Genf 1998

It was the 68th time that one of the most prestigious automotive show took place at Geneva between 5-15 March. Premiers included suchs gems as the new Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph (including the media buzz which surrounds the company due to change ownership), the European Ford Escort replacement, called Focus, BMW 3-series, pepped up BMW 5 and Jaguar XK8. Also the new breed of Japanese cars suited for European taste: Mitsubishi Spacestar, Honda Civic Aerodeck, Toyota Yaris ought to be mentioned.

Here's a round up for You who would like to see a tad more than it's usually available in the magazines.
Aston Martin: The American public was the first to see the new V12-powered Aston, called "Project Vantage". One might wonder looking at the quality of the car why it's presented as a concept, I suspect there's a future for the model.
Audi: At Detroit it was the Audi Allroad Quattro as a preview and at Geneva the new A6 Avant appeared.
Bertone: Half of the stand was good. There's a competition organized in The Netherlands for the "Car of the century" prize. Bertone-designed cars, like the Lamborghini Miura, Lancia Stratos, Alfa Romeo Giulietta are among the contenders and were presented at the Bertone place. The other half was occupied by an ugly pick-up, called Pickster, powered by a BMW M3 engine and with a finish matched only by Indian car manufacturers :-)
BMW: Last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show a few lucky men saw the new BMW M5 but this was the first Show where it was presented in full gear: 400 bhp, 500 Nm, 6-cylinder. The more sober 3-series also had its world premier.
Brabus: This name is well-known in Mercedes circles, 'cause of their outrageous tuning work. What do You say to a combination of V12 power and ML class? Yes, they really created it! This powertrain were previously available in the S and the SL but it's more appropriate in this off-roader IMHO. I think it makes it more tough-looking, more competent. 582 horse power should scare a Ford Explorer away :-)
Callaway: The German IVM engineering group developed the Reeves Callaway designed Callaway C12.
Caterham: The old Lotus 7 never dies. The Swiss distributor exhibited only the various Seven models, but not the 21. Among the Sevens a Rover 1.8 VVC powered version was the novelty. Until the Caterham contract this engine powered only "inside" models.
Chrysler: More and more car manufacturers pay attention to the European market. Chrysler is no exception. The previous LH/LHS generation was available here, but the new 300M will be marketed with even greater fuss. The Pronto theme was further explored with the Pronto Cruizer painted in screaming yellow.
Citroën: A face-lifted Xantia with new body variants on the Xsara theme (Break and Coupé) - does this say anything to the American public?
Daewoo: European manufacturers learnt to spell properly this name within a few years. Daewoo transformed itself from a South Korean GM-arm to a car-maker by its own right. We'll see what the Korean economy crisis will bring forward, as I heard from a quite reliable source that General Motors is on the brink of acquiring the whole Daewoo automotive operation. This would open for them the East European market (not Hungary and the Czech Republic, rather Romania, Usbekhistan, Poland - where Daewoo set up assembly plants). Anyway back to the Geneva models: Matiz is the self-designed replacement for the old Tico, a Suzuki Alto-licence version. The car was designed by the Italian ItalDesign company. What I said about Japanese carmakers in the opening paragraph should be applied to the Koreans as well.
Daihatsu: Once knowned for its microcars (otherwise known as K-cars as the 660 cc category was called in Japan) the company nowadays builds up a rather different image with niche small cars, Suzuki Vitara-competitor funny looking off-roaders. This trend was shown at Geneva where the Sirion held its European premier. There's no proper category to pack this car in: it's somewhere between a city car and a small car from the outside but it's more spacious than a small car!
Ferrari: Face-lifted 456.
Fiat: Some reports suggest that the Seicento was there - the successor to the Cinquecento. Were these journalist really there? The only exciting place at the Fiat stand was the gallery where I had the chance again to talk to the beautiful lady who's happening to be the marketing director of the Hungarian Fiat distributor :-).
Ford: I have to admit I was a fan of the "New Edge" design at Ford: just look at the Ford GT90, the MC2 prototype and You will see what I mean. The MC2 is one of the most beautiful designs I ever laid my eyes on. I spent hours with a designer friend of mine and we concluded that they perfectly did those edges: every one had its purpose and all in all its was a coherent form. We were told that the MC2 is nearly the Cougar sportscar. Unfortunately this little word, nearly, meant everything which was good in the MC2 was excluded from the shape of Cougar. It's now nothing more than a blown-up Puma. Sad. And then there's the Focus, a model between the Mondeo (Ford Contour) and the European Escort, although it'll replace the latter. It was exhibited to stole a few headlines from the new Opel Astra and its interior must not be finished because no one was allowed to go near. Ford made a brave step showing such extraordinaire car, we'll see whether European families are prepared!
General Motors: Another American to attack Europe. Cadillac held the world premiere of its new Seville at last years' Frankfurt Autoshow. Also the Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro will be highlighted. In addition off-roaders, such as the Tahoe and pick-ups, like the S10 are in the line-up.
Ginetta: Currently there are three companies making Ginetta cars! At Geneva the Swedish Gin1Car AB, which bought the assets of the old Ginetta company exhibited the G34 with Volvo engine. It's hoped that it'll finally make it to the small series production this year.
