The weird, wacky and must-have cars at the two thousand fifteen Geneva motor demonstrate
DRIVING HAS reported extensively on the main attractions from the two thousand fifteen Geneva motor showcase, but as always, there are many more concept cars – taunting hints of future models to be launched by a car company – and production cars that can be found in the vast exhibition centre that sits a brief drive from the shores of Lake Geneva.
These are the weird, wacky and must-have cars that caught our attention…
Aston Martin DBX
Electrical “crossover” sends shockwaves
The DBX concept car – a proposal to build a cross inbetween a luxury saloon and an SUV – may have featured four-wheel drive, an electrical powertrain and solar cells to run the air conditioning when the car is left parked, but there was only one question on everyone’s mind at the Geneva motor demonstrate: does it look any good?
As ever, that’s open to interpretation. However, Marek Reichman, the head of design for the British sports car maker, said that the “crossover” bod style would evolve further to suggest five doors and more practicality, moving it further away from the drop-dead gorgeous styling that Aston Martin sports cars are famed for.
That’s fine by Andy Palmer, the fresh boss of Aston Martin (formerly of Nissan). He believes that a broader range of cars is called for if the company is to reach fresh customers, make money that can be reinvested in developing its cars and, ultimately, stay in business.
‘Audi’ Gea
Drivers can take a back seat
It may not have the familiar four rings of the Audi badge on its bonnet, but the Gea concept car has been designed by Italdesign Giugiaro, a styling house possessed by Audi. It attempts to response the question that many drivers have been asking: what will we do if cars drive themselves?
Evidently, in autonomous cars like the Gea, we will be able to choose inbetween “Business, Wellness and Dream” operating modes. So as the electrically-powered Gea drives itself, you could sit in the back preparing for the morning management meeting by using a host of in-car gadgets and connectivity. Then, on the way home, the seats convert into an onboard gym, so that you can get the look of a Men’s Health cover starlet. Maybe.
As for the desire setting, imagine a fully reclined very first class seat from the latest airliner and you get the picture.
EDAG Light Cocoon
We’ve all wondered why we can’t drive a dance floor from a Japanese karaoke bar – haven’t we? Well, now it’s possible, thanks to the Light Cocoon from EDAG, a German engineering consultancy to the car industry. It is intended to display off a fresh type of lightweight construction – one which, in simplistic terms, is like pulling sheets over the poles of a tent.
As much as car customization companies would like to get their forearms on this, the chances of a giant disco inferno car reaching showrooms are slimmer than children not being embarrassed by their parents dancing.
Infiniti QX30
Infiniti isn’t the very first and won’t be the latest car maker to roll out a fresh SUV that’s ideally suited to the rough and tumble of the school run. Its QX30 concept is about the size of a Nissan Qashqai and, should it go into production (very likely), could be built at Nissan’s Sunderland factory, where the fresh Q30 hatchback will be made. The latter will give Infiniti a badly-needed competitor to the VW Golf, Audi A3 and BMW 1-series.
The QX30 SUV is likely to be suggested with a choice of front-wheel drive or four-wheel drive, and the company will be hoping it can help improve UK Sales, which were under seven hundred fifty cars last year.
Kahn Flying Huntsman one hundred ten WB 6×6
Subtle, it ain’t, but that’s precisely the point of the Huntsman: to fulfill the fantasies of extroverts. It is made by Kahn Design, a British company that modifies a broad range of cars, is based on the Land Rover Defender one hundred ten and no, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, it indeed does have six wheels.
If there is enough request for this concept, Kahn says it would like to build a limited number as an alternative to the Mercedes G63 AMG 6×6, which costs around £350,000.
Kia Sportspace
Limbering up for a sporting contest
Kia wants to throw off its glasses, rip open its T-shirt and leap out of a phone box like a superhero on a mission to save the world from bland cars. The Sportspace concept is a taster of where the company would like to go, namely in a more sporty direction.
