Driving through Switzerland makes you feel like a million bucks (the annual salary required for comfortable residency). In early March, the Alps are still covered in snow, but the sun’s warm enough to shelter a scribe savoring a steaming cup of coffee and slice of rueblitorte by the shores of Lake Geneva. The fresh air! The dictators’ money! The tidiness! And then it’s time to contemplate the effects of global warming and enter the hallowed halls of Geneva’s seventy-seventh International Auto Show.
The Toyota FT-HS Concept is a hybrid. OK, it’s a hybrid hybrid, a Synergy-driven car combining the blood-drawing creases of Ford’s old Edge design language and the wraparound glamour of the vaguely art deco cinematic Batmobile. As a Cadillac flack might say, it’s art and science fiction.
The FT-HS isn’t just another “gotta have one/ain’t gonna happen” pistonhead tease. The car raises an important question: why can't more cars have wheels that look like exotic flowers?
Keeping to the theme of keeping the planet cool (hot?) for humanity, the Honda FCX Concept is a confidently competent future barge. Or is that competently confident? In any case, the hyrdogen fuel cell powered FCX finally makes the creative leap from SUV nosecone (a la Civic) to whale mouth. Honda proves once again that they are the masters at blending high tech and high touch, what with an interactive floor that uses lighting to indicate changes in cabin temperature.
How come the French have enough time (or the inclination) to eat cheese before coffee AND after lunch? And how is it that Italians manage to convince everyone else to struggle to speak their native language, instead of them struggling with their English like everybody else? And can the British ever learn to get down with their bad selves?
The CX-F is Jaguar’s S-Type replacement concept (i.e. the ready to be gelded, denuded and watered down version). It’s swoopy, sporty and strong; with a hint of Quattroporte and a clean Lexus LF-A aftertaste. It’s also utterly serious minded, a slap in the face of pace and grace. I’ll take two (for obvious reasons).
Honda’s Small Hybrid Coupe breaks the usual Batman concept car template for a nostalgic trip to Tron. While the car’s design has nothing to do with Honda’s corporate image, it will do Honda’s corporate image no harm– if only because its rear window is an ode to the old CRX and its gigantic wheels relieve Honda tuners’ SUV wheel envy.
The strangely spaced Walter de’Silva says the new Audi A5 is one of his best designs. The Italian originator of the German brand’s big mouth bass look has devised a coupe that’s elegant, understated, grown-up yet young and thrusting. It’s the perfect Jaguar, best imbibed with a bold cab.
Maserati finally trades its dorky coupe for something altogether more desirable– in the same sense that Adriana Lima might make a nice bit of arm candy for the Oscars. The GranTourismo coupe is twice as sexy in the flesh as it is in the photos, in the same sense that Adriana Lima looks more fetching across a dinner table than in a catalogue.
Being within sniffing distance of the world’s best numbered bank accounts, the Geneva auto show is the spiritual home to small carmakers who brew that heady mix of sleek sheetmetal and monster engines. The Swedes at Koenigsegg threw their hand-built CCX-based CCGT (Competition Coupe GT) FIA-homologated GT1 racer into Geneva’s alphanumeric soup. True to the show’s theme, they also promised a bio-fuel powered CCXR. Make that the BFP-CCXR.
The Dutch-built Spyker C12 Zagato may forfeit the rocket-inspired name game, but the VW-engined coupe proves that scissor doors are still an excellent way to liberate tasteless enthusiasts from their drug money discretionary income. The Zagato takes Spyker’s nascent design language and throws it into the wood chipper. When a supercar starts to look like a TVR Chimaera– a car designed by the [then] company’s owner’s dog– there’s bound to be trouble down the mine.
Meanwhile, mine owners won’t mind the Bentley Brooklands. Oblivious to the whole planet saving thing, the German-owned English carmaker is emerging from their highly lucrative Phaeton phase to launch a more traditional gas-guzzling Bentley behemoth.
The Brooklands boasts “classic British proportions”– a claim which does nothing for the self-esteem of Britain’s female population. To propel this Balmoral-on-wheels, The Bentley Boyz pulled out all the organ stops. We’re talking a 530hp 6.75-litre V8 with so much torque the company feels compelled to list it in Newton meters (1050Nm). Very PC, I’m sure.
Back into the gloaming as a young girl strolls past the show without even glancing in its direction. What did the Swiss Miss miss? A show dedicated to environmental responsibility, stuffed fulll of toys. How great is that?
Thanks for narrowing the column. It’s A LOT easier to read now.
Why doesn’t TTAC do a shpiel on people being forced to buy high riding barges because the roads in some places are so bad they’ll spill their latte on themselves and cause a burn if they were to ride in smaller car. My (moderately) lowered Golf has trouble clearing a lot of the ruts in my city.