Helem: Last year at the 24-Hour LeMans race a small scandal broke out when the just-finished Helem was allowed to enter when other more prepared teams were banned. However this Renault Sport Spider based rocket is now available in "street-version".
Heuliez: The Mercedes G-based Intruder prototype was equipped with a retractable hard top.
Honda: The new Civic Aerodeck will be made in England. Another debut was the Integra Type-R for the Swiss market. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the company many of the show cars exhibited at last years' Tokyo Autoshow were shown.
Hyundai: No one believed what the lady at the Hyundai stand claimed and what was written in the information pack: the Euro 1 concept sportscar, the first one to come out from the Frankfurt design studio of Hyundai had a 380 bhp engine. It was a 6-cylinder bi-turbo unit all-right, but 380 bhp seemed a little too much. Also the new Galloper, now a not-that-much look alike of the Mitsubishi Pajero had its West European debut. This will be the first Galloper which will be avilable outside East Europe.
ItalDesign: At Volkswagen the open version of the W12 with a wraparound windshield was admired by the crowd, while at ItalDesign the original yellow prototype rotated.
Jaguar: 50 years ago debuted the XK-series. It was a transition model beacuse the luxury limousine of which the XK-engine was originally destined for wasn't ready so they built a sportscar. The rest is legend. The successor (at least in the name) to the great ancestors, the XK8 now has a mean version, the XKR with a supercharged four-liter engine.
Karmann: The new Mercedes CLK cabriolet will be made at Karmman was announced in Geneva. The new AFB (Aluminium-foam body) structure was presented in Europe for the first time.
Lada: There's not too many people who believe that the sales of the "new" (actually 4-5 year old) 2110 series will ever start.
Mazda: The Demio model has been available on the Japanese market for years and now it will hit the European too.
Mercedes: From the neighboring Volvo stand a moose head smiled at the A-class and I bet he was satisfied: there was enough interest in the updated model. All the other models were also on show, like the new McLaren-Mercedes Formula 1 car, CLK cabrio etc.
Minelli: Every year at the Geneva show there's a lemon, a car which at first sight says: "You'll never see me again". I mean does a sane man interested in a plastic bodied car which reportedly resembles a MG TF (although I can't prove that) costs a fortune and powered by an outdated engine.
Mitsubishi: After the Carisma here's the second Mitsubishi to be built in Europe, The Netherlands: it's called the SpaceStar and it's something like the Renault Megane Scenic although it was Mitsubishi who first did a similarly styled car, the Space Wagon back in 1984. It'll be powered by the 1.8-litre direct petrol injection engine from the Carisma.
Nissan: The Micra received another facelift, but the Hypermini concept, a rip off of the Smart was the more interesting.
Opel: The sales of the new Astra will start very soon now. The EV1, the electro vehicle of General Motors stood proudly at the Opel stand - maybe a European premier soon.
Peugeot: One of the pretties concept cars at the show: Two-oh-heart.
Porsche: 911 cabriolet with beautifully crafted soft-top but ugly Boxster-like nose.
Renault: Zo. That's not a Japanese word to say thanks, rather the name for the new Renault prototype. It's an abbrevation for zoological vehicle whatever that means. A Renault Sport Spider based effort with more sharp styling, razor doors, three seat configuration are the main features. There was talk on producing it as a niche-model but no one really believed in it. The Zo and the new Clio were accompanied by a replica of the first Renault car to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Renault company.
Rolls-Royce: Coinciding with the world premier of the Silver Seraph a Website was opened.
Rover: MGF Super Sports.
Sbarro: The Swiss designer likes French "cuisine": he put a V6 engine in the Renault Megane, created a Peugeot-based sportscar with the same powertrain and exhibited a Citroen Berlingo based fun-car!
Seat: With loud bolero music the new Bolero 330BT was presented.
Skoda: The Czech carmaker received a major boost from Volkswagen. The new Octavia sells like hot cake in Europe and now an estate version joins the range. The other Skoda model, called Felicia was facelifted to look like a mini-Octavia.
Smart: Far away from Mercedes the chic city car which suffered the same faith as the A-class was exhibited.
Steyr-Puch: V8-powered Mercedes G.
Suzuki: the new generation of the new Vitara hit the European shores.
Tata: India is coming. Maruti and at some degree Mahindra are already well-known here but Tata was considered as a maker of cheap pick-ups with Mercedes-engine. Now they exhibited a small car and two off-roaders. Everything was designed in-house and the company is very ambitious.
Toyota: From the next century a plant will pour out thousands of Toyotas in French. The first model will be the Yaris, itself a cooled version of last years' Funtime concept car. Also a few lucky journalists had their first glimpse of the new BMW 3-series competitor, called Lexus iS200.
Valmet: This Finn company quietly established itself among the big players. They assemble Ladas, Porsche Boxsters, Saab 9-3s. As they love cabriolets they converted a Honda CR-V.
Volkswagen: To further enhance the presence of the new Golf the red W12 roadster took centerpiece.
Volvo: Their moose head was mentioned previously. Also the aforementioned direct petrol injection engine from Mitsubishi will be offered in the V40/S40 series.