It uses a diesel-electric hybrid drive system and most likely previews the next-generation Optima and any estate version, which means something like it could go on sale within the next duo of years.
Mansory G63 Sahara Edition
Now you see it, now you, er, still see it
Hiding cars in the desert is a trick the SAS is good at, but it paints its Land Rovers pink – the best colour to blend in with the sand, evidently. Mansory’s G63 Sahara Edition, on the other palm, is unlikely to blend in anywhere it goes. (Well, with the possible exception of a P Diddy movie.)
If you think the camouflaged bodywork is something, wait until you see the interior; the seats and doors have been embossed to look like an eagle spreading its wings. To top the lot, Mansory, a German tuning company, has turned up the bi-turbo V8 engine to over 800bhp.
Mercedes-Maybach Pullman
Drivers: never scream about the meagre size of parking spaces again… the Mercedes-Maybach Pullman is here, and it promises to raise the stress of squeezing in to a parking space to an entirely fresh level. Still, that’s unlikely to trouble anyone buying a fresh Pullman, as their chauffeur will take care of such mundane matters.
It measures 6.5m long (harshly two and a half Brainy Fortwos) and features the sort of lavish interior that is in keeping with private jets and Sunseeker yachts. The price isn’t all that different to such extravagances, either: from over £360,000.
Morgan Aero 8
British sports car is as quirky as ever
Vapid caps and string-backed driving gloves at the ready: Morgan has launched a fresh Aero 8. The aluminium chassis – no wood on this model – and 367bhp BMW V8 engine are said to be improved, and the addition of some modern conveniences such as a touchscreen infotainment system may have some Morgan fans spluttering into their brandy. Relieve, it’s still very much a hand-built car.
Expected to cost close to £80,000, the improved Aero eight is available to order now.
Nissan Sway
The Micra is best known as a nice and cuddly car beloved by retired types living on the Eastbourne seafront, but Nissan emerges to want to switch all that as it pursues after junior customers. The Sway concept previews a fresh generation of puny car that hopes to, er, sway junior drivers to choose a Nissan over a Fiat five hundred or Mini.
Nissan has already proved that being bold and going in a fresh direction can pay dividends; the Qashqai and Juke SUVs have been a sales success.
If you like the look of the Sway, expect to see a toned-down version of it in Nissan showrooms late next year.
Phiaro P75 Cipher
Lightweight sports car from Japan
Weighing under 600kg, the P75 Cipher is the sort of sports car that has driving purists sit up and take notice. The Japanese sports car uses a modest 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 140bhp, a five-speed gearbox to drive the rear wheels and dual wishbone suspension to control the wheels. In brief, it’s a miniature Le Guy’s racing car.
Unluckily, there are no plans to sell it; the car is a showcase for Phiaro’s engineering consultancy services.
Rolls-Royce Phantom Serenity
With approximately 85% of Rolls-Royce cars now ordered with some level of bespoke finish, the one-of-a-kind Phantom Serenity was displayed at the Geneva motor demonstrate to showcase the talents of the craftsmen at Rolls-Royce and entice customers for whom money is no object.
The £1m project took a year to finish, and involved sourcing silk from China, sending it to one of Britain’s oldest mills, in Essex, where it was woven into fabric before embroidery and mitt painting could take place. Giles Taylor, design Director of Rolls-Royce, says the oriental theme is inspired by the interiors of elite Rolls-Royce motor cars from the early 1900s.
Seat 20V20
Concept for a large SUV hints at things to come
The Spanish car maker Seat has given a peek of things to come with the 20V20, a concept for a large SUV that’s similar in size to the Volkswagen Touareg or fresh Land Rover Discovery Sport.
If the name is a hint, then expect to see a production version reach showrooms in 2020. Jurgen Stackmann, the head of Seat, has said that SUVs “are the next step for our brand growth.”
Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG003
Coming to the Big Apple soon
The SCG003 is what happens when the imagination of a film director turned financial investor runs wild: a Le Mans-style racing car that, says the maker, can be driven on the road. To prove his point, James Glickenhaus, the man behind the car, will race the Competizione version at the Nürburgring twenty four hour race, and then drive the Stradale road-going version through Fresh York later this year.
There will be a choice of engines for the Stradale, and it will cost over £1.5m.
Subaru Levorg
Sports estate for UK drivers
If the proverbial Subaru shop window has been gathering dust, the fresh Levorg is the car that could freshen things up. It’s about the size of a Skoda Octavia estate and features a 1.6-litre, turbocharged flat-four cylinder petrol engine. Four-wheel drive is fitted as standard, so packing the car for the ski run to the Alps or just getting back securely from Waitrose in the rain should be where the Levorg performs well. Prices, specifications and an on-sale date are still to be confirmed.
Suzuki iM-4 Four×Four
Lil’ Four×Four is tougher than it looks
Titchy 4x4s are few and far inbetween. Suzuki’s Jimny is one, but it dates back to one thousand nine hundred ninety eight which makes it positively ancient compared with most cars on sale. The iM-4 Four×Four (a prize goes to any manufacturer than can work more “4s” into a car’s name) previews the Jimny’s replacement.
We like it rather a lot; the car looks like a Kia Soul that’s shrunk on a hot wash and Suzuki says it is built on a fresh platform that is stronger, safer, lighter and able to give a better driving spectacle. It is anticipated to go on sale next year.
VW Sport Coupé Concept GTE
Stylish saloon passes as a coupé
Volkswagen has only recently launched its latest, seventh-generation Passat, but the ambitious car company isn’t about to stand still: the Sport Coupe Concept GTE previews the next generation Volkswagen CC (formerly Passat CC), a four-door saloon that’s styled to look like a coupé. It’s likely to go on sale toward the end of this year.
This car is a plug-in hybrid that uses a V6 TSI petrol engine and a pair of electrical motors to generate 375bhp and give the potential, says VW, for 141mpg.
The weird, wacky and must-have cars at the two thousand fifteen Geneva motor demonstrate
The weird, wacky and must-have cars at the two thousand fifteen Geneva motor display
DRIVING HAS reported extensively on the main attractions from the two thousand fifteen Geneva motor display, but as always, there are many more concept cars – taunting hints of future models to be launched by a car company – and production cars that can be found in the vast exhibition centre that sits a brief drive from the shores of Lake Geneva.
These are the weird, wacky and must-have cars that caught our attention…
Aston Martin DBX
Electrical “crossover” sends shockwaves
The DBX concept car – a proposal to build a cross inbetween a luxury saloon and an SUV – may have featured four-wheel drive, an electrical powertrain and solar cells to run the air conditioning when the car is left parked, but there was only one question on everyone’s mind at the Geneva motor display: does it look any good?
As ever, that’s open to interpretation. However, Marek Reichman, the head of design for the British sports car maker, said that the “crossover” bod style would evolve further to suggest five doors and more practicality, moving it further away from the drop-dead gorgeous styling that Aston Martin sports cars are famed for.
That’s fine by Andy Palmer, the fresh boss of Aston Martin (formerly of Nissan). He believes that a broader range of cars is called for if the company is to reach fresh customers, make money that can be reinvested in developing its cars and, ultimately, stay in business.
‘Audi’ Gea
Drivers can take a back seat
It may not have the familiar four rings of the Audi badge on its bonnet, but the Gea concept car has been designed by Italdesign Giugiaro, a styling house wielded by Audi. It attempts to reaction the question that many drivers have been asking: what will we do if cars drive themselves?
Evidently, in autonomous cars like the Gea, we will be able to choose inbetween “Business, Wellness and Dream” operating modes. So as the electrically-powered Gea drives itself, you could sit in the back preparing for the morning management meeting by using a host of in-car gadgets and connectivity. Then, on the way home, the seats convert into an onboard gym, so that you can get the look of a Men’s Health cover starlet. Maybe.
