, I inquired softly.

I received some jolly interesting replies ranging from observations about their grilles to their general banality. There was also a good guess about engine displacements. Alas, despite their ingenuity and their not being 100% wrong, none of the replies were precisely, exactly and perfectly what I was looking for. So, in order to lower people’s tension levels I will Continue reading “If Only Hope and Despair Did Not Live Side By Side”

Through These Architect’s Eyes

A 1951 art exhibition would change the way we viewed the automobile forever.

Since the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) was founded in 1929, it has been a leading proponent of contemporary and modernist art, encompassing not only what is commonly known as fine arts, but architecture, product design, photography, film, installations and electronic media.

Perhaps the most influential host to the conversation around latter-day aesthetics, its current location, designed by architects, Philip Goodwin and Edward Stone in 1939 on New York’s West 53rd street has staged some of the most celebrated and controversial art exhibitions of the 20th century.

In 1951, the motor industry was still struggling not only to Continue reading “Through These Architect’s Eyes”