If I want endless and breathless blathering about show cars, I know where to find it. Tasteful and intelligent observations–like a nice letter from a friend visiting in Switzerland. Thank you Martin.
I have to agree with Paul. My RSS feed has been blinking at e all day long with “the latest updates from Geneva”… well all I really needed was nicely summarized here.
I actually loathe concept cars. They are usually complete eye candy and zero substance. When is the last time the REAL thing ever came out and ended up looking anywhere as good looking as the concept? I already know the answer, and it was before I was born but I’ll wait for the rest of you to catch up.
Back to the point: All I need to know is nicely summarized here in one article, so no need to go slog through the hypebole elsewhere. Thanks TTAC.
–chuck
Re chuckgoolsbee
Your reference is vague. Many cars shown as “concept” are nearly “real”. (Witness the BMW M3 Concept.) BTW, were you born before the Viper? I seem to remember it was shown as a “concept”, as in No Interior, No Drive-train, then emerged almost unscathed. Also, more recently, a similar thing happened with the Concept One/New Beetle.
Was this a Miura reference?
Oh well, at some point you have to put 5 mph bumpers on these things — then the honeymoon’s over.
mmmmm
i LOVE little trips to exotic places…
thanks…
Don’t forget the Dodge Demon concept, which looks like it feeds on Miatas and Solstii…
I dont hate concept cars, they are more like drag queens, more for fun then anything.
The dodge demon looks like a short little fish with a HUGE head and mouth, it made me laugh out loud when i first saw one. It looks at if it was designed by cartoonists in the 1940’s, a la Tasmanian Devil.
I love switzerland. Now i’m besieged by wanderlust. sigh.
My opinion. is you can call them what ever you want but if I cannot buy the model in the next six months I don’t want to see it at a car show.
This is not a complaint leveled at the media or blog sites, this is directed at automakers and those responsible for these shows. They should be investing this type of talent in production cars, not in one offs. Follow the Apple(I cannot believe I mentioned them) model of new product introductions and I suspect you might recapture some of the lost magic that these shows are capable of.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the FCX Concept belong in a different category? Couldn’t we call it a “Veteran Concept?” I’m sure this has been around since last year’s Tokyo Motor Show in January. It is interesting that it continues to be trotted out, as it seems to indicate Honda’s commitment to a hydrogen solution.
The problem is, hydrogen is simply a storage meduim, not a means of propulsion. Electricity is still needed to produce the hydrogen. Where does electricity come from?
OK, OK, I’m trying to jack this thread, but how much can we really say about such eye candy?
That being said, though, if Toyota builds their Bangle-busting device, we’ll all have to shut up about their boring DNA.
Oh, and chuckgoolsbee, while you aren’t totally wrong, please remember the Porsche Boxter, too.
Keith
Dream 50: “The problem is, hydrogen is simply a storage meduim, not a means of propulsion. Electricity is still needed to produce the hydrogen. Where does electricity come from?”
Beyond engineeering FCX car itself, Honda:
“…is continuing its efforts to develop systems…through experiments with various hydrogen production and usage systems.”
“Honda has long been conducting research into hydrogen production and supply systems…At the solar-powered water electrolyzing hydrogen station that has been operating on an experimental basis since 2001 at Honda R&D Americas in Torrance, California…”
“In 2003 Honda established an experimental Home Energy Station that generates hydrogen from natural gas for use in fuel cell vehicles, while supplying electricity and hot water to the home through fuel cell cogeneration functions.”
“In November 2004, in collaboration with Plug Power Inc. of the US, Honda began operating a second-generation Home Energy Station, which unifies natural gas reformer and pressurizing units into one compact component to reduce the overall volume by approximately 50%. Honda is continuing its efforts to develop systems required for a hydrogen-based society…”
Call it engineers vs. bean counters.
See:
http://world.honda.com/FuelCell/FCX/station/
Please restore the edit functionality.
The above should be “engineering.” :-)
Dream 50 is right (professional engineer here), Honda has bought into the hydrogen shell game. Hydrogen is a means to store and transport energy, much as batteries are.
For all their smoke and mirrors charade regarding ‘alternate’ sources of hydrogen, it does not occur naturally anywhere on this planet. Thus, we talking about turning various forms of energy (be it natural gas, PV generated electricity, or whatever) into hydrogen, and then back into electricity, with conversional losses at each step.
Hydrogen, being the smallest molecule known, is also legendary in industrial applications for it’s lack of regard for containment. It escapes readily, and must be pressurized to concentrate in any useful quantity (with the attendant energy usage).