As for the desire setting, imagine a fully reclined very first class seat from the latest airliner and you get the picture.
EDAG Light Cocoon
We’ve all wondered why we can’t drive a dance floor from a Japanese karaoke bar – haven’t we? Well, now it’s possible, thanks to the Light Cocoon from EDAG, a German engineering consultancy to the car industry. It is intended to demonstrate off a fresh type of lightweight construction – one which, in simplistic terms, is like pulling sheets over the poles of a tent.
As much as car customization companies would like to get their arms on this, the chances of a giant disco inferno car reaching showrooms are slimmer than children not being embarrassed by their parents dancing.
Infiniti QX30
Infiniti isn’t the very first and won’t be the latest car maker to roll out a fresh SUV that’s ideally suited to the rough and tumble of the school run. Its QX30 concept is about the size of a Nissan Qashqai and, should it go into production (very likely), could be built at Nissan’s Sunderland factory, where the fresh Q30 hatchback will be made. The latter will give Infiniti a badly-needed competitor to the VW Golf, Audi A3 and BMW 1-series.
The QX30 SUV is likely to be suggested with a choice of front-wheel drive or four-wheel drive, and the company will be hoping it can help improve UK Sales, which were under seven hundred fifty cars last year.
Kahn Flying Huntsman one hundred ten WB 6×6
Subtle, it ain’t, but that’s precisely the point of the Huntsman: to fulfill the fantasies of extroverts. It is made by Kahn Design, a British company that modifies a broad range of cars, is based on the Land Rover Defender one hundred ten and no, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, it truly does have six wheels.
If there is enough request for this concept, Kahn says it would like to build a limited number as an alternative to the Mercedes G63 AMG 6×6, which costs around £350,000.
Kia Sportspace
Limbering up for a sporting contest
Kia wants to throw off its glasses, rip open its T-shirt and leap out of a phone box like a superhero on a mission to save the world from bland cars. The Sportspace concept is a taster of where the company would like to go, namely in a more sporty direction.
It uses a diesel-electric hybrid drive system and most likely previews the next-generation Optima and any estate version, which means something like it could go on sale within the next duo of years.
Mansory G63 Sahara Edition
Now you see it, now you, er, still see it
Hiding cars in the desert is a trick the SAS is good at, but it paints its Land Rovers pink – the best colour to blend in with the sand, evidently. Mansory’s G63 Sahara Edition, on the other mitt, is unlikely to blend in anywhere it goes. (Well, with the possible exception of a P Diddy movie.)
If you think the camouflaged bodywork is something, wait until you see the interior; the seats and doors have been embossed to look like an eagle spreading its wings. To top the lot, Mansory, a German tuning company, has turned up the bi-turbo V8 engine to over 800bhp.
Mercedes-Maybach Pullman
Drivers: never wail about the meagre size of parking spaces again… the Mercedes-Maybach Pullman is here, and it promises to raise the stress of squeezing in to a parking space to an entirely fresh level. Still, that’s unlikely to trouble anyone buying a fresh Pullman, as their chauffeur will take care of such mundane matters.
It measures 6.5m long (harshly two and a half Clever Fortwos) and features the sort of lavish interior that is in keeping with private jets and Sunseeker yachts. The price isn’t all that different to such extravagances, either: from over £360,000.
Morgan Aero 8
British sports car is as quirky as ever
Vapid caps and string-backed driving gloves at the ready: Morgan has launched a fresh Aero 8. The aluminium chassis – no wood on this model – and 367bhp BMW V8 engine are said to be improved, and the addition of some modern conveniences such as a touchscreen infotainment system may have some Morgan fans spluttering into their brandy. Relieve, it’s still very much a hand-built car.
Expected to cost close to £80,000, the improved Aero eight is available to order now.
Nissan Sway
The Micra is best known as a nice and cuddly car beloved by retired types living on the Eastbourne seafront, but Nissan shows up to want to switch all that as it pursues after junior customers. The Sway concept previews a fresh generation of petite car that hopes to, er, sway junior drivers to choose a Nissan over a Fiat five hundred or Mini.
