I wanted to
start part two of the IAA Frankfurt Motorshow coverage with this Jaguar C-X16. I
really liked the design and the lines of the car. This was definitively the car
of the show for me.
The wheels
look like propellers from a plane and filled the arches perfectly.
How can you
not like a rear end like this? I wonder how much Jaguar is going to change this car before it will hit the dealers.
Lamborghini
had three cars on their stand and this Gallardo LP570-4 Supertrofeo Stradala
was the main attraction.
150 of
these will be built and all of them will be painted in this ‘Rosso Mars' color.
This version will be 70kg lighter than the standard Gallardo.
The engine
is the same version that can be found in the Superleggera. So it still uses the
V10 with 570bhp and 540Nm.
Back to
some more affordable cars. When I entered the VW hall, I bumped into this cool
little VW Buggy. Not really suited for the Dutch climate but it would be
perfect in the Mediterranean.
My friend
who accompanied me on the trip described it as a big MP3 player. Especially
when you look at the waterproof buttons inside the interior.
Maybe the
biggest news was the new Volkswagen Up. I lost count of how many versions I saw. The idea
is that you can customize this car in any way you like with custom colors,
interior and exterior trims.
This GT Up
is the version that we Speedhunters liked the most.
After
seeing the new Beetle at the Wörthersee Tour for the first time this year I
thought it looked pretty good. But after seeing this R version I'm sold. Why don't
all Beetles come like this?
At this
point it is merely a concept and VW will wait for the reactions of the public
to decide its fate.
Audi also
brought some concepts, one of them was this new Audi A2. This can been seen as
a preview of the production car.
It already
looks pretty finished except for the running light that runs around the whole
car. I'm sure that will be deleted in the final version.
Porsche
brought their new 911 in two colors. After reading comments and watching videos
I noticed that a lot of them were about the fact that not much has changed.
But after I
saw it up close and personal it was quite clear I was looking at the new 911. There
are many things that differentiate the new 911 from the old. Like the new
front bumper, headlights and the rear lights. And those are just the things that
are very apparent.
This blue
version had some sort of chameleon paint like the Midnight Purple III color on
the Skyline R34.
Opel brought
their electric cars like the Ampera but I was more interested in this RAK e.
These small ‘cars' are considered as urban transport so specifically made for
the cities of the future.
This RAK e is
powered by 49bhp electric motor. The press release stated that its range is 62
miles and that the operating costs are as low as $2.19 per 100 miles.
The Audi
Urban looked much better in my opinion. It's a two seater that weighs around
480kg thanks to the carbon fiber body.
The car is
powered by two electric motors with a combined output of 20bhp. It's range is
45 miles and you can recharge it in just an hour through a 230 volt household
current.
VW brought
their Nils concept that looks more like a bike on four wheels than an actual
car.
This Nils
Concepts has 33bhp and a range of 40 miles. The battery can be fully charged
within two hours.
I didn't
expect to see such a cool design come from Kia. They call this the GT Concept and I especially
liked the front end with its gill like sides.
The car sits
on a new rear wheel drive platform.
This is the
new Volvo Concept You. I'm still on the fence about the front. The rest of the
car looked pretty good but I just couldn't get over that front end.
This pretty
much concludes my look on the concepts and part of the new cars that were
present at the IAA in Frankfurt. I will be back with more cars from the
showroom floor that includes Ferrari, BMW and Mercedes Benz amongst others.
-Jeroen Willemsen