What a waste of effort.
fallout11:
Does the energy storage medium known as gasoline occur naturally anywhere on this planet?
fallout11:
The nice thing about hydrogen is that it can come from many different sources, whereas dinosaur juice only comes from one source, and as with real estate, they ain’t making any more of it. You could argue that bio-diesel is a better use of time and money (and I wouldn’t disagree), but hydrogen is not necessarily a dead-end. I’m not an engineer and don’t claim to be an expert on this (or anything else, really), but short of figuring out how to synthesize 93-octane unleaded out of used melon rinds, hydrogen seems like it has enough potential to warrant investigation.
Sorry that I missed the show and meeting you Martin. Did you see the BMW M3 Concept?
The Spyker looks like a Saturn. A really cool Saturn that is.
Hydrogen might be a useful storage medium, if only there were some sort of Manhattan Project finding a way to generate large amounts of electricity without burning fossil fuels.
Nice writeup, Martin: Thanks!
Regarding Honda’s Small Hybrid Coupe:
Hopefully it will come with a manual option,
and not just the CVT they mentioned (elsewhere).
Okay,
Forget hydrogen. Forget the Volt.
The Electrovette will save the day!
“GM, Ford and Chrysler are also taking yet another look at the battery-operated electric auto, seeking to find ways to overcome the car’s perennial draw backs of limited range and performance. Typically, GM is in the lead. The company is testing an electric power pack in some of its subcompact Chevettes. The “Electrovette” runs on 20 twelve-volt batteries, which are partially recharged every time the brake is applied. The car can achieve speeds of up to 55 m.p.h., but it can travel no more than 50 miles before it needs recharging.”
Time Magazine, 1989:
Detroit’s “Total Revolution”
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947023-1,00.html
Date correction: Time Magazine, 1979 (not ’89).
Great job, Martin,
This is a great encapsulation of the show. Just wish I were there instead of reading debates on whether Hydrogen is a medium or a gas.
How’s the new Twingo look?
Sorry for responding late to everybody! Just got back from Geneva last night; I had some business to do in France right after the show and internet access is not always a given in the provinces, unless you pay through the nose for 3G wireless…
In kinda chronological order of commentary:
– Paul, Chuck, Jersey, Glenn, Sean: thanks for the kind compliments! I am glad you could accept that this was an effort to not write about everything in Geneva, but to get the essence of what’s happening.
– Jay: sad you couldn’t make it. I hope it is not irksome to say you missed out on a super dinner — the Patara is as good as ever. I did not really see the M3; everytime I tried to take a closer look, a photographer pushed me aside. Rude guys.
– Shaker: I missed out on the Demon, being on a self-imposed deadline that coincided with its unveiling. From the photos I have seen it is cleaner and more befitting its target demographic than the Crossfire.
– Dream50: yes you are right, and “veteran concept” is a term I like. I actually already saw the Honda in Frankfurt last September. It is such a self-confident and forward-looking study that Honda couldn’t help showcasing it again, and I couldn’t help writing about it.
– About the general discussion re: Concept cars. I agree that they are often pointless examples of designer one-upmanship. I particularly dislike what I call Concept-car clichés: innovations that will never make it to market because they are unengineerable, such as missing B-beams, 24-inch wheels, or scissor doors. However, one of the great things at an auto show is to see practical concepts with which car companies display what they intend to do in 2-5 years time. You hear the managers discuss them in hushed voices, you see the engineers climbing under them to get an underskirt peek, and you get a glimpse of the future. Great stuff!
Of course, there are lots of real, new cars at Geneva I could talk about. Starting with SherbornSean’s question, I saw the Twingo, which is a timid effort, yet probably a good buying proposition. Twingo Mk1 was a revolution and a revelation; Mk2 is much more competent and slightly sad.
Other opinions-in-nutshells about new Geneva cars:
– Mazda 2: clean, stylish and individual from the outside; generic and depressing from within.
– Ford Mondeo: the guy at the press conference said the trick would be to to get people to drive it, cause they would then love it. Judging from appearances, it won’t be an easy trick.
– Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé: the ugliest A-beam ever.
– Peugeot 207CC: much better than the 206CC. No longer a car to be ashamed of.
– VW Golf station wagon: after almost two years, is this the best they could do?
– Citroen C-Crosser, Peugeot 4007: the “Mitsubishi kiss of death” goes to yet another car maker.
– Brilliance BC5 and BS4: with the help of Italdesign, they’re getting there. Not real cars yet; big “yet”.
z31: Yes, it does, in crude form. You need only pump it out of the ground and run it through a distillation column. Nature did most of the work for you over the last 200 million years. 10:1 energy returned on energy invested, on average. Making hydrogen via electrolysis and then burning it returns less than 1:1 EROI.
Kps summarizes the issue excellently later in the commentary.
pfingst: Yes, I have more hope for bio-diesel approaches, provided we’re not burning food (as in the ethanol debacle). It’s still a case of treating our own waste product and reconsuming it, but reusing otherwise wasted material always holds promise.