Nissan has already proved that being bold and going in a fresh direction can pay dividends; the Qashqai and Juke SUVs have been a sales success.
If you like the look of the Sway, expect to see a toned-down version of it in Nissan showrooms late next year.
Phiaro P75 Cipher
Lightweight sports car from Japan
Weighing under 600kg, the P75 Cipher is the sort of sports car that has driving purists sit up and take notice. The Japanese sports car uses a modest 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 140bhp, a five-speed gearbox to drive the rear wheels and dual wishbone suspension to control the wheels. In brief, it’s a miniature Le Stud’s racing car.
Unluckily, there are no plans to sell it; the car is a showcase for Phiaro’s engineering consultancy services.
Rolls-Royce Phantom Serenity
With approximately 85% of Rolls-Royce cars now ordered with some level of bespoke finish, the one-of-a-kind Phantom Serenity was displayed at the Geneva motor showcase to showcase the talents of the craftsmen at Rolls-Royce and entice customers for whom money is no object.
The £1m project took a year to finish, and involved sourcing silk from China, sending it to one of Britain’s oldest mills, in Essex, where it was woven into fabric before embroidery and forearm painting could take place. Giles Taylor, design Director of Rolls-Royce, says the oriental theme is inspired by the interiors of elite Rolls-Royce motor cars from the early 1900s.
Seat 20V20
Concept for a large SUV hints at things to come
The Spanish car maker Seat has given a peek of things to come with the 20V20, a concept for a large SUV that’s similar in size to the Volkswagen Touareg or fresh Land Rover Discovery Sport.
If the name is a hint, then expect to see a production version reach showrooms in 2020. Jurgen Stackmann, the head of Seat, has said that SUVs “are the next step for our brand growth.”
Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG003
Coming to the Big Apple soon
The SCG003 is what happens when the imagination of a film director turned financial investor runs wild: a Le Mans-style racing car that, says the maker, can be driven on the road. To prove his point, James Glickenhaus, the man behind the car, will race the Competizione version at the Nürburgring twenty four hour race, and then drive the Stradale road-going version through Fresh York later this year.
There will be a choice of engines for the Stradale, and it will cost over £1.5m.
Subaru Levorg
Sports estate for UK drivers
If the proverbial Subaru shop window has been gathering dust, the fresh Levorg is the car that could freshen things up. It’s about the size of a Skoda Octavia estate and features a 1.6-litre, turbocharged flat-four cylinder petrol engine. Four-wheel drive is fitted as standard, so packing the car for the ski run to the Alps or just getting back securely from Waitrose in the rain should be where the Levorg performs well. Prices, specifications and an on-sale date are still to be confirmed.
Suzuki iM-4 Four×Four
Lil’ Four×Four is tougher than it looks
Titchy 4x4s are few and far inbetween. Suzuki’s Jimny is one, but it dates back to one thousand nine hundred ninety eight which makes it positively ancient compared with most cars on sale. The iM-4 Four×Four (a prize goes to any manufacturer than can work more “4s” into a car’s name) previews the Jimny’s replacement.
We like it rather a lot; the car looks like a Kia Soul that’s shrunk on a hot wash and Suzuki says it is built on a fresh platform that is stronger, safer, lighter and able to give a better driving spectacle. It is anticipated to go on sale next year.
VW Sport Coupé Concept GTE
Stylish saloon passes as a coupé
Volkswagen has only recently launched its latest, seventh-generation Passat, but the ambitious car company isn’t about to stand still: the Sport Coupe Concept GTE previews the next generation Volkswagen CC (formerly Passat CC), a four-door saloon that’s styled to look like a coupé. It’s likely to go on sale toward the end of this year.
This car is a plug-in hybrid that uses a V6 TSI petrol engine and a pair of electrical motors to generate 375bhp and give the potential, says VW, for 141mpg.
